Fluval 105 Or 205?

[tubthumped]

Hi all - I'm setting up my new 90l at the minute and want to upgrade from my Fluval U2 internal to an external.

I have access to a good discount supplier of Fluval filters so will be sticking to either a 105 or 205.

Will a 105 be adequate for my tank?
Would a 205 be too much for my tank? I'm a little concerned that the 205 will give me too much current in my tank, as I have a fighter in there and he's not a big fan of strong waterflow.

Many thanks in advance for your replies.
Craig

 

[three-fingers]

I have a 105 on a 70L and find it well more than adequate for hundreds of shrimp, thusands of various snails, 2 bristlenose plecs, 1 whiptail catfish, 4 hillstream loaches and a small goldfish.

A 205 would be better, even if the biological/mechanical filtration cpacity would be met by the 105, the 205's extra flow rate would benefit the tank a lot (especially if you have plants) and wouldn't be too much for the betta at all (even if it was, you can turn it down) .

 

[rabbut]

Tetratec EX700. Eheim 2026 or Rena XP2. Fluval's externals aren't worth the plastic they are made of IMO. Your supplier would have to discount them to a point where they are paying me to take it off their hands before I'd be interested Fluvals internals are the best about, shame they didn't put the same thought and build-quality into their external range

 

[sjolliff]

+1
My fluval 205 leaked after a few days
iv now got an tetratec EX1200 10 times better IMO

 

[three-fingers]

While my Fluval 105 and 305 have been flawless and coped with very heavy fish loads...

Fluval 305 for over 2 and a half years and 105 for over a year.

Clean the 305 out around every 4 months now though I dont need to. Never had to clean the 105 once and have only ever opened it when I need to use carbon.

Heard more problems with leaking Tetratecs than Fluvals myself .

 

[rabbut]

If I had a quid for each customer with issues with a new Fluval at work, I'd have retired now while still in my teens... Either the filters or their instructions aren't very good, and considering the numbers of spares going out as warranty claims, Id say it's the former. Leaks in the Tetratecs ATM seem limited to a batch of EX700 that went out about 6 months ago with dodgy taps and motor heads. The issue does not seem to appear in any before or after that date of manufacture. If you get one, you'd be wise to check how long the stocks been sat about to avoid getting one of the dodgy batch. You get dodgy batches with any filter, but Tetratec's record with them seems not too bad really. Either good batches of Fluvals are rare or they send all the QC fails out to Leeds, either or, they don't last long round this neck of the woods...

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Tropical_Fish]

I've got a fluval 304 which was very cheap, it works fantastically well and is a great filter - fairly quiet, excellent filtration, large media area, robust etc

I have also found the primer to work very well (common problem), the aqua stop works flawlessly and makes cleaning the filter out a piece of cake. So all in quite happy....


but... I have one issue and that is after cleaning and putting back together half of the time it leaks after reassembling - if it leaks I take it out, take it apart - put it back together again and cross my fingers. I just can't put my finger on why it sometimes leaks. If it does leak it comes out in two lines from both catches once it starts going (luckily I have it sitting in a 25 litre bin). If it starts to leak it continues to leak and you can watch the level go down in the tank! If it doesn't leak then it carries on fine! It must be down to the main seal - which is in great condition - but I don't do anything different!

So for that reason I wouldn't get another one - you want as much trust as possible in something that could empty your tank in 2 minutes!

 

[rabbut]

Well, I got mine second hand and *may* have therefore been dodgy when I bought it, but the main seal needed replacing twice, the Aquastop once, the impeller twice, the impeller shaft once and the primer once also. It was retired from service after it started to give out electric shocks... I bought it from the same person I bought my Rena XP2 from, at the same time, and they are the same age. The XP2 has been fine and has only had a couple of new seals as a result of my neglect. The Fluval was treated to cotton wool wrapping almost all the time however, as it died on me if I didn't. Flimsy and un-reliable at home. Work's Fluval has gone through 3 impellers, 5 seals, two impeller shafts and 3 Aquastops in the three years I've been there... That was bought new, and is well maintained and cared for by experienced professional fish keepers that know what they are doing... The primer does not work on works filter, nor did it work on mine. I didn't replace mine after the initial replacement though, as colleagues at work said they don't work after three-four goes, and that's how long my replacement lasted...

On every start, any Fluval I've worked on will get air-locked, 9 times out of 10 the impeller will jam, and they need attention once a week on a tank that my Rena or Tetratecs would run on fine without maintenance for 6 months at a time.

Remember however, that your mileage with any equipment may vary though.

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Tropical_Fish]

Sounds like you've had a bad bunch there, with the 304, I bought it used and the age is unknown.

I've used the primer probably 10 times and it's always perfect. Very simple design I can't really see how you can break it with normal use? (but from the sounds of it I'll find out soon!)

Once primed it never airlocks, I've never had it stall or jam. Sounds like they've been abused to break the primer then they're not primed properly after the primer breaks so they air lock which in turn damages the impeller.

 

[rabbut]

So that applies equally to the new 05 series that seems to have the same issues, from my experience of customer returns at work then does it? The primer breaks, lets in air and breaks the impeller? While plausible without knowing what's wrong with the primer, that does not say much for the filters or their build-quality.

What goes wrong with the primers, is that the "plunger" bit (the large disk that makes a waterproof seal in a hole into which the water to be filtered passes) wears down on the edge of the hole it's moving in, breaking the water-tight seal, meaning you are mainly moving air between the two sides of that disk when you are pumping... The seals at the top are still air-tight, as you'd find the unit leaks from around the primer when the filter is off. Surprisingly, this seams the only area on a Fluval canister, where leaks are un-common

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Tropical_Fish]

I'm waiting for mine to break!

But you can see what I mean if it's not primed properly then there will be trapped air

 

[three-fingers]

The only time I've ever had any customers have problems with any Fluvals is old 04's that have worn out o-rings, because they weren't maintained properly.

No problems at all with any 05's...

Dealt with a few Rena's that just stopped working or started leaking through a crack. And a Tetratec EX1200 that had leaking taps apparently, new ones ere ordered and it was fine, I suspect the user broke them. Had a phone call just the other week about what to do with a leaking EX1200, but dont know how that turned out, other than lubricating/reseating the o-ring didn't work.

I think with any filter, if you look after it properly, there's no problems at all. Shouldn't be this much fuss about it . Go for the best value for money option from any of the big filter brand names (Eheim, Tetra, Fluval, Rena and even brands like Sera seem reliable since it's a big aquatic name) .

From an old post:
"I'm sceptical about people who say Fluvals are notorious for leaking. 04 range had a very bad run years ago at the start, but otherwise the 05 range seem to be just as reliable as similarly priced filters tbh. All brands will have an odd bad filter/run every now and then and people can get really annoyed with that brand when they get one. I'd speculate more popular filter/been around for longer = more people own them = increased chance of someone complaining about a bad one. Wherever you go or whoever you ask people will have different experiences. Read around here and you'll find some people really bitter towards Fluval, most people have no problems whatsoever."