I just bought my first two externals a few months ago. 2 eheim pro II 2028's for my 125 gallon tank....fingers crossed nothing will happen....I'm scared now One leaked a little when I first got it....well kinda a lot, but all I needed was an O-ring and now everything seems good. They were second hand and had been sitting for awhile, so I think that's why the O-ring dried out.
Yeah you guys are scaring me. I am in the pre-setup stage of a 180 gallon oscar tank and i built my own filter. Its high capacity with a 3x exchange rate made from 3 4"x12" pvc pipes and pumped with a quiet one 2200 (550 gph). I know it has a few leaks, but it's not more than a cup per day. I keep both parts in buckets. I hope i didnt waste all that money on this.