Best External Filter

[syder]

Anybody got any suggestions on whats the best external filter would be for a 236gal freshwater tank would be ?.

was looking at the FX5 Fluval anygood ?,

 

[KittyKat]

You'd probably want a few filters or a sump. I heard that the FX5s were ok: high on mechanical media, low on bio media.. but also that they don't even come close to the rated output, are loud and power hungry.. price is good tho. Personally, I would get Eheims all the way. Low power consumption, come closer to rated output, pre-filters, lots of bio-media.

 

[Liam50]

firstly i would like to know how people judge bio filter and mechanical filter? secondly i would say surely a filters biological capability should be judged on the volume of media it holds as example if you fill an eheim with sponges it won't do as well as a fx5 filled with ceramics and such. sorry for semi hijacking the thread its just i was curious about how people judge bio and mechanical filtering. finally back to the topic i would go for perhaps one eheim and one fluval. as then you should be getting a good balance of both. but if i was you i would build a sump.

 

[syder]

firstly i would like to know how people judge bio filter and mechanical filter? secondly i would say surely a filters biological capability should be judged on the volume of media it holds as example if you fill an eheim with sponges it won't do as well as a fx5 filled with ceramics and such. sorry for semi hijacking the thread its just i was curious about how people judge bio and mechanical filtering. finally back to the topic i would go for perhaps one eheim and one fluval. as then you should be getting a good balance of both. but if i was you i would build a sump.

Is building a sump easy then or would buying one be easier , and is it true that they need less maintenance then the canisters do depending on the size of the sump or have heard wrong .

 

[dave_oddballs]

hi, i run 2 eheim pro3 2080 externals on my 285 gallon and feel its not really enough, i will be adding another, and at £400 each its not a cheap thing to do.
I just sold my 4 foot tank that had an fx5 and comparing pump output the eheims couldnt touch it. The fx5 chucked out twice as much water as the eheims. The fx5 was a bit noisyer, but not bad. Money wise id go for a couple of fx5's and better flow in my experience. Obviously sumps are better and cheaper but that choice depends totally on what you want. Sumps are earier to maintain as they are open top so removing/changing or cleaning media is easy as opposed to taking an external apart to clean it.

 

[syder]

cheers the for help people appreciated

 

[seanec]

ex 1200 is gd ive gt ex700 in mine

 

[bitteraspects]

The FX5 is the best canister on the market for large tanks.

Asbfor the media question. There is no such thing as only mechanical media.FYI.