On Tue, 21 Mar 2006 12:12:28 -0600, "Koi-Lo"
wrote:

snip

Noise can be a problem because at night you can hear a pin drop where I
live. Any noise will keep me awake. My husband can sleep through bombs
exploding........

I just want to provide a more balanced endorsement. Mine came
extremely quiet right out of the box. Many other ppl report the same.
I don't expect any filter to be completely silent but it is inaudible
in a closed cabinet and hardly noticeable when open & you are near it.
I was looking for something near-silent as well. That's part of the
beauty of a planted tank with no air pumps or splashing water. Noisy
equipment kill it for me.

hesitate to even consider them again, and the Eheims are totally out
of our price range.

You're not alone. I guess if Eheims were the only filters that worked
well & reliably they would basically be a necessary cost of fish
keeping. Here's hoping we aren't forced to take that view down the
line.

I wasn't retired and hubby semi-retired I'd probably go for the Eheims.

Frankly I don't know what kind of value they bring. If it's the
difference between something always working as it should for years
while everything else is giving headaches I guess it's worth it. When
you're spending all these hundreds or even thousands on even modest
tank or tanks the price difference can potentially loose it's
significance IMHO.

I'm going to do some Googling before I make a selection......

As you probably know already, try Froogle & Pricegrabber etc. as well

I'll see what I can find. ;-)

I think the XP1 is around $60 @ dr foster & smith & That Fish place.
I've never seen it for less than that. Hope you get a good deal on
whatever you choose.