Help! Can't decide!! Vote! Eheim 4+ 350 or Fluval 307

Help!!

Have been trying to decide which external filter to buy but over the last few weeks I still have not made up my mind!!

First off, I have bought a brand new Juwel Vision 180, still in the box as am still redoracting the room where this tank is going, and have ordered a new solid oak large sideboard for the tank to sit on as I do not like much the stand that juwel makes, so it will be a few more weeks before the tank will be set up properly.

A couple of generic screenshots from website below to show what the tank looks like and dimensions too

Tank is 180 litres / 47.5 US Gals.






Now, I will be taking out the standard internal filter off the tank and taking out the standard heater that goes inside the filter as well, so these will probably be put up for sale for a couple of quid in future maybe.

The heater will either be a Hydor External heater 300w or a Fluval E series 300w, thinking more likly will be the Fluval E series will be the one as it has a nice temperature display that easy to see as ewll as the fact ive had one before I liked the build quality of these, and not too badly priced either, around the £40 mark.

The filter I plan to have instead will be a external canister filter, one grade up from the standard size for this tank as I like to do this and this will provide better water turnover and media capacity, have always done thng like this.

My dillemma is, over the couple of weeks or so is that I still have not decided which filter I actually want as I like both brands.

Eheim Professional 4+ 350 or a Fluval 307 (or possibly the 407).

The eheims, I have been a fan of them for years and years but their build quality has been declining a bit over the last 10 - 15 years imho, so they are not quite as good as they were. But still a very good brand nonetheless.

I've always kind of liked the Fluval brands, not the best but pretty good value for the money as cheaper than Eheim products.

What I would like is to hear opinions from other on what they think as well as the folks who have actually owned eheim or fluval externals and their thoughts on build quality.

What I will do is have a list side by side for comarision so you can easily compare, as well as for myself actually!

Eheim Professional 4+ 350 || Fluval 307

For aquariums of about : 180 Litres || 90 Litres
For aquariums up to approx : 350 Litres || 330 Litres
Pump power (50 Hz): 1050 L / h || 1150 L / h
Power (50 Hz) to : 16 Watt || 15 Watt
Container volume : 7.4 Litres || 7.3 Litres
Filter volume : 5.0 Litres || 4.5 Litres
Pre filter volume : 0.5 Litres || 0.8 Litre
Height: 398 mm || 420 mm
Width: 238 mm || 180 mm
Depth: 244 mm || 240 mm

Price approx : £163 || £130 (£177 for 407)
Warranty : 3 years || 3 years limited + 2 years on registation


So both are fairly similar in sizes and power etc though am uncertain of the power litre per hour is at full filter media capacity or without.

I've been reading loads of reviews as well, lots of plus and minuses on both brands, negatives mainly on broken handles and priming buttons.




Thoughts?
Opinions?
Other brands or filters to consider perhaps?

EDIT - changed text colours to more easily distinguish between the two brands

Love your list and planning I'm so excited to see your tank build so please do keep a journal.

I don't have experience with external heaters or filters. The Fluval E Series heater is great though. With a black background it's very discreet but so easy to keep an eye on the temp. I also like that it flashes blue or red of too cold/hot as it catches your eye.

That's my tuppence.

I've two Eheim filters. Easy to use, easy set up, easy to take apart. No idea about longevity as their about 20 days in operation.

Best of luck with the set up and the redecorating.

AilyNC said:

Love your list and planning I'm so excited to see your tank build so please do keep a journal.

I don't have experience with external heaters or filters. The Fluval E Series heater is great though. With a black background it's very discreet but so easy to keep an eye on the temp. I also like that it flashes blue or red of too cold/hot as it catches your eye.

That's my tuppence.

I've two Eheim filters. Easy to use, easy set up, easy to take apart. No idea about longevity as their about 20 days in operation.

Best of luck with the set up and the redecorating.

Click to expand...

Thank you!

Yes, I know what you mean about seeing the E series heater showing green, blue or red depending on temperature so it makes it so easy at a glance to see whats happening.

Yeah, Eheims generally are quite easy to use and for maintenances but as are Fluvals to put it bluntly hence my dilemma!

I have a old Eheim 350, the first professional series, still got it somewhere actually and is in really good nick for its age, was given it free, am planning to keep that as a backup in case new filter has problems.

I was looking at Oase Biomasters but theyre pricey!
They have another range with built-in heater:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01HZYWE9I/?tag=
Slightly lower flow compared to the eheim and fluval - 1000L/H
(Although you should probably half the L/Hr that they state)

mbsqw1d said:

I was looking at Oase Biomasters but theyre pricey!
They have another range with built-in heater:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01HZYWE9I/?tag=
Slightly lower flow compared to the eheim and fluval - 1000L/H
(Although you should probably half the L/Hr that they state)

Click to expand...

Decent little recommendation, I have had a Oase external before, just a tiny small one HoB canister which I used as an extra fiter for polishing the water, quite decent little filter for the money actually.

Just looked up Oase Biomasters 350, hmm not bad, at £195 online, a little more than the two an already looking at but its an unknown quality forme at that price, not discounting it completely mind you, will have a more detailed look at that soon and see whats different about it for that price.

I agree about the l/hr, thats why I mentioned if unsure if this rated with or without filter media, but I always kind of thought eheims actually usually rate their filters WITH the media. But not 100% certain to be entirely honest

Thinking I might set this up as a poll so folks can vote..............

Decided, sod it, I'll put it to the vote, probably won't get much votes either way but you never know!

EDIT - If you vote for "other" please state which external filter you would like to suggest.

Ch4rlie said:

Decided, sod it, I'll put it to the vote, probably won't get much votes either way but you never know!

Click to expand...

I'm just laughing because my poll yesterday was a disaster. I can't do a poll so was just me and @ClownLurch

AilyNC said:

I'm just laughing because my poll yesterday was a disaster. I can't do a poll so was just me and @ClownLurch

Click to expand...

Probably this one will also end up going the same way!!

Ch4rlie said:

Probably this one will also end up going the same way!!

Click to expand...

Put in an option for "just here to show support but I've zero experience with these filters"

I have an Oase Biomaster Thermo on my tank and Im really impressed. The inbuilt heater is dead easy to use and it is the easiest filter ever to clean. The pre filter (all your sponges) are in a separate chamber that just unlocks with one clip, then you pull it out, take the sponges out rinse them and put them back. I have found you need to do this more regularly than other filters but it is so easy that I actualy do it. They do the 600 and the 850 for bigger tanks

I've heard bad things about Ehiem recently - aparantly they have moved production from Germany to China and they are not the same quality they were before. I've had the FX range from Fluval before but again heard leaky issues with the non FX range (though I did have an FX5 leak on me once).

Wills

Wills said:

I have an Oase Biomaster Thermo on my tank and Im really impressed. The inbuilt heater is dead easy to use and it is the easiest filter ever to clean. The pre filter (all your sponges) are in a separate chamber that just unlocks with one clip, then you pull it out, take the sponges out rinse them and put them back. I have found you need to do this more regularly than other filters but it is so easy that I actualy do it. They do the 600 and the 850 for bigger tanks

I've heard bad things about Ehiem recently - aparantly they have moved production from Germany to China and they are not the same quality they were before. I've had the FX range from Fluval before but again heard leaky issues with the non FX range (though I did have an FX5 leak on me once).

Wills

Click to expand...

That sounds good, which biomaster is the one you speak of exactly?

There are a few Oase Biomasters online and despite being a little more expensive seems not a bad choice.

Really like the idea of the separate chamber to easily remove the sponge media to do the maintenance rinses.

Ah, have Eheim moved their production to China?

Presumably for cheaper mass production.
That would explain a lot for their quality being down compared to years ago as I mentioned in my earlier post.

And I too have read some reviews of some leaks occurring with their range, mainly to do with main O rings failure and hose connectors cracking but not so much of it though.

Interesting.

I have the bio master thermo 350 on 100 litres think it does 1100lph

George seems to like em!

Wills said:

I have the bio master thermo 350 on 100 litres think it does 1100lph

Click to expand...

Will definitely now look into that and will also look into George Farmer’s website on his opinion on those Oase filters, that will be a good read I think, thanks @mbsqw1d

@Wills, am assuming you will vote down for ‘other’, can you do that vote just to complete that bit for me. Thanks