Eheim Vs Fluval Canisters

[Atsy]

I am looking at a new filter for my 50 US Gal tank (48" x 12" x 20").  I have sand substrate and will have some planted plants.  I plan on mainly stocking with 2-3" fish that like to school like cherry barbs, tiger barbs, zebra danios, tetras, etc.
 
I have no idea where to start but the forum seems to favor heavily in favor of Eheim and Fluval canister filters.  So for a tank my size, I was thinking of a Fluval 306 (up to 70 gal) or an Eheim Classic 2217 (up to 92 gal).  I would appreciate some feedback since I am a total beginner for canisters/filters!

 

[techen]

I don't think the forum favors any of those. Overall the filter make is entirely up to you, if you were in the uk I would have suggested aqua manta but since not over filtering the tank is not a bad thing bit you want a filter with a decent gph or lph

 

[Zikofski]

i have nothing wrong with anything of those filters, other than the eheim ones are a bit pricy, cant justify a reason to get one with that price, but i have a tetra tec 1200 and its an amazing filter but dated now but it dose the job. again yes over filtering is always better i guess, i would recommend going for the highest rated filter you can afford tbh, but like techen say's i will be getting an aqua manta which is a UK branded filter made by our chain of LFS which is surprising cheap and good tbh
 
have a look around, what you want is high LPH/GPH and a nice volume canister for the media, don't worry about what media is in it yet, as that can always be changed and you do not need to buy the expensive refills the main company's say you haft to do, unless its carbon


sorry i missed out the planted part if you are going planted then a good rule of thumb is to have 10x the tank volume of water movement, now this can be done via filters or with a filter and powerhead's my big 330L tank you see in my sig is mainly with a powerhead and two tetratec 1200's but my new tank 88L will be 10x the flow just from the filter alone if you understand what im saying

 

[Atsy]

So the gist is that a canister filter can be customized?
 
And if I have a 189 L tank, then I need to have a filter than can move 1890 L or 500 gal per hour??
 
And if you don't think that Eheim or Fluval are the more favored then what is?!  There are entirely way too many options, I just want a quiet external filter that will work for my size tank and its contents!
 
Also my LFS is Petco or Petsmart, the closest specialty fish store is over an hour away so they are out for advice until I can plan a trip out there.  I was just going to order the filter from the internet.

 

[Lunar Jetman]

So the gist is that a canister filter can be customized?
 
And if I have a 189 L tank, then I need to have a filter than can move 1890 L or 500 gal per hour??
 
And if you don't think that Eheim or Fluval are the more favored then what is?!  There are entirely way too many options, I just want a quiet external filter that will work for my size tank and its contents!

 
I think you can customise a canister filter more than an internal as it has a bigger area to play with.
 
With regards to the amount of water a filter can turnover, it will depend on what you are planning to do with your tank. For example, it is usually considered that for a planted tank you need to turnover of around 10x so if you have 189l tank you need a turnover of 1890lph. If you're not worried about plants you can probably just something less powerful. Also remember that just because a manufacturer gives a figure for lph it doesn't mean that the filter will operate at that level under normal conditions. They usually run the filters empty so bear that in mind. You might even consider an additional powerhead to increase flow.
 
Personally I've used Fluval and Rena external filters before and have been perfectly happy with both. I know the Eheim's are recommended a lot but they're also a bit more expensive than other filters. Most of the known brands are all much of a muchness and it really comes down to personal choice.

 

[Atsy]

So the gist is that a canister filter can be customized?
 
And if I have a 189 L tank, then I need to have a filter than can move 1890 L or 500 gal per hour??
 
And if you don't think that Eheim or Fluval are the more favored then what is?!  There are entirely way too many options, I just want a quiet external filter that will work for my size tank and its contents!

 
I think you can customise a canister filter more than an internal as it has a bigger area to play with.
 
With regards to the amount of water a filter can turnover, it will depend on what you are planning to do with your tank. For example, it is usually considered that for a planted tank you need to turnover of around 10x so if you have 189l tank you need a turnover of 1890lph. If you're not worried about plants you can probably just something less powerful. Also remember that just because a manufacturer gives a figure for lph it doesn't mean that the filter will operate at that level under normal conditions. They usually run the filters empty so bear that in mind. You might even consider an additional powerhead to increase flow.
 
Personally I've used Fluval and Rena external filters before and have been perfectly happy with both. I know the Eheim's are recommended a lot but they're also a bit more expensive than other filters. Most of the known brands are all much of a muchness and it really comes down to personal choice.

 
Seriously, there is such a things as too much freedom of choice!  Alright, so I plan on having plants, but they are going to be low maintenance plants, I don't plan on pumping in CO2 etc and in the future I may upgrade the lighting.  I was concerned that if I got a pump that pushed the 1890 lph then would the outflow be too much for the tank?  Because that level of outflow is for a tank that is much much much bigger than mine! 
 
Also are we talking about the pump output or the filter circulation?
 
Sorry for all the questions....

 

[ian]

Ehiem are market leaders when it comes to filtration. Always buy the best and you'll get the best back.

Ehiem would be the choice for me. I use the 2073 and it is whisper silent and doesn't drop it's flow by much. Great filters.

 

[Zikofski]

if you plan for low tech tank i would still recommend going for a 10x turn over, as flow is a huge cause of algae get that nailed and its one less thing to worry about ,
 
like me and other's said, you don't haft to get that 1890LPH just with a filter for my rank i need 3300 lph so i have a 5400LPH powerhead getting all of that turn over and using two filters that would barely contribute to that flow.
 
again yes filters are customisable, and yes company's do base there LPH rating on empty filters,
 
eheim are the best so people say, but they are expensive, if you are willing to pay for one get one

 

[raptorrex]

again yes filters are customisable, and yes company's do base there LPH rating on empty filters,

Actually, NO they don’t.

Eheim for instance, base their filter flow rates on a full set of recommended
media with all the filter furniture and 1m of hose attached.
This is similar to Aqua one.
Some just quote the powerhead rating. (fluval fx5)
Tetra use foam media but no furniture.
All in all you can safely divide the claimed flow rate by 2 for all but Eheim and Aqua one.
Eheim and aqua one tend to run 20-30% less than claimed.

 
You will find a thread somewhere in which i posted emails from most makers
stating how the measure their quoted flow rates.

I’m not sure what you mean by “customising”. But any messing with how the
filters are set up inevitably reduces their effectiveness.
Even changing the style of media has a significant effect.

 
 


 

 

[Zikofski]

hmm interesting you got the link to that post, i thought they tested it empty, just to get the numbers up, and yes different media do alter the LPH but when i mean customisable i do mean change media but i also mean changing where you place the media, like in my tetra tec's 1200 i have moved all the foam to the bottom and then the bio balls above that, but taken the carbon out and replaced it with filter floss, that sorta thing i prefer as carbon ads no value to the tank after a few weeks other than extra bio media.

 

[maurizio]

I read recently very bad news of Eheim. As an owner I'm happy with its working so far, but it turned out impossible to prime after I started it. But after reading that thread I'm freaking out.

 

[Yanks15]

I read recently very bad news of Eheim. As an owner I'm happy with its working so far, but it turned out impossible to prime after I started it. But after reading that thread I'm freaking out.

 
I believe there was a problem with earlier models made prior to a few years ago. Not exactly sure the date but if you have a relatively newer model, say 2 years old, they fixed that problem. There is a youtube video out explaining the issue. Hopefully you are in good shape.

 

[raptorrex]

hmm interesting you got the link to that post,

yes mate, its called a forum search.
 
its often funny how far "I thought it did" is from how things actually are.
 
its even more funny when someone posts ""i though it did" as facts. without even researching the subject.

 

[seeley82]

I have the Ehiem Ecco Pro 200 and I have had this running for 18 months now and I have had no problem at all with it, easy to maintain and very quiet. Also bagged a 3 year guarantee with it from my LFS so if anything should go wrong with it then its no biggy.
I also have the All Pond Solutions 1400+uv running and I have no problems with this, apart from the baskets are a little tricky to get out as there is not enough space between the basket and the wall of the filter other than that I have had no problems.

 

[uretsai]

Im using a eheim 2217, again. Never had any problems, and its very silent.