Allpondsolutions External Filters ?

[hamfist]

http/www.allpondsolutions.co.uk/aquarium-external-filters-773-0.html

Anyone ever used or experienced these in any way ?? They are very cheap ! Methinks too cheap !

 

[rdp50734]

http/www.allpondsolutions.co.uk/aquarium-external-filters-773-0.html

Anyone ever used or experienced these in any way ?? They are very cheap ! Methinks too cheap !

yeah I run one on my 200l and its great very quiet and does a good job! I'd recommend them to anyone!

 

[Defiance]

Hiya's,

Got 2 of the 2000ef ones in my 150g tank

Mother has 1 2000ef for her rio 240

Great value, work great,quiet too (make sure you wiggle if you get any trapped air then it really is darn quiet if not silent)

Not a single problem between the 3 of them

The impeller is nice as it has the ceramic rod, so really not much to go wrong on them

Would recommend to anyone, the amount of media included will do a decent job from the get-go but i did buy some ceramic/bio-balls when i ordered the last filter

Tony

 

[hamfist]

Excellent news guys. Thanks !

I ordered two today. One 2000 and One 1400lph.

If they really are pretty good, then we need to spread the word about them. The 2000lph model, in particular, is amazing value, and it's main direct competitor is the FX5, which is double it's price !

 

[OldMan47]

Let's not forget that there is a lot more to a filter than its advertised throughput and its design capacity. Some of the things worth considering when selecting a filter include its reliability, the availability of spare parts, the included media etc. I myself have a strong prejudice for a cheaper setup but will not even consider something with little or no history and without knowing what comes with a filter. That means that, although I am willing to be close to the leading edge of a new product, I will seldom be the first customer. Please be careful committing your hard earned cash to an unproven product.

 

[hamfist]

Let's not forget that there is a lot more to a filter than its advertised throughput and its design capacity. Some of the things worth considering when selecting a filter include its reliability, the availability of spare parts, the included media etc. I myself have a strong prejudice for a cheaper setup but will not even consider something with little or no history and without knowing what comes with a filter. That means that, although I am willing to be close to the leading edge of a new product, I will seldom be the first customer. Please be careful committing your hard earned cash to an unproven product.

It's not exactly a shot in the dark. I know already that the basic design is the same as Tetratec filters, which are generally well thought of.
The company claim to have all spare parts in stock, at very competitive prices. The included media would just be a bonus, as I will probably just use quality media that I have already.
I don't think the risk is too high. Anyway, time will tell. Nothing else will.

 

[OldMan47]

If you choose to go with them, please come back in a couple of months and let us all know how well or poorly it is working. It is what we all need to use the internet to do, we get to find out what the ads never tell us, by talking to each other.

 

[mdallen]

I've also recently bought one of these a week ago, no probs so far but was a bit concerned about only being able to get parts direct from them so what i think i'll do is order a spare seal "just in case" i cant get one later as there often the thing that goes wrong with filters (or have for me).

Gotta say its a very good filter so far though (i got the 1400 with UV light in it)

 

[Defiance]

Hiya's,

Sorry to keep spouting bout these but i saw OM47's post

Out of 3 of the 2000ef's (1 running my moms rio 240 tank, other 2 now running my 150g tank)

Got my moms in february, going fine and not long did a clean, slight brown gunge as usual i guess around pump impeller but nothing like a pond pump that's been in service for as long, this is running fine and quiet with no signs of impeller shaft wear

My first i think it was early march or might of been late feb, again going fine n quiet with no need to clean yet (i posted in the new fishtank so the date would be there)

My second was part cycled in a spare tank and is now running with my first in the large 150g tank, again darn quiet (again, posted in the new fishtank so date for this would be there somewheres)

Now as for performance/head etc

All stats given by manufacturers are basicly as far as i was told and have managed to find out go somert like this ...........

Max flow is from the very initial outlet from the pump (so in this case no tubing etc) and at sea level (so really zero head and no obsticles eg: pipe/tubing/bends etc etc)

Now as soon as you try to shove water or any liquid up this head-rating drops quite a bit, the obvious thing is to have the cannister as far up close to the inlet/suction-side of the pipework as possible without going above this level (hope that makes sense)

I look at things in the easiest light i can, murphys law really, if it's gonna happen it will instantly or just as the warranty passes lol

Thus far my moms 2000ef has done a continual 5mth run needing only 1 quick clean of the impeller and a new top floss layer (actually i swapped it out today as i needed some media to shove in a small filter for a friend)

My 1st 2000ef is not far behind hers time-wise being run and again is doing fine n dandy

So for me after checking the impeller which is usually in my experience the only would-be problem area i really cannot fault these, then again like anything people buy, you will get horror stories of this item is crud etc (don't most posts about items happen by having a faulty item ? )

If i or rather we do get a failure or problem you can rest assured i'll post about it especially if its withing the warranty time he he

And nope, nothing to do with allpondsolutions, just like to praise something that's 50% cheaper than what i see as an equivelant filter

(i see on the ebay site they have now added the filter floss layers so no need to contact them to get them as now you can just order as per other items)

So in my moms case and mine, these seem great value and great filters

Tony

 

[hamfist]

Glad to hear that you're getting on well with yours Tony.

I received my two filters yesterday. I set them both up to run on a tub of water just to check everything was OK, and to see what was included in the package.

Well, first of all I was fairly impressed by the general quality of the whole units. The quality of the plastic mouldings is a bit slipshod in places, but not where it counts, whih is the most important point.
Please bear in mind that all the external filters I own, and have owned in the past, have all been Eheim units, so I have been spoilt, for sure.
These APS filters certainly do have the feel of a unit that will last a reasonably long time. I would expect some years of good use from these by the general "feel" and impression I get of them.

The included media is fairly minimal, a bit of filter foam/floss, two great big carbon bags (fairly useless of course), a smallish amount of ceramic biomedia and a small number of plastic bioballs. To get the best out of these filters one definately needs to add media. Having said that, they are definately useable as is, and one could upgrade the media in the future.

Fixtures and fittings ...... A bit mean on tubing - about 2 x 2m lengths of hose. Intake is a fairly standard "Eheim-like" grid thing. Output is via a very reasonable spraybar. Rigid plastic U-bends for output and intake. Two suction cups per filter.

The actual pump outputs seem pretty good. Pretty much as advertised (with the included media in situ).

My main gripe with these units is noise. The 1400 lph unit was acceptable, but definately a noticeable amount louder than any of my Eheim Classics.

The 2000 lph unit was much noisier and , even though functionally it will do the job, I am concerned that I will get pee'd off with the noise in the long-term.

I am not going to be using these filters in anger for a few weeks until my new 500 litre tank arrives, so i'll give further feedback after I've lived with them for a while.

But generally, my first thoughts are that these are astonishingly good value for money, so long as noise is not a key factor for you. Of course, your mileage may vary, and the nature of cheaper electrical items like this is that the components (especially the transformers) are extremely variable and that some units may well be very quiet whilst others are noisy.

 

[Defiance]

Hiya,

I found after leaving a fresh filter on for an hour or so then tilting back/forward/side/side etc carefully and slowly really made mine quieter to the point i don't notice them, obviously on new setups the trapped air slowly comes out from the media etc and then forms a nice bubble just dodging being sucked in by the impeller, also you could try this ..........

Carefully remove the impeller, on the plastic business end if you can see/feel any moulding sharps just back scrape them off with a stanley blade or use some fine wet/dry paper, my thinking is that maybe some impellers get sent out with sharps/edge mouldings etc so might cause a vibration and obviously noise

I don't have the best hearing in the world though, but mine so far have been real quiet (never had externals to compare lol, but have used many many of their pumps and i rate them at the top)

I hear what you're saying about the pipework, was lack lustre to be honest, but i have had no leaks whatsoever and i make my own pipework layouts so i don't use what's included, i just keep stored just in case i might someday need it, to add though i set my moms 2000ef up and it's fine using the spray bar/green tubing

The cheaper components nowadays don't worry me as much as yester-year when anything foreign was a real el-cheapo 2 week wonder lol, nowadays i've found generally if somerts gonna fubar it will either very quickly or as said after warranty he he, that said though i do like my name brands for certain things but thought for the money it was worth a try

Post back as you say later on and give us your verdict

More people posting who use these would broaden the good/bad points, get a better concensus so to speak

Well, hope all goes well, and enjoy your new tank

Tony

 

[rdp50734]

I use the 1400 I think its very quiet much quieter than the rena xp2 which I also run! The APS filter is almost silent for me I have to put my ear against it to ensure its working! It was noisier at first but that was trapped air! My hoses were a bit too long and the air got trapped in them too, and I couldn't prime the tank! But now I would recommend them to anyone!

 

[hamfist]

Hiya,

I found after leaving a fresh filter on for an hour or so then tilting back/forward/side/side etc carefully and slowly really made mine quieter to the point i don't notice them, obviously on new setups the trapped air slowly comes out from the media etc and then forms a nice bubble just dodging being sucked in by the impeller, also you could try this ..........

Carefully remove the impeller, on the plastic business end if you can see/feel any moulding sharps just back scrape them off with a stanley blade or use some fine wet/dry paper, my thinking is that maybe some impellers get sent out with sharps/edge mouldings etc so might cause a vibration and obviously noise

I don't have the best hearing in the world though, but mine so far have been real quiet (never had externals to compare lol, but have used many many of their pumps and i rate them at the top)

It definately wasn't air noise, as I certainly got it all out. Sounded like transformer hum to me. I will get the impeller out and check for any rough edges though. Thanks for the tip !

 

[elaine128]

i`m interested in bying one of these but not sure what size to go for,tank is rio 240 any ideas please

 

[hamfist]

i`m interested in bying one of these but not sure what size to go for,tank is rio 240 any ideas please

If you are going to add it to the Juwel's internal filter then either the 1000 or 1400 externals would be great. If budget is pushed, get the smaller. Otherwise I'd get the 1400. The 2000 would be overkill, would use more electricity than you need to, potentially cause too much water flow for your fish and (in my experience) could well be much noisier.