Fluval Duo 600

[jrussuk]

Hi im buying a duo deep 600 tomorrow (i Cant Wait). But im not sure how good the filter is. Its a fluval plus 2 which is good for a tank up to 90 lts The tank im buying is 84 lts. Should i try to upgrade to a larger filter? The tank is going to be a community tank so the waste load shouldnt be too high.
Many Thanks for any advice

 

[for_my_fish]

Its hard to over filter

An extermal filter would go well with it. The fluval or eheim externals would be a great addition.

 

[jrussuk]

are externals better than internals or should i run both?

 

[idlefingers]

Externals are better - much easier to clean and need much less maintenance. If the external you get is well sized for your tank, then you shouldn't need to run both together.

I bought a Duo 800 and quickly chucked out the filter.. I hated it. Replaced it with an Eheim Ecco 2234 and was much happer.

 

[jrussuk]

did that come with a fluval 3 filter? thats what i was going to ask if i could upgrde to

 

[idlefingers]

yeah, fluval 3+ i think. An external would be much better if you can afford it. They hold a LOT more media than those small internals.

 

[RadaR]

Ive found the fluval internals to work very well indeed.
If the fish load isnt going to be large and you stock sensibly then you shouldnt need to get an external. Ofcourse it would help though and you could get a fair few more fish.

 

[SuperColey1]

I think too many people put the fluval internals down.

Even before I went planted in my Duo Deep 800, I had a high fish load and the Fluval3Plus worked just as it should.

IMO opinion the only argument for geting an external filter is so that you don't have a filter in the tank because there is nothing wrong with these Fluvals.

They are quiet, hold a lot of media for their size, have adjustable flow rates etc. etc.

Keep the Fluval2 unless you are wanting to remove the filter for aesthetic reasons.

Andy

 

[for_my_fish]

got to admit Im (very) biased to externals. I like that you can have more media. and I like the cleaner look in the tank (no black box). I'm also a little lazy in that I do weekly water changes but like to leave my filters for a month or two with no interfering.

 

[SuperColey1]

Like and need are 2 different things but each to his/her own.

I don't clean my internal every week, just every now and again. probs every 3 weeks.

The Fluval internals have the yellow indicator that drops when it can't draw the water through, and I've necer seen mine drop apart from when I've turned it off for water changes.

My little rant over, but tired of people kicking internals and raving on about externals saying that externals don't get the water clean and can''t fo the job when they do both perfectly.

(Keep hearing about externals packing in or seals breaking etc though.)

 

[three-fingers]

I haven't cleaned out my fluval 3 (the old ones) in 6 months. In fact, there's never been a time when I've ever had to clean it out, but every 6 months I always squeeze out the filter sponge in old tank water anyway.
It's been running for just under 5 years now with no problems...

 

[stang1]

I agree, Fluvals are good filters. I have the Fluval 1 in all of my fighter tanks, the 2+ in my 7.5G and the Fluval 4+ in my 48G tank. They've all been fine and never had any problems at all. We do use Fluval externals on other tanks and found they all seem to do the job they're meant to!

 

[cheesy feet]

I have a fluval 3 on 40 gal and it does the job.I've always used these filters.

I have a fluval 3 on 40 gal and it does the job.I've always used these filters.

 

[jrussuk]

Cool thanks for every ones advice couldnt get my tank yesterday but rung up madienhead aquatics and they said i can upgrade to a fluval 3+for about 8 quid so i think i will do that

 

[noodles]

Cool thanks for every ones advice couldnt get my tank yesterday but rung up madienhead aquatics and they said i can upgrade to a fluval 3+for about 8 quid so i think i will do that

I have a 1+ and a 3+ in my tank. Pretty good filters, only problem I have had with my 3+ is when trying to use the fine poly wool filter. It gets blocked within about a week. Since taken that out and just left the foam in, and its not got blocked since. I guess its no longer removing the fine particles, but nevermind.

one thing to think about before upgrading though is to make sure that you will be happy with the water flow rate. The 3+ chucks out a fair amount of water even when its adjusted down to the min setting, in the 600 tank it might be too much for some fish.