Quietest Filter?

[fishstick]

I need the quietest possible external filter for my aquarium of 180 litres. Any recommendations?

 

[andywg]

Eheim Externals are truly quiet. One of their largest filters (aimed at tanks in the 200+ gallon range) only records a whisper like 46 dB IIRC.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Yup, I can't hear my Eheim 2213 at all. And you get used to any noise anyhoo.

 

[Lateral Line]

My Eheims are practically silent.

*** EDIT ***

I'll qualify that actually, I was given a Wet and Dry model to trial when they first came out. I did find that made a noise and returned it before the trial period was over.

 

[funkyhoney]

Eheim's are pretty good but I personally prefer fluval's and find them quieter; they have sound dampening impeller covers.

Best idea would be to try and find a few canisters set up on display and stick your ear on them.

 

[adamgreen240]

the tetratec range are also very quiet

 

[andywg]

Eheim's are pretty good but I personally prefer fluval's and find them quieter; they have sound dampening impeller covers.

Best idea would be to try and find a few canisters set up on display and stick your ear on them.

And they have the useful feature of often dumping a whole load of water on the carpet when they fail as many threads on here will testify.

 

[funkyhoney]

Eheim's are pretty good but I personally prefer fluval's and find them quieter; they have sound dampening impeller covers.

Best idea would be to try and find a few canisters set up on display and stick your ear on them.

And they have the useful feature of often dumping a whole load of water on the carpet when they fail as many threads on here will testify.

I've got two at home and another two at work, and never had a complaint from the dozens of customers I've sold them to

I do believe the 04 range didn't lock very well, however the o-ring connection and aquastop feature on the 05's are great in my opinion. I find it hard to see how exactly they could simply "fail" and spew water all over the place considering all the connections on the pipes are watertight and the seal is also watertight.

 

[Lateral Line]

I haven't used a Fluval for 20 years, more probably. I always found they leaked. Not necessarily a lot, but enough.

 

[andywg]

I've got two at home and another two at work, and never had a complaint from the dozens of customers I've sold them to

I do believe the 04 range didn't lock very well, however the o-ring connection and aquastop feature on the 05's are great in my opinion. I find it hard to see how exactly they could simply "fail" and spew water all over the place considering all the connections on the pipes are watertight and the seal is also watertight.

I had two at home and both leaked. CFC had one and it leaked. Many other people have had them, and they leaked. The differences between the 04 and the 05 are just cosmetic. The tanks tend to have a fairly small failure in the sealing of the unit. Should this happen when you are not at home the tank will drain down to the top of the filter intake (usually quite deep into a tank).

Simple fact is many many people find fluvals fail within 2 years. Eheims run for 15+ years. I know fully well where I would put my money when it comes to filters.

 

[funkyhoney]

I've got two at home and another two at work, and never had a complaint from the dozens of customers I've sold them to

I do believe the 04 range didn't lock very well, however the o-ring connection and aquastop feature on the 05's are great in my opinion. I find it hard to see how exactly they could simply "fail" and spew water all over the place considering all the connections on the pipes are watertight and the seal is also watertight.

I had two at home and both leaked. CFC had one and it leaked. Many other people have had them, and they leaked. The differences between the 04 and the 05 are just cosmetic. The tanks tend to have a fairly small failure in the sealing of the unit. Should this happen when you are not at home the tank will drain down to the top of the filter intake (usually quite deep into a tank).

Simple fact is many many people find fluvals fail within 2 years. Eheims run for 15+ years. I know fully well where I would put my money when it comes to filters.

If that's true, why would Hagen offer 6 year warranty's for free on all Fluval canisters as opposed to Eheim's two?

Not that i dislike Eheim, they are great, however I personally prefer Fluval (and most Hagen products to be honest )

 

[andywg]

If that's true, why would Hagen offer 6 year warranty's for free on all Fluval canisters as opposed to Eheim's two?

Not that i dislike Eheim, they are great, however I personally prefer Fluval (and most Hagen products to be honest )

Who knows? Go to MFK and look at their oldest filter thread. See how many fluvals are still running into double figures, and then look at just how many eheims have nr problems getting to 10 years.

 

[funkyhoney]

If that's true, why would Hagen offer 6 year warranty's for free on all Fluval canisters as opposed to Eheim's two?

Not that i dislike Eheim, they are great, however I personally prefer Fluval (and most Hagen products to be honest )

Who knows? Go to MFK and look at their oldest filter thread. See how many fluvals are still running into double figures, and then look at just how many eheims have nr problems getting to 10 years.

That's probably true, but I believe that fluval have gotten a lot better in recent years. Regardless, I've used both and still prefer fluval, if i do by chance have a horrible breakdown on any of my tanks I will probably switch to Eheim though. At work we have a 700L tank with two fluval 404's from 1999 and they haven't faltered once, so I dunno