Fluval 205 Or 305?

[Truck]

im buying an external for my rio 125 (removing internal) should i go for the 305 or the 205, the 205 is reccomended for a tank of this size but bigger is obviously better, will i be able to attach lily pipes? and bear in mind its a planted tank

 

[three-fingers]

Yep, bigger is better . 305.
You will be able to attach lilly pipes as long as you make sure they are right size (as with any filter) but the dark grey hose will still look bad if the tank has no hood, so you will probably ant to replace them with clear hose.

If your keeping all the hood and light unit on, then hose shouldn't be a problem though.

 

[stang1]

As three-fingers said, bigger is better, so I'd definitely go with the 305.

 

[MarineMoney]

im buying an external for my rio 125 (removing internal) should i go for the 305 or the 205, the 205 is reccomended for a tank of this size but bigger is obviously better, will i be able to attach lily pipes? and bear in mind its a planted tank

obviously bigger if you can afford it and there realy isnt a huge gap between 205 and 305 but for knowledge purposes i have a 205 on my aquarium which is approx 200L and my water is like glass, sometimes it doesnt even look like there is water in there its that clear lol!

 

[rabbut]

If you had to choose between them, 305, but they will both wet your floor or electric shock you, or become noisy, or loose flow in 3-4 years time, just outside warrently Fluvals, PFK's product of the year 5 years running. Rubbish product, no reliability...

 

[three-fingers]

Conversely, you could have a fluval running for years and years past the warranty like a few people I've heard of.
Obviously most people have no problems with them.

Obviously if you want to spend extra $$$ on something renounced for running for a long time and quality, then buy a non-ecco eheim.
But if your on a budget and just want a good value for money external, there's nothing wrong with fluval.
All you should really avoid are things like jebo, resun and atman - they are usually just copies of eheim, but their parts don't always fit together very well.
Even then, if that's what your budget can stretch to, no-one should condemn your filter online, look after it and it may run fine.

Look after it properly (lubricate gasket and clean impeller often) as the manual instructs, and it will likely run fine past the warrenty without needinga cheap replacement part .

 

[rabbut]

Last time I checked, the motor head that failed on mine was not a "cheap replacement part". It was about £150. I could buy a whole new replacement Fluval for that money on-line. Mind, what would posess me to do that when it was a noisy, leaky and high-maintanance thing from day one? IMO, for £80, the cheaper Tetratec's, silmilarly priced Rena's and Eheim Classics are all far better There is nothing wrong with a Fluval if you can make do with constant wet carpets, loud noise, weekly cleans on a tank that any other filter can run for 6 months without attention and constant battles to get the s?# to prime Before anyone asks, no this wasn't my first exturnal filter (that was an Eheim Ecco) and no, I haven't had this type of trouble with any other filter I've ran (Tetratec, Eheim Ecco, Rena and recently helped a friend maintain a Classic Eheim). This said, the Ecco did have a habbit of concking out just after the last warrenty repair/replacment...

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Nick16]

get a tetratec ex1200. so much better, reliable quiet and has good shut off valves. not to mention a good self primer. fluvals are crap compared.

 

[rabbut]

get a tetratec ex1200. so much better, reliable quite and has good shut off valves. not to mention a good self primer.

I will agree to that

fluvals are crap compared.

Oh good, I'm not the only person with that view

All the best
Rabbut

 

[three-fingers]

Last time I checked, the motor head that failed on mine was not a "cheap replacement part". It was about £150. I could buy a whole new replacement Fluval for that money on-line. Mind, what would posess me to do that when it was a noisy, leaky and high-maintanance thing from day one? IMO, for £80, the cheaper Tetratec's, silmilarly priced Rena's and Eheim Classics are all far better There is nothing wrong with a Fluval if you can make do with constant wet carpets, loud noise, weekly cleans on a tank that any other filter can run for 6 months without attention and constant battles to get the s?# to prime Before anyone asks, no this wasn't my first exturnal filter (that was an Eheim Ecco) and no, I haven't had this type of trouble with any other filter I've ran (Tetratec, Eheim Ecco, Rena and recently helped a friend maintain a Classic Eheim). This said, the Ecco did have a habbit of concking out just after the last warrenty repair/replacment...

All the best
Rabbut

Bear in mind that your fluval was an 04 model, not an 05.

Also, yours was second hand.

 

[rabbut]

Aye, but working in aquatics retail, I can see that the 05 series has a very high failure rate amongst work's customers Also, if I had a pound for every customer phone call I had about priming difficulties, I'd be very rich by now

EDIT to add, Why are Fluval parts readily available and cheap? Answer, high demand. You will note that Tetratec parts for example are hard to get and comparatively expencive when you can. This is because nobody stocks them. Why? Well, the answer lies in demand again. They don't fail, so there isn't any demand, appart from when a user breaks something by being silly with it...

 

[three-fingers]

It could be that they have a high failure rate, or it could be that they are more popular so more are sold.

Why are eheim parts so easy to find and cheap?
Because they are popular, lots of people buy them, so alot of people have old eheims that need replacement parts.

I'd think that tetratec parts are harder to find because less people own them, and they are newer.

I find more people have trouble with eheims at work (whcih is why there is a eheim spare part drawer and board).
Next would be rena, and then resun externals.
Never heard of anyone having a problem with any of the fluvals sold (apart from an old 404 o-ring, and someone who stood on the taps).
Or, for the record, the tetratecs (beyond someone breaking the taps).

But this doesnt mean that the eheims are bad filers, it's just that a lot of people seem to have them.

Priming difficulties with 05 models? You'd have to be pretty stupid to have problems. Or have a second hand unit.
They even come with a DVD that tells you how to do it...

My overall opinion is that people should just go for what is right price-wise for them and make sure they look after the filter properly.

It just annoys me when people seem to get elitist over something silly like external filter brand.

 

[rabbut]

Well, I've not said one brand is great and the rest are all c#?p have I? I've just said that IMO, one brand is, and most of the others I've used are OK....

Interestingly, we never hear of any Eheim or Rena customers with issues, and only the odd rare AquaOne issue. Fluval parts are the only ones we ever stock, as they are the only ones that sell.... This said, we only get filter spares on the shelves on rare occasions, most parts are reserved in advance of a deliery....

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Truck]

right after reading a heap of reviews ive opted against fluval, my current considerations are

Eheim 2126 Professional II Freshwater Thermo ( with it being a planted tank, i want invisible equipment or hidden ( so the thermo is a good one for me )

tetratec ex 1200

can you reccomend any others? also if i go for the bog standard Pro 2 , 2126, and add an inline heater would that work out to be cheaper?

 

[rabbut]

Eheim Thermos are about as reliable as Eheim Eccos and Fluvals. The thermometer probes are "sticky" and seem to just die with hard water or salt getting near them. Even Eheim acknowlage they have issues... Stick to the normal Pro2/3 range or classics if you go Eheim, with an in-line heater, it's the best way to remove the equipment from the tank

I run the Tetratecs and they give me no issues. They are also the only filter that I have bought a second one of...

Rena XP2/3's are good, just keep a spare seal handy. They never totaly fail, but sometimes "seap" if you forget to Vasaline them a few times...

AquaOne Aquis 1200's are also supposed to be good from the reviews I've read, and I was origionally going to get one of them before buying a Tetratec....

HTH
Rabbut