waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
Hi Laz,
I don't recommend the heated versions of the Eheim Pros, only because I got very excited about them and was going to get one, but did a lot of research and found out (actually indirectly from an eheim distribution station) that the sensors they use for the thermostats have a problem with messing up if there is even a little bit of salt in the water. Now I don't ever plan to use salt, but there might be the time when I might want to use it as a treatment for a period or something, so this bothered me enough to switch away from the heater/"thermo" versions.
What I did instead was to use a Hydor inline heater that is inserted in the output tube from the external cannister filter. You slice the output tube and insert each end on the heater so the filtered return water passes through a glass chamber inside the Hydor and gets heated before it shoots out the spraybar and mixes throughout the tank. One of the main benefits is aesthetic, since there is no visible heater inside the tank spoiling the natural aquascape. It has worked very well.
The filter I use is an Eheim Pro, model 2222 external cannister. I was concerned about noise and RDD and many of the members who are in the hardware section helped me research this a lot and the result has been awesome for me. The thing is so silent I sometimes can't even feel vibration with my hand, much less hear anything, and yet when I lift the spraybar, there's a torrent of water coming out. Of course I can't speak to how long parts will last as I've only been using it a little over a year. When I did interact with Eheim to get some supplies early on, they arrived on my doorstep the next morning after my order. I am an advocate of lubricating all "O"-Rings at every monthly maintenance and taking the time to ensure they are placed back in position carefully after this maintenance.
Prior to this my experiences have only been with AquaClear HOB type filters, which were good for me, and then, going way back, I used every variation of the little clear plastic box filters that only had floss and carbon in them (in the 1960s, LOL)... I can not stress enough how lucky we are that those days are over!!! A cannister filter is light-years better than those old things.
So from the above it should be clear I do not have direct experience with TetraTeks, Renas, Fluvals or others, so I'll only make a couple comments. Small plastic mechanical/electrical devices such as the filters under discussion are indeed subject to design and manufacturing flaws that can widely effect their use and durability, but generalizing and talking about them can be quite confusing since the problems can happen on many levels, manufacturing "runs", particular model designs, "series designs" or even, rarely, broad decisions of an entire make. The other wild card is the owners, and, as anyone who has serviced things for the public knows, the variations in how people treat things is huge(!), sometimes behavioural, sometimes inadvertent. Being very gentle, patient and thorough with devices like this can sometimes make a significant difference over time.
I'll also attempt one comment on the people side of this thread. Over the last year or so I've so greatly enjoyed this forum and often get the feeling I've made good friends here among the members (I guess this would fall into the "bear hug attempt, right?) I believe I've had cases of appreciating comments and opinions from each and every one in this thread at points past. All of us have times when we're more outspoken than other times. There have been so many times when I've seen the firm, opinionated approach that MW takes be a much better help to beginners than, for instance, a more "wishy-washy" comment from me. Beginners, like all of us, eventually refine their own knowledge and opinions, but they're bound to get correct, incorrect and opinionated information from all of us initially. The very mechanics of the "web forum" idea seem to be working ok here, with multisided opinion being passed around among a bunch of us sitting at different places around the globe. Anyway, maybe with all our fellow members here, being gentle, patient and forgiving, like we've hopefully ended up here will help enrich our forum experience.
~~waterdrop~~
(was that too sappy?
)
)
) , I guess it all comes down to price then? 
