External Filters

[gbailey141]

Thanks bubble and onebto. You have given me food for thought.

Gav

 

[kaivalagi]

I ran a single ex1200 on a roma 125 tank just fine, with some mods to the spray bar to reduce flow pressure, but that's a 125L tank not 180L so you might be fine as is....if you have a £100 budget and the ex1200 will fit in the cabinet I would go for it...

 

[Harlequins]

I have a tetratec ex 700 & ex 1200 - i think they are both fab and easy to maintain...

 

[nmonks]

I have this exact tank, and initially used a Fluval 104 alongside the built-in Compact H filter. Eventually I got fed up with the built-in filter, which is a good biologically filter but really doesn't do much in terms of solid waste removal, so the tank kept looking murky. Ripped out the Compact H and added an Eheim 2217 alongside the Fluval 104. Together these provide 1480 litres/hour turnover, a bit over 8 times the volume of the tank per hour. That's about right for fish that like a halfway decent current and keeps the water nice and clear.

Eheim filters are far and away the best. I got the Eheim 2217 at Wildwoods, Enfield, where it was priced rather well, around £75 if I recall correctly. That included the hoses, taps, and filter media. The good thing with Eheim filters is they last a long time, and spares are easy to obtain should you need them. The other brands like Fluval and Tetra tend to be somewhat less reliable, though their price makes them attractive, no question there.

You can't easily take all the square media blocks from the Compact H and stuff them into a cylindrical canister filter. At least some canisters have compartments, though the "Classic" Eheim filters are really just buckets, and you could mix the Compact H sponges with some ceramic noodles and that should work pretty well. Otherwise, just run the canister in parallel with whatever filters you already have, and within a few weeks the media in the new canister will be filled with filter bacteria.

Cheers, Neale

I have a Juwel Rio 180 and I was looking at pricing up an extrnal cannister filter for it. I am new to the external side of things and wanted some help on which would be the best for my tank and also one which is reasonably quiet too. Do they normally come complete with all the hoses to set it up with? Also would it be a case of removing my media from the internal and squeezing it into the external?

 

[kaivalagi]

Granted the the Eheims has been around for a long time and have worthy reputation of being long lasting, but I do wonder since they are now made in China instead of Germany whether they'll continue to live up to the reputation.

The Tetratec filters have not been around too long to be able to give them the same prestige which Eheims have earned, they also had some early flaws in manufacture causing leaks which have since been resolved, but I do wonder whether they will have an equal reputation over the long term once they've been used for years to come...

I have certainly had no problems with mine and am very happy with the amount of media they can hold, the attachments, the flow rate and the cleaning capabilities.....and the price.

 

[nmonks]

I've used Fluval filters and happily recommend Sera filters, so I'm not a total snob about canister filters! But the Eheim "Classic" range has been shipping more or less unchanged since the late 80s, so any design flaws have long since been ironed out.

I get your point about Chinese quality control not necessarily being ideal, but I think that depends a lot on the company involved, and at their best the Chinese factories can crank out some top notch stuff (take, for example, the iPod). So far as I can tell, Eheim design remains German and the quality of what's shipped seems as good as ever.

I have no personal experience of the Tetra filters at all.

Cheers, Neale

 

[kaivalagi]

I by no means think of you as a Eheim snob Neale, they are great tried and tested filters and deserve all the praise they get. It's just, as you've pointed out, there are good viable alternatives that I think get missed out on because of the perception that Ehiems are the best. They're good but I think there are equally good filters (or better for the money) too from other manufacturers, it's just they haven't got the rep....yet.

Cheers

 

[gbailey141]

Thanks for your posts guys. A lot of usefull info to help me make up my mind.

Gav

 

[gbailey141]

Hi guys,

Just an update on the external filter. I ended up purchasing a JBL CristalProfi E900. The main reason was the othr half didn't want it outside the cabinet. The gap in my Rio 180 cabinet is only 20CM and the JBL is 18CM so fits pefectly. Got it all set up last night which was a breeze and so far I am very impressed. Lots of filter media supplied with it and it is also very quiet too. The unit I got had a certificate inside to say it had been selected from the production line as part of their random quality control and high pressure tested to ensure there were no leaks etc.

Thanks agin to all you guys who took the time to comment on post about what has worked for you.

Gav