Fluval Vs Eheim

[three-fingers]

I've ran a Fluval 401 external canister for probably 8 years now with no problems at all. It's quiet, easy to prime, efficient, it doesn't get clogged too quickly (in fact it's lucky to get cleaned every year), no mechanical faults, nothing. Excellent piece of kit.

Btw, just out of curiosity, what does a 401 look like?

I've seen 05, 04 and 03 models but not any others. Would be interesting to see.

 

[backtotropical]

I've ran a Fluval 401 external canister for probably 8 years now with no problems at all. It's quiet, easy to prime, efficient, it doesn't get clogged too quickly (in fact it's lucky to get cleaned every year), no mechanical faults, nothing. Excellent piece of kit.

Btw, just out of curiosity, what does a 401 look like?

I've seen 05, 04 and 03 models but not any others. Would be interesting to see.

Sorry, it's a 404, not a 401. Don't know where i got 401 from. Original post now edited.

 

[8inary]

talking about ehiems working long after fluvals - i have to say that whilst i have had the fx5, i have other friends with ehiems which have packed up, so i am not sure how you can be so certain that for some strange reason, all ehiems will outlast fluvals, which in my case, its the other way around. that said, i kind of know where you are coming from, in that ehiems parts are more available than any other filters. but thats not to say, a certain filter will outlast others.

sorry if i am coming across as some idiot wanting to provoke yet another fluval -v- ehiem war, i am not, and i apologise if i have offended anyone, i just hate people putting down the fx5 when they havent even tried it. I have tried both filters, and went with the fx5 on other tanks. It is tic for tac though - the ehiem i have said is better made, and yes does have better stock of parts, but for the price 'ive paid under £90 at the time i got mine' with a free temp alarm! lol

i do think nowadays, there are other filters to consider, even beyond fluval and eheim

 

[mark.w.jones]

Bottom line, you get what you pay for with filters. Close case

 

[three-fingers]

Sorry, it's a 404, not a 401. Don't know where I got 401 from. Original post now edited.

Aww nvm lol. I find it interesting looking at old filters. On mfk there was a thread where some guy picks up an eheim from the 70's and it's pretty cool.

i do think nowadays, there are other filters to consider, even beyond fluval and eheim

I want to see how the tetratec ex2400 performs. Even if at this point it's cheaper to get two smaller tetratecs .

 

[markandhisfish]

i didnt intend on putting down the fluval when i say that the eheims are superior in terms of performance and quality its not a swipe at the fluval its just a simple statement of truth. and not all eheims are great. the ecco for instance is not very highly rated. fluval are making big steps and are getting better they just need to improve the general build quality and they will have it sussed.

 

[smegforbrains]

The review of these two filters is finished thanks to the help of Tony Akasanti from the Singapore University for running many of the tests under lab controller conditions.

SETUP AND EASE OF USE

Setting up eirther one of these is no big deal. We have come a long way from the old Eheim buckets.

The Eheim is unusualy as it has dual imput hoses but this serves well as one can be placed at eirther end of the tank with the spraybar in the middle to improve flow around the tank. The Eheims one piece tap connector is innovative and easy to use if a bit stiff sometimes and it can be difficult to connect the hose to the central connector.The flow rate indicator seems to work well however if you ever left the filter long enough to use use it you shoudl be ashamed of yourself as it takes months and months of heavy use to clog this filter. Another negative with the Eheims set up compared with the Fluval is the seperate baskets they are relitively easy to use but not as easy as the Fluvals one piece set up. The Eheim uses a simple 1 pump priming system that works most of the time with a single pump although we did find ourselves pumping it a few times to get it going now and then and you can actualy see the filter fill up as the cannister body is see through. The filter has wheels so you can remove it for cleaning (beware full of water it weighs a ton) and a tray for placing the pre filter in so you can carry it to a bucket to rinse it out. Its generaly a very easy filter to use in most respects and the fit,finish and fittings scream quality no cheap plastics used and everything is solid. The Eheim is considered the Mercedes Benz of filters and they are built like one ..solid and full of engineering quality that only the Germans seem to be able to do.
The Fluval uses large 25mm hose of a non kink design with seperate taps and this system is possibly the easiest system I've ever seen on a cannister ...just attach the hose ...click in the taps and turn them on and your away it really is that simple. That said for a large filter designed to be used on large tanks the Fluval comes with a bare minimum of hosing just enough to use of a 6x2x2 and your out of luck if you want a bit extra to attach a UV unit or use on a higher then standard tank or cabinet ..come on Fluval ! this amount of hose is absurd ! Another easy to use feature of the FX5 is the central connected media baskets surrounded by the foam (all 25 litres of it !) they hold far less then the Eheim but are so easy to fill and fit back together with the only negetive being that you must remove the whole unti to change the foam on the Fluval where as on the Eheim the foams are changable without removing any baskets. On the upside there is a drain plug (with one of those easy to use click fit taps) on the bottom of the filter so you can drain the water out before moving it which is easier on your back and also offers the ability to use the pump to drain water out of the tank for water changes which is a interesting and innovative feature if you don't need to gravel vac. The Fluval does not have a self priming system per se it must be filled with water manualy before being switched on but there is no sucking on hoses due to its main feature a microprocessor controlled smart pump which when turned on starts the siphon by pumping the water out of the cannister which it seems to do quite well then pausing for 3 mins to allow trapped air to escape.After the priming sequence has finished it restarts itself automaticaly (it can be a long 3 mins waiting for it to restart wondering it its primed itself properly) it also stops itself once per day for 3 mins during normal operation to allow and air that might have been trapped to escape again. Much has been made of this so called "smart pump" and many people have questioned its reliability. We saw no reliability problems with this pump but we cannot say the same of the whole auto prime system. Does this smart pump work? We say "sort of" sometimes it primed itself perfectly but on many occaisions (about 50%) we had to switch it off and start another priming cycle before it was fully primed. The amount of air that stil lescaped after this 2nd priming cycle was substancial enough to say that while certainly a great feature its not foolproof yet.

NOISE
Both filters are quiet by modern standards but the Fluval is a lot noiser then the Eheim measuring out at 43db @ 1 meter vs the Eheims 19db !
The Fluval is quiet but the Eheim is so quiet you have to check it see if its working !

POWER CONSUMPTION
Filters are used 24/7 365 days of the year so power is important. The Eheim is the clear winner here averaging 27w against the Fluvals 51w so the fluval would cost nearly twice as much a year to run as the Eheim.

FLOW RATE
Manufactuers rate their filters by the maximum produced by the pump under ideal conditions without media and things like hoses which isn'tvery helpful in the real world. Most cannisters seem to get less then 50% of their rated flow capacity when used in the real world but both these filters did better then that.
The Fluval showed a flowrate of 1991 litres per hour when full of media and connected which is about 57% of its rated pump capacity of 3500 l/ph but the Eheim did even better giving 1207 litres per hour out of its possible 1700 l/ph for a amazing 71% !
This still gives the Fluval a nearly 800 litres per hour flowrate advantage when used in real life situations but filtration is more then flow alone its also about capacity.

MEDIA CAPACITY
Both filters are huge and hold a lot of media however the Fluval contains 25 litres of foam media around the sides of the baskets and only will hold about 6 litres of bio and mech media in its baskets while the Eheim holds a full 12 litres of bio and mech media and only has about 2 litres of foam.

Will the bigger flow rate of the Fluval make up for its lack of media ?
.


THE FILTRATION TEST


Mechanical filtration
We wanted to test the ability of these filters to remove particals from the water so we emptied a big container of tetrabits near the intakes. The Filters both did a great job catching most of the gunk in their pads but if I had to give to one of them I'd give it to the Fluval that 25 litres of foam really can catch some gunk!

Biological Filtration
The most important function of a filter is its biological filtration capacity and here is the best test for these filters. The clear winner here was the Eheim taking only 11 days to cycle the 700 litres of water from 4ppm of ammonia to Nitrate only vs the FX5's 13 days. It just shows that that extra 6 litres of bio media in the Eheim more then makes up for the 800 litres per hour flow advantage the Fluval has. a 2 day difference is quite significent and its more then we expected.

CONCLUSION A matter of price
While the Eheim is the clear winner in the performance stakes the decision is not clear cut. The Eheim is the better biological performer and has a better % flowrate when full. Its a lot quieter and holds a lot more media and uses less power then the Fluval. So its a no brainer to the Eheim on most areas right? Well no ... The fluval still does a excellent job its a bit easier to set up and it does a slightly better job at mechanical filtration and and here is the big kicker .... IT IS ABOUT HALF THE PRICE OF THE EHEIM So while the Eheim is clearly the better filter here I cannot honestly say its twice as good as the Fluval... issues of reliability and longevity not withstanding. If moneys not a issue its got to be the Eheim but the Fluval is a very good filter and its attractive price is going to win it a lot of fans. As for me personaly I like the Eheim better but I also have 6 FX5's for tanks where I can't justify the cost.
The only real winner here is us ...we have 2 great filters to choose from that both do a great job.
_________________

What you fail to mention is that you can change the media quantities in the FX5 to gain more bio media. You can cut down mechanical to 20 litres and use 11 litres of bio. This in iself throws your test onto the scrap heap.

How did you measure the noise output? I find it hard to believe there is such a difference when I know of someone who runs these two filters and they are placed side by side between tanks. The FX5 is certainly no noisier than the Eheim.

How long were these tests run for? Unless you are going to run these tests for a full year and experience the full range of problems that an aquarist encounters, along with varying stock levels, this test has no real value to the audience. It's not how well they cope in laboratory conditions that matters, it's how they cope in real life.

EDIT : MARCH 2008
I've had no less then 5 ...yep 5 out of 6 FX5's exhibit problems with simply stopping all together or clogging after only a couple of weeks resulting in very slow flowrates.
I now have only 1 FX5 in operation out of the original 6.
I have had zero problems or issues with the Eheims.
I must conclude that the Fluvals are not nearly the same quality as the Eheims.

You have had the complete opposite experience of the many people I know who run FX5s. Are you sure you don't have Chinese copies? I have never known an FX5 to display any of the symptoms you have indicated.

 

[raptorrex]

I think you should credit the real author of this review. i read it some weeks, if not months ago, word for word. published on 23rd of may!
[URL="http/biotope.multiply.com/reviews/item/2"]http/biotope.multiply.com/reviews/item/2[/URL]

forgive me if you are the author. but why wait so long to post it here. if it is not yours, credit the person who actually did the work.

just one comment. the reason the Eheim did better on the true flow, than the FX5. eheim do test with a full set of, recommended, media, the FX is tested empty.

 

[kj23502]

I have 2 eheim pro II 2028. I bought them second hand from my bro in law. The only thing I've had to replace is an o-ring b/c it dried out. That doesn't concern me at all b/c it sat unused quite awhile before I bought them.

I literally have to stick my head in the filter cabinet next to the filters to hear them working(just watch the water flow from the spray bar to check flow). I love that they are so quiet since the tank is in my living room.

I've never had any Fluval equipment so I can't compare the two. Just stating my experience w/what I have

 

[markandhisfish]

im not the author i never claimed to be i said i found the report online and thought it would be useful reference due to the amount of which filter is best questions that are raised on here. in fact if you look at the top of the very 1st thread mention is given to the person that actually did the comparison.

neither at any point in this thread have i said fluvals are rubbish all i have said is that the eheim are a better all-round product

again not a dig at fluval or a bias towards eheim purely a simple statement of proven fact and track record

yes i run eheim on my tank but this was not because people told me to it was an informed choice based on researching 3 brands eheim fluval an tetratec

what i found was eheim top notch build quality opperation and reliability and virtualty silent .20 year parts plan ie if eheim stop making a particular model you will still be ale to get genuine eheim parts for it for 20 years

fluval by no means bad filters but nowhere near the overall quality and performance of eheim with poorer track record in termss of reliability etc

tetratec good things said about them by owners but still a relatively new rand so not much to go on track record wise

based upon this research i chose eheim and as i also said in this thread with the fx5 fluval are undoubtedly making big steps , but the proof of the pudding will be when the people with fx5s have had them 5 or 10 years

 

[smegforbrains]

The one thing that really bugs me with Eheim are the stupid spring clips that hold the powerhead on to the body. They are so flimsy and the pins constantly fall out.

It's been the same issue with every Eheim I have used.



So much for Eheim build quality.

 

[prankster705]

Eheim = more expensive, more reliable.

Fluval = cheaper, more accidents happened in the past.

Tetratec = uber cheap, no people complaining, hasn't been out for long enough to really conclude anything.

To each his own, this has been brought up a million times and search has been fixed .

 

[raptorrex]

im not the author i never claimed to be i said i found the report online and thought it would be useful reference due to the amount of which filter is best questions that are raised on here. in fact if you look at the top of the very 1st thread mention is given to the person that actually did the comparison.

neither at any point in this thread have i said fluvals are rubbish all i have said is that the eheim are a better all-round product

again not a dig at fluval or a bias towards eheim purely a simple statement of proven fact and track record

yes i run eheim on my tank but this was not because people told me to it was an informed choice based on researching 3 brands eheim fluval an tetratec

what i found was eheim top notch build quality opperation and reliability and virtualty silent .20 year parts plan ie if eheim stop making a particular model you will still be ale to get genuine eheim parts for it for 20 years

fluval by no means bad filters but nowhere near the overall quality and performance of eheim with poorer track record in termss of reliability etc

tetratec good things said about them by owners but still a relatively new rand so not much to go on track record wise

based upon this research i chose eheim and as i also said in this thread with the fx5 fluval are undoubtedly making big steps , but the proof of the pudding will be when the people with fx5s have had them 5 or 10 years

i thought the review was well balanced. and it results, on flow, were in line with many experiments, on the same. its clear that the Eheim is better on boi filtration. but the FX5 is, probably, the bet. unless money is no problem, then buy the Eheim. if you do you can do a thread on how it has worked for 10-15 years. if you buy the FX5, you can tell us how many you have had in the same period.

 

[8inary]

ok, i know whats needed here..........group huggggg, holds out arms with a goofy jim carrey look on my face

 

[andywg]

This was originally posted in May 2006 on discusforums clicky. For the person querying the noise results, the tests were run by Tony Akasanti from the Singapore University under lab controlled conditions.