Which Filter Should I Purchase?

[zephi]

Hi everyone,
I need some help choosing a filter for my tank. I'm looking for a small external canister filter for my 20 gallon tank.
I need some recommendations for some cheap, low flow rate (under 500l/h), and reliable filter. I was looking at the Fluval 105, does anyone know if this filter is any good?

Thanks, any input will be highly appreciated.

 

[lyotim88]

y do you want a canister filter? personally i swear by aquaclears

 

[zephi]

y do you want a canister filter? personally i swear by aquaclears

It's just my preference, my grandparents use an aquaclear, it's good but its not my sorta filter.

 

[OldMan47]

I run a Rena XP1 on small tanks like that.

 

[8inary]

whilst i have not had this filter myself, i hear as Oldman says, Rena XP1 are a good choice for smaller tanks

 

[Truck]

tetra tec ex 600/700

rena xp1

avoid fluvals because 5 out of 7 reviews on the fluval 05 range are bad( leaking, taps breaking etc)

 

[Davo86]

Agreed with truck, go for a Tetratec EX700, ill set ou back about £55 if you look around and will be more reliable than any of the fluval 04 series

or the eheim classic 2213 if you don't mind self priming

 

[Lazerus]

Ha,ha...just laughing here as there was a very 'colourful' discussion on external filters just the other day ....you might want to pop over to that thread and have read. It covers all of the questions I asked anyway....you might have a few questions of your own.

I have a 22gal and I'm going with an Eheim External Filter Professional Complete Special Edition Model 2222

Here is the link.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=273201

 

[raptorrex]

if you are looking for 500lph, the tetraEX700 will fail, it makes 350lph at best.

the XP1 makes 500lph and the Ehein2224 makes the same.

both seem around the same price, £90-100 inc media. to me that makes the choice simple.

 

[waterdrop]

if you are looking for 500lph, the tetraEX700 will fail, it makes 350lph at best.

the XP1 makes 500lph and the Ehein2224 makes the same.

both seem around the same price, £90-100 inc media. to me that makes the choice simple.

Yes, I agree with this principle that you do not have to worry about published flow rate exceeding or even meeting what it says usually. I was worried about blowing fish around but in practice the real flow from the filter will probably seem less than you thought and probably would measure less than expected from the specs (the tech reasons for this have been discussed over the years in threads on TFF.) If you can afford it you can usually go above spec on flow rate and come out happier in the long run.

And of course flow rate is the only somewhat justifiable worry I think, as more media volume is just better, better, better (well, I suppose a ridiculously over-sized filter could be considered too much cleaning work and expense that is simply not needed.. but in nature the fish are essentially experiencing more or less infinite filter volume if you think about it.)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[raptorrex]

if you are looking for 500lph, the tetraEX700 will fail, it makes 350lph at best.

the XP1 makes 500lph and the Ehein2224 makes the same.

both seem around the same price, £90-100 inc media. to me that makes the choice simple.

Yes, I agree with this principle that you do not have to worry about published flow rate exceeding or even meeting what it says usually. I was worried about blowing fish around but in practice the real flow from the filter will probably seem less than you thought and probably would measure less than expected from the specs (the tech reasons for this have been discussed over the years in threads on TFF.) If you can afford it you can usually go above spec on flow rate and come out happier in the long run.

And of course flow rate is the only somewhat justifiable worry I think, as more media volume is just better, better, better (well, I suppose a ridiculously over-sized filter could be considered too much cleaning work and expense that is simply not needed.. but in nature the fish are essentially experiencing more or less infinite filter volume if you think about it.)

~~waterdrop~~

lol yep, all i was trying to do was get the flow to, roughly 5X real. and whilst some worry about water "current", few who get to 5x find it a problem. dwell time would be a problem if you add a different pump to an exsisting design. but buying a "pre" made filter, not so much. i wish i could answer the TOO much BIO media question. logic says if it is spread too thin, the bacteria may not work effectivl. and if it is consentrated in one place it could effect how long the water is in contact with the bacteria. i have yet to come across someone who has had an "overfiltered" tank crash. but perhaps they just dont admit it.

 

[waterdrop]

if you are looking for 500lph, the tetraEX700 will fail, it makes 350lph at best.

the XP1 makes 500lph and the Ehein2224 makes the same.

both seem around the same price, £90-100 inc media. to me that makes the choice simple.

Yes, I agree with this principle that you do not have to worry about published flow rate exceeding or even meeting what it says usually. I was worried about blowing fish around but in practice the real flow from the filter will probably seem less than you thought and probably would measure less than expected from the specs (the tech reasons for this have been discussed over the years in threads on TFF.) If you can afford it you can usually go above spec on flow rate and come out happier in the long run.

And of course flow rate is the only somewhat justifiable worry I think, as more media volume is just better, better, better (well, I suppose a ridiculously over-sized filter could be considered too much cleaning work and expense that is simply not needed.. but in nature the fish are essentially experiencing more or less infinite filter volume if you think about it.)

~~waterdrop~~

lol yep, all i was trying to do was get the flow to, roughly 5X real. and whilst some worry about water "current", few who get to 5x find it a problem. dwell time would be a problem if you add a different pump to an exsisting design. but buying a "pre" made filter, not so much. i wish i could answer the TOO much BIO media question. logic says if it is spread too thin, the bacteria may not work effectivl. and if it is consentrated in one place it could effect how long the water is in contact with the bacteria. i have yet to come across someone who has had an "overfiltered" tank crash. but perhaps they just dont admit it.

Yes, very interesting comment,lol. I could see that. There might indeed eventually be a problem with the bacteria being "too spread out" but then again, we might just never get close to that with even our largest sumps, so its probably only a hypothetical question I suppose, but interesting. There's an interesting related thought I've had a couple times that I'll "run by ya": I sometimes get this feeling from helping with all the dozens of cycles here each week that perhaps ... larger media volume filters have a different feedback curve for us.. they seem to take longer to show a drop in ammonia and nitrite but then, somewhat late, to just go "boom" and drop to zero very solidly and "never look back" so to speak. Do you get me? Does it make sense what I'm saying? Its sort of like the colonies are maybe more spread out and take longer to become fully functioning but then when the do, they are larger and the suddenly begin processing in a larger way than a smaller media volume filter. What d'ya think? (as usual, no controlled evidence, which if we had it might show I'm just making it up in my mind, lol)

Part of the thing that keeps me interested is that I've been reading articles on bacteriology in some of the college textbooks and the odd micro-biology journals here and there and there's a lot of interesting work going on about "the structure of biofilms." The thrust of these bits of work is that where we used to think that the bacteria just randomly grab hold of a surface and that the biofilm was just a sticky collection mostly of their waste and stuff, the thinking now is that there is much more structure and function than previously thought. There are actual little channels formed to allow better oxygenated water flow through to a greater mass of the bacterial cells than would otherwise be possible. And the biofilms are found to really be like little teeming communities of various slightly different species of bacteria competing with each other. Its a little war in there ( )!! [Did you know that there's some other research that speculates that our human appendices are actually special biofilm storage devices serving an evolutionary function? (your appendix holds a ton of biofilms of course.) ]

~~waterdrop~~ (too much coffee, sorry!)

 

[foley69]

avoid fluvals because 5 out of 7 reviews on the fluval 05 range are bad( leaking, taps breaking etc)

thats not entirely right if you look after your filter properly then why would it leak or break ??? IME fluval filters are good sufficient filters if looked after

sorry to break the convo

 

[Truck]

you can look after them like loads of people do (lubing the O-ring etc) and they still fail...unfortunately outside the warranty

 

[8inary]

whos bashing fluvals again!! 'rolls up sleeves' right, whos first lol - haha joking of course.

agrees with foley, look after your stuff and it will last, plus, too many people are all too ready to diss one product, when they are basing their views from what others have said, or merely just bad experience themselves

run fluvals from day one, not had problems, however have had issues with ehiems! and some other makes, fluvals have been good to me, so i rate them