External Filter

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chesterjohn

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I have a Juwel Rio 240 aquarium and was thinking that an external filter to sit in the cabinet would make my tank larger and look much nicer, however I have no idea what I would need to do it.

What filter would be a good choice?
Where is the intake generally positioned? High or low in the tank?
Would everything needed to set it up come with the filter or would hosing and fittings etc be needed?
What would be the best way to go about the change? Run 2 filters at the same time or add the old media into the external?
Also, could the heater be placed in the external filter or would this have to remain in the tank?
 
i have the fluval 305 & 405 both seem fine !! belive that ehiem external filters have heaters in them !!

http://www.eheim.de/eheim/inhalte/index.jsp?id=24901&lang=en

http://www.cascadebitz.com/Aquarium-Filters-External/Fluval-405-External-Filter-p-527.html
 
Hi, I did my Jewel 260 at Christmas, it looks great without the big black box!!

I nearly went for the FX5 filter but luckily mearsured it first
blush.gif
, I went for the Rena XP4 big quiet filter at a good price also, I ran them both for a month - had to leave the flap up slightly until I removed the black box. The input is at the top/back/left using a shower bar and the collecter is at the rear right with a low pickup - very discreet.

I had a good quantity of ceramic rings in the original filter which I added to the XP4 and didn't see a change in parameters at all, still using the Jewel heater which is hidden behind plants and working fine.

I would post a pic but you can see pattened wallpaper at the back (am trying to locate a suitable black background)
 
I have an Eheim Ecco Pro 300 which is fantastic, comes with everything, pipes, hoses, connections, media, everything you need to get going. Self priming, virtually silent and VERY low power at only 8 watts, which is a lot lower than others that often run at 20+ watts. Only certain filters in the Eheim range have heaters built in and they have a significant cost attached to them. I have a Fluval M series heater that looks really good in the tank, but once the fish are in, you stop noticing the kit when there are other things to look at and plants start to grow.

You can get various add-ons to alter positions and depth of inflow and outflow pipes, they are cheap and make a huge difference, mine has three different angles of outflow into the tank to create currents and surface aggitation, also means I am not getting hot or cold spots in the tank. There are also options for different spray bars, surface skimmers etc
 
I was warned against the Eccos. I just got an Eheim 2215; it's brill. Completely silent and efficient :good:
 
There are Eccos and Ecco Pro's, I have heard nothing but good things about the pro version (which I am running) and from my experience it is an amazing filter, but saying that I know a few people that run Eheims of diffrent descriptions, from the basic range up to the Pro electronic versions and have never heard a bad thing about any of them. I my opinion I don't think you'll go far wrong with any of the range, I guess it's down to tank size and budget at the end of the day.
 
Does anyone have any other recommended filters? I can get an Ecco pro 300 for my tank, although a flow rate of 750 l/h sounds fairly low for a 300 litre tank...

The thermo filters are too expensive when I can surely hide the filter along the back of the tank. Where can I get suction pads that will be the correct diameter for a Juwel heating element?
 
i have just removed my Juwel filter, it was really easy to do. I used a decorators knife and just slid it behind the filter. It came straight off. The media was then transferred into my new external, which i'm very very impressed with!

http://www.allpondsolutions.co.uk/aquarium-filters/aquarium-external-filters.html

i bought the 1000ef for my 190ltr and it works a treat. As you can see it goes upto 2000lph. They're used by quite a few members on here and to be honest you won't find that many bad reviews.
 

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