Witch Filter? Eheim Pro 3 - Fluval Fx5

[MojoDex]

your both wrong actually. the fx IS a bad filter i can personally confirm this.

can you please explain to me how £40 price difference is the same as the difference between $10,000 and $30,000 because i for one don't see it

 

[funkyhoney]

your both wrong actually. the fx IS a bad filter i can personally confirm this.

can you please explain to me how £40 price difference is the same as the difference between $10,000 and $30,000 because i for one don't see it

It's an example for starters, and while there may be a 40 pound difference for you (I don't know what that is in AUD) around here an FX5 can go for $400 and Eheims are FAR more expensive. Even the 2217 breaks $350. The 2280 can fetch quite a lot around here and I could not justify that amount on a filter.

Oh, and before I forget, what exactly IS "bad" about this filter? I'm not talking about compared to anything else, why is it "bad"?

 

[Bastables]

your both wrong actually. the fx IS a bad filter i can personally confirm this.

can you please explain to me how £40 price difference is the same as the difference between $10,000 and $30,000 because i for one don't see it

It's an example for starters, and while there may be a 40 pound difference for you (I don't know what that is in AUD) around here an FX5 can go for $400 and Eheims are FAR more expensive. Even the 2217 breaks $350. The 2280 can fetch quite a lot around here and I could not justify that amount on a filter.

Oh, and before I forget, what exactly IS "bad" about this filter? I'm not talking about compared to anything else, why is it "bad"?

40 GBP= 87 AUD

your shops are quite overpriced, 400 AUD for a 2217 is pure daylight robbery, it costs 350 NZD for a 2217 with taps and media.

Prices for the top of the line stuff is identcal but slightly better as 500 AUD is more expensive than 500 NZD for a Fx5.

I brought the pro 3e 2078 for 900 NZD but then unlike the 2217/2215 or the Fluval's or the aquaone canisters the pro 3 and 2 series are made in Germany. eheim classic, fluval 5 series and the aquaones are all made in china.

But then it depends on what you want I still think that the stock sponges set up on the fluvals is better at mechanical filtration, the pro 3 can only compare with filter floss ( I use ehifix fine filter). But biological load is much better handled by eheims, larger media cap, and longer contact times with the media mean equivilent rated fluvals can't keep up with heavily stocked tanks in processing biological load. And with several thousand NZD invested in my fishy friends putting down 900 nzd for a 3e makes sense to me. Plus because I have a planted tank the ability to have the thing on a internal 12 hr clock so it switches to 1100 litres per hour at night to agitate the surface and back to 400 L/h during the day for max contact time with the media makes it a lot more useful than my old fluval 305.
My eheim also does not drop in throuput as fast, so my 3e (and 2215) goes 5- 6 months before cleaning but my 305 needs cleaning every 2-3 months.

I don't understand why people are bagging the fx5 so much, compared to the 2080 or 2260/60/62 it handles a lot less bioload. But it does the job it's supposed to and fluval/Hagen's instructions are much easier to understand than eheim's. In UK and USA it seems that the price difrence is pretty minimal but here in AUssie/NZ the fx5 is alsmost 1/2 the price of the 2080 and handles about 1/3 of the bioload. Seems alright to me, you pay more money for more capacity, but that does not make the eheims with out fault nor does it mean a expensive filter is cost effective for all situations.

 

[8inary]

I am seeing people on here saying that the Eheim beat the FX5 hands down. Well, I do not agree to be fair.

I had a 1000ltr tank custom made and looked into what filter(s) I would get, either way I knew I would overkill it.

One of the many test I saw tested various areas of each filter. Some of which the FX5 won, and some the Eheim won. In terms of
clearing debris from a tank, the FX5 won hands down without issue. However and to be fair the Eheim came out on top just!
However even the testers said, the difference is so little that cost therefore comes into the equation and in their view, the FX5
should win.

You can buy an FX5 now on ebay for £112! with a free gift (digi therm)

I must admit, I swear by mine, and based on the results, all my friends who have tanks, have swapped over to the FX5 and in turn, their friends have.

Unfortunately, this is one of those subjects, similar to the old school days of which computer is better, whereby we all have our own views of a product
and will stand by what we believe, this is something that is not going to go away lol

 

[jgray152]

Here in the states. The 2080 goes for about $400-$500 where as the Fx5 goes for about $200-$300. There is a guy on ebay selling Fx5 for $170 w/o shipping. Thats where I got mine. I must say, If he didn't have it that cheap, I would not have got it in the first place but for the price, the fx5 will beat my xp4 I got in filtration. So price becomes a big factor.

 

[jgray152]

would never own a fluwho but i do maintain a tank with 2 fx5s on i have to go to the tank at least once every 2 months because the fx5 if makeing a funny noice

This bugs me. Reason is, you have never cracked open a Fx5 but you are maintaining a tank with 2 and are being called because its making a funny noise? What is this noise and how are you stoping it?

I say you never cracked one open because you said this.

think the fx5 is alot harder to clean than that you probably need to dismantle the whole filter thats why the eheim is designed the way it is you dont need to go near the bio media with the pre filter on top

your both wrong actually. the fx IS a bad filter i can personally confirm this.

Your ONE personal bad experience over rules anyones good experience? You notice new guys are the ones with bad experiences and the onces that never come on the forum never have a problem? So to say that you have seen 3-4 bad experiences with this filter, doesn't mean anything when it comes to the 100s or even thousands or more of fx5s that are being used right now.

 

[T1KARMANN]

yes i have opened one it takes ages with the silly bits on the top the eheim is much easyer you just flick the handles but that doesnt matter as you only need to open the pro3 every 6 months

the noise from the fx5 it due to the impeller

you wont change my mind on this eheim are better filter

next your be telling me fluwho have a great rep like eheim

 

[Bastables]

I am seeing people on here saying that the Eheim beat the FX5 hands down. Well, I do not agree to be fair.

I had a 1000ltr tank custom made and looked into what filter(s) I would get, either way I knew I would overkill it.

One of the many test I saw tested various areas of each filter. Some of which the FX5 won, and some the Eheim won. In terms of
clearing debris from a tank, the FX5 won hands down without issue. However and to be fair the Eheim came out on top just!
However even the testers said, the difference is so little that cost therefore comes into the equation and in their view, the FX5
should win.

You can buy an FX5 now on ebay for £112! with a free gift (digi therm)

I must admit, I swear by mine, and based on the results, all my friends who have tanks, have swapped over to the FX5 and in turn, their friends have.

Unfortunately, this is one of those subjects, similar to the old school days of which computer is better, whereby we all have our own views of a product
and will stand by what we believe, this is something that is not going to go away lol

He (reviewer) also reposted that review in monster fish keeping forums and pointed out that the fx5 would proccess 37 ppm ammonia in 24hrs. The 2080 would process 123ppm per 24 hours, pointing out that not only did the eheim cycle faster it would support a larger bio load to process the gunk never mind the faster cycle. He also stated that it would take 3x Fx5 to match a 2080 bio capacity. At the end he stated that he preffred the eheim and it was the better filter, he never came anywhere near close to stating the fx5 should win. He did state that we now have two great filters to choose from though.

 

[8inary]

This is an old long standing argument as others have said, the test I refer to is one of thousands, so I doubt with respect that you are looking at the same one I am, as your comments towards the end resemble nothing at all of what was said, and what I did previously say still stands.

 

[8inary]

from experience and past entries into forums about these two filters, I know no one on here will win the argument. All we can do is rave about the one we have and stand by it regardless of what others think.

I do think we need to remind ourselves, that at the end of the day, these are just filters for a fishtank! not life threatening etc so all those getting too excited about the topic need to chill out a little more.

Life is not a battle between fluval and eheim......even though the fx5 is better haha lol....chill

 

[T1KARMANN]

i understand what you are saying but the fx5 has been on the market for just over a year now and already we are seeing alot of people with problems yet hardly any problems with the 2080

this up hold my theory that the fx5 wont last 5yrs + and the 2080 will last 10yrs +

 

[8inary]

you could be right to be fair, however I think we have to allow fluval to be proven wrong about this, rather than condemn them without proof and purely on what we believe.

we do need to put everything into perspective though, these are just two filters for a fishtank lol it is nothing important like life or death...well I guess it could be for the fish lol you know what I mean.

even though I rate my fx5.....allow me that without slating me, i think to be fair, the eheims are on the face of it better made and overall better. that said, due to the price, the fx5 comes out pretty nicely and for what it does, i doubt most would complain.

i do also think it is good that we have a choice of either of these more than capable filters!

 

[jgray152]

yes i have opened one it takes ages with the silly bits on the top the eheim is much easyer you just flick the handles but that doesnt matter as you only need to open the pro3 every 6 months

the noise from the fx5 it due to the impeller

you wont change my mind on this eheim are better filter

next your be telling me fluwho have a great rep like eheim

Takes ages to open? You have no feeling in your finger tips? Takes me 2 seconds to get into the filter and to take the lid off. Takes another couple minutes to wash all the spunges and to clean the filter fiber and secondary fine filter spunge and then 2 seconds to put it all back together.

I don't get why you are trying to say it it takes for ever and is so much harder then the ehiem. Yes the ehiem is easier to get into and possibly tro clean. But you my friend are over exagerting the truth a bit to far just to prove yuor point.

I am in no way to trying to change your oppinion on the Fx5 vs the Ehiem 2080. I am how ever trying to get you to stop posting large exagerations about the Fx5.

You say it was the impeller, what exactly was wrong with it? This is the type of stuff that needs to be said, not, "it made a funny noise and I had to fix it". What if someone else has the same issue?

I will NEVER say Fluval gets a great rep like Ehiem. Don't be trying to put words into my mouth. Side by side the reviews can't even co-exists with each other.

i understand what you are saying but the fx5 has been on the market for just over a year now and already we are seeing alot of people with problems yet hardly any problems with the 2080

this up hold my theory that the fx5 wont last 5yrs + and the 2080 will last 10yrs +

A lot of people? How many people can you count? Divide that number by the thousands that have probubly been sold and you get a tiny percentage of how many people have the Fx5 and have no issues. Remember, im not telling you the Fx5 is better than the Ehiem.

He (reviewer) also reposted that review in monster fish keeping forums and pointed out that the fx5 would proccess 37 ppm ammonia in 24hrs. The 2080 would process 123ppm per 24 hours, pointing out that not only did the eheim cycle faster it would support a larger bio load to process the gunk never mind the faster cycle. He also stated that it would take 3x Fx5 to match a 2080 bio capacity. At the end he stated that he preffred the eheim and it was the better filter, he never came anywhere near close to stating the fx5 should win. He did state that we now have two great filters to choose from though.

I Said this once and I will say it again, just because it process more due to the 13 liters of media, does that mean you really need that much? No, personall preference. I know I don't need that much in my 55. I will be building a 180 gallon. My 304 handled the bio load just fine and I have over 20 fish in my 55. So 13 liters of media would be even more over kill. And also, now that I have the water flow slowed down, there is more contact time with the media so I could handle even more bio load that what was said at full flow.

 

[waterdrop]

Here in the southeast U.S. I have seen the Fluvals and Renas in my nearby stores. I have tried to study the web sites for Fluval, Rena and Eheim. The Rena web material I can find seems a bit short on details and organization. The Fluval material seems pretty well organized with parts diagrams, model information and I get the feeling I could find resources if I were trying to work with one of these. Eheim also has pretty clear model information, although I can't remember whether parts info was quite as clear as Fluval.

Searching for Eheim sources for a U.S. buyer gets a little more confusing. Clearly people are buying them as there are plenty of refs in Amazon and many online tropical hobby sources, BUT, non of these sources ever seems to list a very complete line of units like one sees at the Eheim main company site.

I'm trying to plan a filter for a small 28G(US)/106L tank and the 4 Eheim models that would seem to fit the 5-water-exchanges-per-hour rule I keep seeing here on TFF are the 2215(classic), 2234(ecco), 2222(Pro, aka ProI?) and the 2322(Pro w/heater.) I'm basing this on the (eheim listed) 500 L/H rates (except classic one is 620 L/H.) I have a small worry here that I've seen posts to the effect that the manufacturer-listed rates may be higher than what one really gets.

I'm inclined to just go the whole way and get the 2322 with heater but this is the very one I don't see listed hardly anywhere that would be shipping from U.S. Have any of you Eheim users found a reliable place that can get all the models, accessories and parts, will communicate clearly and perhaps will even talk to you on the phone? Perhaps this model is only available in Germany or something? I wonder if there is a split in their model lines with respect to distribution?

Sorry for so many questions but I thought I might provide temporary relief from you guys bashing each other!
..your humble newbie, -waterdrop-

 

[jgray152]

I have a small worry here that I've seen posts to the effect that the manufacturer-listed rates may be higher than what one really gets.

The rule I follow is about 75% of the rate flow is close to the actual flow.

Also there is a site http/www.fluvalparts.com that has parts for fluval filters.