smegforbrains
Fish Addict
I must admit, i've never had any problems with Fluval, neither has my wife.
I used to keep Koi and Sturgeon in a lake (massive pond really) and I used Fluval external Filters with never a problem.
Fluval Or Eheim?
- Thread starter azotemia
- Start date
I must admit, i've never had any problems with Fluval, neither has my wife.
I used to keep Koi and Sturgeon in a lake (massive pond really) and I used Fluval external Filters with never a problem.
I have a Fluval 304 and a Fluval Fx5. The 304 is over 7 years old. I think around 10 years old maybe. Still runs great and filters great. Same spunges as well. I use it for small particle filtration and it does wonders.
Issues (Due to age)
My 304 I have started to get leaks last year but thats only due to age and not the design. I just need to replace the o-rings.
No Issues With;
Noise. Never ever heard my 304 making noise. I don't even notice a hum.
Maintenance is easy and not difficult. I don't know why people say they are difficult to do maintenance on.
Electrical Issues? Talking about the motor not working? I have heard of this but havn't seen enough to be paranoid about it.
Issues (Due to age)
My 304 I have started to get leaks last year but thats only due to age and not the design. I just need to replace the o-rings.
No Issues With;
Noise. Never ever heard my 304 making noise. I don't even notice a hum.
Maintenance is easy and not difficult. I don't know why people say they are difficult to do maintenance on.
Electrical Issues? Talking about the motor not working? I have heard of this but havn't seen enough to be paranoid about it.
I have to say, whilst many are saying eheim, I have fluvals on my tanks 'fx5' and never had an issue with anyone of them. They have a better flow rate than any eheim and has far better cleaning power for shifting debris from the tank, that is a fact!
however each to their own - I have many friends, who upon seeing my fx5s, thereafter purchased one themselves, like mine, they have never had any issues.
well worth the £100 or so for this monster external filter - sure beats spending two or three times that amount on the eheims.
lol let the fluval -vs- ehiem war start lol...remember, just my humble opinion people!
however each to their own - I have many friends, who upon seeing my fx5s, thereafter purchased one themselves, like mine, they have never had any issues.
well worth the £100 or so for this monster external filter - sure beats spending two or three times that amount on the eheims.
lol let the fluval -vs- ehiem war start lol...remember, just my humble opinion people!
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
I have an Eheim Pro 2222 and a Hydor inline heater on my son's little tank and have been extremely happy with that. I made the decision after a month of searching threads here on TFF.
There can be pretty radical differences in how individuals treat things like filters. At work I've often noticed this difference with shared computer printers. Some people treat them very gently, while others are surprisingly rough and even take their emotions out on the toner cartridges and doors, lol.
I liked jgray152's post up there and I think one of the big differences between people might be how they treat the equipment and how they go about their maintenance. A good habit with filters seems to be to always gently remove all the rubber "O-Rings" and other similar type seals and coat them with vasoline each and every time you clean the filter. Then when you are replacing them its important to take the time to carefully re-seat them exactly where they are supposed to go and all the way around the ring.
I also hear its good to perform various cleaning mainenance operations on your impeller, although I'm going to have to ask here about that as mine is new enough that I haven't properly learned that yet and have only checked that its clean and clear of debris, have never disassembled it.
~~waterdrop~~
There can be pretty radical differences in how individuals treat things like filters. At work I've often noticed this difference with shared computer printers. Some people treat them very gently, while others are surprisingly rough and even take their emotions out on the toner cartridges and doors, lol.
I liked jgray152's post up there and I think one of the big differences between people might be how they treat the equipment and how they go about their maintenance. A good habit with filters seems to be to always gently remove all the rubber "O-Rings" and other similar type seals and coat them with vasoline each and every time you clean the filter. Then when you are replacing them its important to take the time to carefully re-seat them exactly where they are supposed to go and all the way around the ring.
I also hear its good to perform various cleaning mainenance operations on your impeller, although I'm going to have to ask here about that as mine is new enough that I haven't properly learned that yet and have only checked that its clean and clear of debris, have never disassembled it.
~~waterdrop~~
cant find their name, i believe its a Swiss company. i saw one of their " PRO's" on ebay a month or so ago.
Interesting...Who actually makes the Eccos then? I always wondered why they were still made, as they are the only range of Eheims that I ever hear poor reviews about for reliability...
Of course this is after making the mistake of buying one
rammingspeed
New Member
So vasoline can't be 'leeched' into the water column by doing this? And if so/not is it inert/won't cause harm to fish? I'm assuming you've done it I'm just wondering if there's plenty of room for mistakes with being messy..cause I'm not a very precise person. lol
ive had 1 ecco for about 6-7 years now. no problems at all. i bought another ecco of a mate who had it for 2 years before me and ive had it for 3 years and havent had a problem with that either.
the only thing i had gone wrong with 1 is one of the clips on the bucket snapped but abit of superglue sorted that.
im sure vaseline is natural products?
my koi dealer said to me to coat the o rings on my uv every year to help stop any leaks. i recently got a leak on a valve in the pond and put a palm full of vasinlene around the seal (so its basicly in the water) and i havent got any problems and all the readings are spot on, fish eating etc.
edit: i also had to put vaseline on a rena filter after it dumped 30 gallons onto the floor and it was fine untill i bought a decent eheim.
the only thing i had gone wrong with 1 is one of the clips on the bucket snapped but abit of superglue sorted that.
im sure vaseline is natural products?
my koi dealer said to me to coat the o rings on my uv every year to help stop any leaks. i recently got a leak on a valve in the pond and put a palm full of vasinlene around the seal (so its basicly in the water) and i havent got any problems and all the readings are spot on, fish eating etc.
edit: i also had to put vaseline on a rena filter after it dumped 30 gallons onto the floor and it was fine untill i bought a decent eheim.
three-fingers
Fish Connoisseur
Vaseline isn't natural I wouldent have thought - it's a brand name of 'petroleum jelly'.
I use Vaseline on my fluval 305 and 105 O-rings, and on the mini resun external filter I use occasionally.
Eheim filters come with teeny tiny vaseline tubes (at least some of them do), so I just presume it's OK.
I use Vaseline on my fluval 305 and 105 O-rings, and on the mini resun external filter I use occasionally.
Eheim filters come with teeny tiny vaseline tubes (at least some of them do), so I just presume it's OK.
rammingspeed
New Member
Thanks..I've actually used it a few times to coat the "bearings" on my bio-wheels in several marineland filters. But I also own a Rena XP1 and was just worried the vasoline might do harm in direct contact with water entering the water column but it appears not. =D Guess I'll be using that idea for regular maintenance now that I know my rena can send my whole tank of water into my neighbors livingroom (gotta love living on 3rd floor). lol
Now that I think about it...in Indy Jones Last Crusade...he was wading around in pure petrol as though it was water...hmm...thoughts? lol
Now that I think about it...in Indy Jones Last Crusade...he was wading around in pure petrol as though it was water...hmm...thoughts? lol
three-fingers
Fish Connoisseur
Been reading up on this, and am not convinced Vaseline is the safest thing to use anymore, if the gasket s actually made of rubber, petroleum products apparently degrade this.
I'm probably just going to get a £1.50 tube of the Fluval silicone lubricant now.
I'm probably just going to get a £1.50 tube of the Fluval silicone lubricant now.
there is online somewhere, an independant view of which is better between the eheim -v- fluval. Now even though I am a fluval person, the findings showed a pretty tight race between the two units, some of the test the fluval won, some the ehiem, however they concluded the ehiem was better made and cycled faster, however in light of the price difference, they voted for the fluvel.
i went with the fx5 due to its amazing cleaning rate 'i know that isnt everything you need in a filter' however i have just under 1000ltr tank and the fx5 is spot on.
i went with the fx5 due to its amazing cleaning rate 'i know that isnt everything you need in a filter' however i have just under 1000ltr tank and the fx5 is spot on.
rabbut
I don't bite, all that often...
Mine can raise a tank to 30c from 15 in about 6 hours, when it took an internal of the same power 3 days....
They will draw the same power as an internal when on, but they won't be on for as long when heating the tank for the first time, thus making them cheaper. They are more efficient from a heat-spread point of view, because they are in-line and always have good flow through them if you keep the filter clean
On a side note though, once the tank is on temperature, I don't realy notice a difference in "on" time... The in-line goes on and off more often the the old internal did, but they are ultimately on for about the same time as each other...
Internals tend to be placed out-of-sight, so they are usualy in an area of low flow. This caurses a heat bubble to form arround them, that takes time to spread through the tank. All the time the heater is off, because it's bubble is at the right temperature and waiting to be spread into the rest of the tank, the tank is cooling while still not quite at temperature.
If you waterchange direct from the cold tap, as most with large tanks do, you will see a big difference in the heat-costs of a waterchange, and the temperature won't hang just below the set one for a long while, so overall in that way they are better. If you re-fill with temperature matched water, you probibly won't see any difference
On a side note though, I haven't heard that many issues with the Fluval FX5 yet. Whether that is because it's just new I don't know, but Fluval may have fixed the reliability issues at last... I got shocked by my old 404 after it's motor unit packed up, and it was a 404 that drained my friends tank for him unexpectedly via the supposidly waterproof main seal ring... I also know of a few 05 owners through work, whom have had the quick-release valve go on them, leaking quite badly... If you are after something like an FX5 for a large tank, go for it is what I'd say, but any 05 model for tanks upto 300l, I'd forget about them and go Eheim or Tetratec
All the best
Rabbut
They will draw the same power as an internal when on, but they won't be on for as long when heating the tank for the first time, thus making them cheaper. They are more efficient from a heat-spread point of view, because they are in-line and always have good flow through them if you keep the filter clean
On a side note though, once the tank is on temperature, I don't realy notice a difference in "on" time... The in-line goes on and off more often the the old internal did, but they are ultimately on for about the same time as each other... Internals tend to be placed out-of-sight, so they are usualy in an area of low flow. This caurses a heat bubble to form arround them, that takes time to spread through the tank. All the time the heater is off, because it's bubble is at the right temperature and waiting to be spread into the rest of the tank, the tank is cooling while still not quite at temperature.
If you waterchange direct from the cold tap, as most with large tanks do, you will see a big difference in the heat-costs of a waterchange, and the temperature won't hang just below the set one for a long while, so overall in that way they are better. If you re-fill with temperature matched water, you probibly won't see any difference
On a side note though, I haven't heard that many issues with the Fluval FX5 yet. Whether that is because it's just new I don't know, but Fluval may have fixed the reliability issues at last... I got shocked by my old 404 after it's motor unit packed up, and it was a 404 that drained my friends tank for him unexpectedly via the supposidly waterproof main seal ring... I also know of a few 05 owners through work, whom have had the quick-release valve go on them, leaking quite badly... If you are after something like an FX5 for a large tank, go for it is what I'd say, but any 05 model for tanks upto 300l, I'd forget about them and go Eheim or Tetratec
All the best
Rabbut
spesh
Fish Crazy
I've got a Fluval 305 and an Eheim 2028.
If i was to replace either it would be with a terratec EXsomething. Cost vs performance it comes out trumps.
Cant fault my eheim though, it was 3 years old (ish) when i got it and its going strong still. The fluval is fine too but only 6 months old, bit of a pain to prime!
If i was to replace either it would be with a terratec EXsomething. Cost vs performance it comes out trumps.
Cant fault my eheim though, it was 3 years old (ish) when i got it and its going strong still. The fluval is fine too but only 6 months old, bit of a pain to prime!
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