Please Help Me Select A Filter

[craigwalsh]

Hi.

We have a salt water tank with three fish --- a clown fish, a small puffer fish, and a little blue fish. The tank has been maintained for us by the local aquarium store, but their prices for doing so have steadily increased. When we got to £90 a month (circa $160 per month) we decided we'd best do it ourselves.

Our tank is built into a wooden stand. The tank itself is 25 inches tall, and each of the six sides is 9 inches wide. My guessimate is that it holds about 125 liters of water.

There are no other aquarium stores in our immediate area, so we must travel about 35 miles to a larger store in a near-by city. We've purchased RO water, and my wife and I have managed not to spill too much of it. And (fingers crossed) the fish are still alive.

In trying to change the water, clean the filter, etc. last night, we managed to break a pin off of the side of our filter (an Eheim Ecco). So now the top won't stay shut/sealed.

And, naturally, the people who serviced our aquarium for many years did not leave the instruction manual for the filter --- or a manual for anything else.

Off we drove, and the folks in the distant shop sold us a Fluval 204 MSF filter to replace the broken Eheim Ecco.

Back we've come to home, and part of the Fluval is missing (the "O" ring and other parts). The box had been opened in the store, and I guess I should have known better. So we need to head back again tomorrow, up the motorway.

Before doing so, I was hoping folks could let me know about Fluval filters vs. Eheim filters. The store sold both -- and some other brands as well. Are they both of equal quality, or is there something to recommend one over the other? Or possibly one of the other brands?

If the Eheim filters are superior, I'm sure the store would take back the Fluval and sell me an Eheim. Or are they pretty much the same?

Thanks for your advice and suggestions.

Craig

 

[superman]

Hi.

We have a salt water tank with three fish --- a clown fish, a small puffer fish, and a little blue fish. The tank has been maintained for us by the local aquarium store, but their prices for doing so have steadily increased. When we got to £90 a month (circa $160 per month) we decided we'd best do it ourselves.

Our tank is built into a wooden stand. The tank itself is 25 inches tall, and each of the six sides is 9 inches wide. My guessimate is that it holds about 125 liters of water.

There are no other aquarium stores in our immediate area, so we must travel about 35 miles to a larger store in a near-by city. We've purchased RO water, and my wife and I have managed not to spill too much of it. And (fingers crossed) the fish are still alive.

In trying to change the water, clean the filter, etc. last night, we managed to break a pin off of the side of our filter (an Eheim Ecco). So now the top won't stay shut/sealed.

And, naturally, the people who serviced our aquarium for many years did not leave the instruction manual for the filter --- or a manual for anything else.

Off we drove, and the folks in the distant shop sold us a Fluval 204 MSF filter to replace the broken Eheim Ecco.

Back we've come to home, and part of the Fluval is missing (the "O" ring and other parts). The box had been opened in the store, and I guess I should have known better. So we need to head back again tomorrow, up the motorway.

Before doing so, I was hoping folks could let me know about Fluval filters vs. Eheim filters. The store sold both -- and some other brands as well. Are they both of equal quality, or is there something to recommend one over the other? Or possibly one of the other brands?

If the Eheim filters are superior, I'm sure the store would take back the Fluval and sell me an Eheim. Or are they pretty much the same?

Thanks for your advice and suggestions.

Craig

For the sake of keeping things simple and safe, I would go with the identical ehiem and transfer as much of the old ehiem's filter media over to the new ehiem.

 

[craigwalsh]

We discussed this with the gentleman in the aquarium store. The drawback to replacing with the same Ehim filter (and they had one that looked almost the same): are we going to have the same problem with the latch again? I'm not a mechanical engineering guru, but it does seem rather, er, "under-engineered" for me. It all depends upon a very tiny piece of plastic holding it together. And when we didn't have the two parts of the top seated just perfectly, we managed to break off the little tab of plastic.

It's difficult to maneuver, etc., in the little dark cupboard beneath the aquarium. We were as careful as possible --- two of us doing it. (One to hold the flashlight.)

The gentleman in the aquarium store gave us his advice on moving the filter media over to the new filter, along with some new filter material. Wouldn't that work?

The Fluval seemed to have an easier system to open and shut the filter, and to disconnect the hoses. But, without the "O" ring, we haven't had a chance to see it in actual operation.

 

[superman]

We discussed this with the gentleman in the aquarium store. The drawback to replacing with the same Ehim filter (and they had one that looked almost the same): are we going to have the same problem with the latch again? I'm not a mechanical engineering guru, but it does seem rather, er, "under-engineered" for me. It all depends upon a very tiny piece of plastic holding it together. And when we didn't have the two parts of the top seated just perfectly, we managed to break off the little tab of plastic.

It's difficult to maneuver, etc., in the little dark cupboard beneath the aquarium. We were as careful as possible --- two of us doing it. (One to hold the flashlight.)

The gentleman in the aquarium store gave us his advice on moving the filter media over to the new filter, along with some new filter material. Wouldn't that work?

The Fluval seemed to have an easier system to open and shut the filter, and to disconnect the hoses. But, without the "O" ring, we haven't had a chance to see it in actual operation.

If you are unhappy with the ehiem then go with a fluval, but as I stated before, move all media from the current ehiem to the new fluval.