External Filter Advice

[Rubyuk]

Hello

My Juwel 180 Vision has been running 16 months now with the standard Juwel internal bio flo filter.

I'm looking to add an external and at the moment have on my list of 'possibles' the Tetratec EX1200 and the JBL E900.

Any views/experiences of these or indeed any better suggestions?

Cheers

 

[jacko32]

eheim 2217 plus is a much more well built filter and will last a lot longer without any problems

 

[kiriyama]

Eheim are good solid filters.
You get a lot of filter for your money with Tetratec, I have the EX700, very simple to set up and use, great filters

 

[Rubyuk]

Eheim are good solid filters.
You get a lot of filter for your money with Tetratec, I have the EX700, very simple to set up and use, great filters

Cheers guys

 

[OldMan47]

The Tetratech filters enjoy a fairly good reputation on this forum. I have never had one because they are not offered in the US under that name. I do have a Marineland C series filter that looks to me like a perfect twin to the tetratech and it does its job well. My favorite line of canister filters is the ones made by Rena. The XP series are very easy to use and even easier to clean and prime. They prime by simply opening the valve to the tank and waiting a few seconds for them to fill. They do not require the ongoing use of seal lubricants like some filters do and they just keep going and going. My oldest one is around 6 years old now and has had exactly no maintenance except routine cleaning every few months. I see lots of positive comments about the Eheim filters from people who have them. Around here they demand about a 50% premium to the same filter capacity in a Rena XP so until I find something wrong with a Rena, I will keep using them.

 

[Rubyuk]

The Tetratech filters enjoy a fairly good reputation on this forum. I have never had one because they are not offered in the US under that name. I do have a Marineland C series filter that looks to me like a perfect twin to the tetratech and it does its job well. My favorite line of canister filters is the ones made by Rena. The XP series are very easy to use and even easier to clean and prime. They prime by simply opening the valve to the tank and waiting a few seconds for them to fill. They do not require the ongoing use of seal lubricants like some filters do and they just keep going and going. My oldest one is around 6 years old now and has had exactly no maintenance except routine cleaning every few months. I see lots of positive comments about the Eheim filters from people who have them. Around here they demand about a 50% premium to the same filter capacity in a Rena XP so until I find something wrong with a Rena, I will keep using them.

Thank you,i'll look Rena up

 

[Rubyuk]

One thing I could do with clarity on guys given I've never had an external is how the water agitates the surface.

For my Juwel Internal Bio Flow the outlet pipe sits BELOW the water surface and you point it up at a slight angle towards the surface.

I watched a video on a well know site of a demo on how to set up an External and they had the water pouring out of the outlet pipe ABOVE the surface down onto the tank water.

Is that how you're supposed to set up an External or can/do you still set the outflow pipe up like for an internal ie beneath the surface?

Hope I've made that sound sense

 

[Ashley1991]

you can put the outflow piper where ever you like i put mine above the water when i first got it just to see what happens and it makes the current way too strong for my fish so i have it say slightly below the surface so it still ripples the water surface but does not break it

ash

edit: thats with a tetratec 1200

 

[Rubyuk]

you can put the outflow piper where ever you like i put mine above the water when i first got it just to see what happens and it makes the current way too strong for my fish so i have it say slightly below the surface so it still ripples the water surface but does not break it

ash

edit: thats with a tetratec 1200

Thanks Ashley.

How do you rate your Tetratec EX1200 as thats is one of the ones on my short list

 

[Ashley1991]

its great! it was second hand and still had no problems with it

good flow, you get a good amount of media with it but some can do with topping up

my water is clear and my fish are happy what more can you want

ash

 

[Rubyuk]

Does the tetratec or indeed any external filter have a regulator to control the flow like you'd have with an airstone to be able to either run at full flow or have a more gentle disurbance?

The only reason I ask is that as a result of oldmans reply I looked up the rena xp and that says it has a regulated which I've not seen mentioned with others

 

[arobinson1984]

Some external do have regulators other dont but can be regulated by controlling how much water flows through the pipes (for example, shutting valves halfway)

2 things to remember though if you want to regulate the flow:

1. It can often put extra stress on the filters motor if you restrict flow through pipes by closing valves etc (for filters without a built in regulator)
2. Why buy a powerful filter thats capable of filtering x amount of litres per hours then turn it down?


I also recommend the eheim 2217+ I have one running on my 33 gal tank, runs perfect with no probs, requires cleaning every 6 months, silent, with eheim I know I'll have reliability, and can be bought new in UK for about £80-90

The eheim has a spraybar outlet which fastens along one side of the tank and fires water out of several small holes, this provides maximum aeriation for the fish andthe spraybar can be positioned wither above water level (which I prefer as I like the 'waterfall type sound') or underneath the water level.



Andy

 

[Rubyuk]

Some external do have regulators other dont but can be regulated by controlling how much water flows through the pipes (for example, shutting valves halfway)

2 things to remember though if you want to regulate the flow:

1. It can often put extra stress on the filters motor if you restrict flow through pipes by closing valves etc (for filters without a built in regulator)
2. Why buy a powerful filter thats capable of filtering x amount of litres per hours then turn it down?


I also recommend the eheim 2217+ I have one running on my 33 gal tank, runs perfect with no probs, requires cleaning every 6 months, silent, with eheim I know I'll have reliability, and can be bought new in UK for about £80-90

The eheim has a spraybar outlet which fastens along one side of the tank and fires water out of several small holes, this provides maximum aeriation for the fish andthe spraybar can be positioned wither above water level (which I prefer as I like the 'waterfall type sound') or underneath the water level.



Andy

Cheers Andy

 

[kiriyama]

Just to add on the spraybar, this was a new one to me, on the video it sprayed water from above , I loved the sound but wanted to use the bathroom a lot lol, I then had it at one side of the tank moving water across the tank but my fish hated it, think they felt like salmon climbing up the stream, I have it going across the rear of the tank with the holes facing forward and upward at a 45 degree angle, nice agitation, as for flow you can adjust the input and ouput but I imagine it would put strain on it..... No problems so far though, happy hunting

 

[Rubyuk]

Just to add on the spraybar, this was a new one to me, on the video it sprayed water from above , I loved the sound but wanted to use the bathroom a lot lol, I then had it at one side of the tank moving water across the tank but my fish hated it, think they felt like salmon climbing up the stream, I have it going across the rear of the tank with the holes facing forward and upward at a 45 degree angle, nice agitation, as for flow you can adjust the input and ouput but I imagine it would put strain on it..... No problems so far though, happy hunting

Thanks Kiriyama

I was planning on placing it at the rear facing forwards when I finally decide which one to go for