Help! Can't decide!! Vote! Eheim 4+ 350 or Fluval 307

[Ch4rlie]

And of course forgot to mention that the Oase has the heater inside the filter itself so no need for separate cost of internal heater so that can be taken into consideration the cost factor, so therefore the £209 price tag is not that bad at all actually.

Means no heater inside the tank itself, bonus!

 

[Ch4rlie]

Yep, as suspected, only got 5 votes

But it does not matter as I've decided to go with the Oase Biomaster Thermo 350 and this seems to be a fairly well thought out filter from what ive seen online and from some of George Farmers youtube videos.

Thank you to both @mbsqw1d and @Wills for their input into this as proved to be very insightful and useful for me.

Two things the made me change my mind away from both the Eheim and Fluval external filters was, one, the fact the sponge filter has it own compartment and this compartment is easily taken out to rinse in old tank water and returned without having to open up the whole filter.

Anyone who has had external canisters knows it can be a little bit of a fiddle to get everything back together properly to ensure it is watertight, primed and ready to go when all is finished.

This can be annoying, especially if short on time, but with this separate sponge compartment I am hoping this will make life easier.

Second thing was the heater, this is housed in the actual filter itself so I won't see a heater inside the tank taking up space and easier to access if its int he filter rather than behind plants or decor etc and covered in debris etc.

What I plan to do is to add a controller for the heater so that if any problems occur at all, it will automaticlly shut off, with a display thats hopeully easy to see from any point in the room looking at the tank.

Will have a look online for a suitable heater controller.

Thanks to all who read this and perhaps commented and a special thanks to the 5 folks who voted

Actually hang on, I voted as well, did originally vote for the Eheim but changed it to the other vote for Oase, so it is now therfore its a more special thanks to the 4 folks who voted

 

[AilyNC]

Yep, as suspected, only got 5 votes

But it does not matter as I've decided to go with the Oase Biomaster Thermo 350 and this seems to be a fairly well thought out filter from what ive seen online and from some of George Farmers youtube videos.

Thank you to both @mbsqw1d and @Wills for their input into this as proved to be very insightful and useful for me.

Two things the made me change my mind away from both the Eheim and Fluval external filters was, one, the fact the sponge filter has it own compartment and this compartment is easily taken out to rinse in old tank water and returned without having to open up the whole filter.

Anyone who has had external canisters knows it can be a little bit of a fiddle to get everything back together properly to ensure it is watertight, primed and ready to go when all is finished.

This can be annoying, especially if short on time, but with this separate sponge compartment I am hoping this will make life easier.

Second thing was the heater, this is housed in the actual filter itself so I won't see a heater inside the tank taking up space and easier to access if its int he filter rather than behind plants or decor etc and covered in debris etc.

What I plan to do is to add a controller for the heater so that if any problems occur at all, it will automaticlly shut off, with a display thats hopeully easy to see from any point in the room looking at the tank.

Will have a look online for a suitable heater controller.

Thanks to all who read this and perhaps commented and a special thanks to the 5 folks who voted

Actually hang on, I voted as well, did originally vote for the Eheim but changed it to the other vote for Oase, so it is now therfore its a more special thanks to the 4 folks who voted

Reading through all this it sounds like you're going with the best choice. Really like the idea of the sponge compartment that detaches for cleaning. Also having the heater inside it is great. A while tank without bulky equipment inside sounds amazing.

Best of luck with the project

 

[Wills]

You wont regret getting it check out the pond guru video on it to get some more idea on how to set it up. You do only get a small bag of plastic bio balls and some medium grade sponges which I took out and replaced with the seachem media and put some floss in the top basket.

The other nice thing about this is that its been designed to be used with lilly pipes if you fancy upgrading the inlet and outlet. I've got the stainless steel set with the skimmer top and with the minimal amount of equipment I think it looks nicer with the minimal look. I dont trust my self with the glass ones as I know it will go wrong at some point haha!

Wills

 

[jonnyc88]

Fluval 307 owner here so I might be a bit biased.
It's a brilliant filter, especially if you like some flow.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Fluval 307 owner here so I might be a bit biased.
It's a brilliant filter, especially if you like some flow.

Indeed, I do normally like Fluval built equipment as well as Eheim tbh but the temptation of separate sponge media chamber and inbuilt heater is too much for me, so have been led astray on this occasion!

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I have no experience with any of these filters so I couldn't be of any help I'm afraid! The oase one sounds incredible, like it was really carefully designed by someone who actually keeps aquariums! Some filters seem designed by sadists who don't understand how frustrating it can be to access and clean the filter!

 

[mhancock]

I looked at a filter with a built in heater, decided against having "all eggs in one basket". At least with having them separate, it's only half the issue if something breaks!