Best cannister filter....?

Eheim, Fluval, or some other brand? Which model?
I've used power filters for two decades and primarily because my girlfriend
hates the sound of running water am finally switching to a cannister filter.
Problem is, while for example I know Aquaclear are the most reliable lowest
maintenance power filters made, and biowheels often fail to turn after a
while, I know nothing of Cannister filters, I'm like a veritable babe in the
woods.

Which are most reliable? Are there problems with leaks and the like? Which
type requires the most frequent maintenance. I like a hands-off aquarium.
Which types end up costing you the most with filter media etc.? Which type
are the least likely to break down? Which retain their flow best?

Jr

"Big Dummy" wrote in message
. com...
Eheim, Fluval, or some other brand? Which model?
I've used power filters for two decades and primarily because my
girlfriend
hates the sound of running water am finally switching to a cannister
filter.
Problem is, while for example I know Aquaclear are the most reliable
lowest
maintenance power filters made, and biowheels often fail to turn after a
while, I know nothing of Cannister filters, I'm like a veritable babe in
the
woods.

Which are most reliable? Are there problems with leaks and the like?
Which
type requires the most frequent maintenance. I like a hands-off aquarium.
Which types end up costing you the most with filter media etc.? Which
type
are the least likely to break down? Which retain their flow best?

Jr



Everybody's going to give you a different answer, because frankly most of
the manufacturers produce *excellent* canister filters and each brand has
developed it's own following. My choice is Aquaria, Inc., which makes Magnum
canisters. They are very quiet, strong and dependable. I've used the H.O.T.
250 with the available bio-wheel attachment and have never had any problems
since I started with them around 1995 or1996. The drawback with Magnum that
I've heard is that they are more difficult to open up and maintain than
other brands, but with me that's not an issue.

Mark Stone
The ".Edu" meens i are smart.

I've used them all, so I have a valid right to pass judgment on this
question.

My favorite would be the Eheim ProII series.
My second choice would be the Eheim Classic series.

Eheim's are the most expensive, but by far, the most well made. The
quietest, and the longest lasting. And I'm speaking from experience.

You won't be sorry with an Eheim. I think I can almost guarantee it.

N8




"Big Dummy" wrote in message
. com...
Eheim, Fluval, or some other brand? Which model?
I've used power filters for two decades and primarily because my
girlfriend
hates the sound of running water am finally switching to a cannister
filter.
Problem is, while for example I know Aquaclear are the most reliable
lowest
maintenance power filters made, and biowheels often fail to turn after a
while, I know nothing of Cannister filters, I'm like a veritable babe in
the
woods.

Which are most reliable? Are there problems with leaks and the like?
Which
type requires the most frequent maintenance. I like a hands-off aquarium.
Which types end up costing you the most with filter media etc.? Which
type
are the least likely to break down? Which retain their flow best?

Jr

Nate wrote:

I've used them all, so I have a valid right to pass judgment on this
question.

My favorite would be the Eheim ProII series.
My second choice would be the Eheim Classic series.

Eheim's are the most expensive, but by far, the most well made. The
quietest, and the longest lasting. And I'm speaking from experience.

You won't be sorry with an Eheim. I think I can almost guarantee it.

N8


The lack of a quick disconnect on the Classic series would have to
knock them out of the running for "best", though they are just fine in
terms of filtration.

There is also an Eheim Pro Series that lacks the push to prime feature
and backpressure indicator. They are otherwise comparable to the ProII,
definitely high end.

--

"George Pontis" wrote in message
...
Nate wrote:

I've used them all, so I have a valid right to pass judgment on this
question.

My favorite would be the Eheim ProII series.
My second choice would be the Eheim Classic series.

Eheim's are the most expensive, but by far, the most well made. The
quietest, and the longest lasting. And I'm speaking from experience.

You won't be sorry with an Eheim. I think I can almost guarantee it.

N8


The lack of a quick disconnect on the Classic series would have to
knock them out of the running for "best", though they are just fine in
terms of filtration.

There is also an Eheim Pro Series that lacks the push to prime feature
and backpressure indicator. They are otherwise comparable to the ProII,
definitely high end.

--


I would agree that the current offerings from Rena, Fluval & Eheim are all
quite good and reliable so I don't think there's a bad choice (with the
exception of the Eco series from Eheim which I have no experience with but
have read lots of grumbles). For servicing, I much prefer the current
Fluvals over the Eheim Classic series (which is just getting a little
dated).

jmo
--
www.NetMax.tk

"NetMax" wrote in message
...

I would agree that the current offerings from Rena, Fluval & Eheim are all
quite good and reliable so I don't think there's a bad choice (with the
exception of the Eco series from Eheim which I have no experience with but
have read lots of grumbles). For servicing, I much prefer the current
Fluvals over the Eheim Classic series (which is just getting a little
dated).

I'm nowhere close to being canister-savy, but I have an Eheim Ecco (my first
and so far only cannister) and I haven't had problems with it (that I'm
aware of). LOL It came recommended to me as a nice, easy cannister for
beginners.
What kind of grumbles have you heard?

--
Mar
---------
VTIT

"MarAzul" wrote in message
news:qJWGf.16125$ZA5.7761@fed1read05...
"NetMax" wrote in message
...

I would agree that the current offerings from Rena, Fluval & Eheim are
all quite good and reliable so I don't think there's a bad choice (with
the exception of the Eco series from Eheim which I have no experience
with but have read lots of grumbles). For servicing, I much prefer the
current Fluvals over the Eheim Classic series (which is just getting a
little dated).

I'm nowhere close to being canister-savy, but I have an Eheim Ecco (my
first and so far only cannister) and I haven't had problems with it (that
I'm aware of). LOL It came recommended to me as a nice, easy cannister for
beginners.
What kind of grumbles have you heard?

--
Mar
---------
VTIT


What I heard (but have never seen) is that the Ecco stands for ECOnomy, and
its construction was not up to Eheim's standards. Grumblings about the
capacity and the quality of the components. There is more, but I'm not
comfortable commenting further, as I have had no personal experience with
this model. It might be a very good value for it's cost, and just didn't
meet elevated expectations. You should speak with someone who has both
Ecco's and other Eheims (or Renas/Fluvals etc) who might be able to make
more objective comparisons.
--
www.NetMax.tk

The double tap connectors that come with the latest Eheim classics are as
quick to disconnect as anything. I like the no possibility for bypass
design.

N8



The lack of a quick disconnect on the Classic series would have to
knock them out of the running for "best", though they are just fine in
terms of filtration.

There is also an Eheim Pro Series that lacks the push to prime feature
and backpressure indicator. They are otherwise comparable to the ProII,
definitely high end.

--

My best is Aquaria, Inc., which makes Magnum canisters. They are actual quiet, able and dependable. I've acclimated the H.O.T. 250 with the accessible bio-wheel adapter and accept never had any problems since I started with them about 1995 or1996.

Well, I wanted to get the Eheim but ran across a Fluval 204 on sale for just
over $50 at a corporate chain pet store I happened to be in because my
girlfriend buys cat litter there (I prefer the little mom and pop LFS
generally even if some of the kit is cheaper at the chain)

Anyway, thus begins my first experience with a cannister in something like
15 years of keeping cichlids and always having mulitple tanks. To
reiterate, I had always stuck with the good old Aquaclear 300 or 500 because
of their simplicity, reliability and effectiveness (every other power filter
I ever tried eventually broke or dramatically deteriorated in terms of
performance). The power filters always worked fine, providing good aeration
and biological filtration, enough to keep my 55 and 75 gallon tanks cristal
clear literally for years. They did have a few drawbacks which most here
probably know of. In this case though we just moved to a fancy new
apartment and my girlfriend demanded I get a noiseless and inconspicuous
filter so I went with the cannister finally.

Very first impressions were good, it came with a lot of filter media
including foam, carbon, and those ceramic noodles for bacteria growth. The
whole thing looked pretty clean in terms of design and competently put
together, and clearly a whole step beyond the power filter in filtration.
Yesterday I was pretty pleased with it as it lay still in the box.

Tonght I put it together and was a bit put off as I started. My god the
complexity! I build plastic model kits as a hobby some times, tanks and
airplanes, and I found the instuctions for this thing pretty daunting in
comparison. Next part of the setup is you are supposed to cut the hose with
a knife and use half of it for the input and half for the out-flow.
Couldn't they come up with a better system for that? I ended up screwing
this up a bit and my inflow tube is now about a foot longer than the
outflow, requiring me to put a couple of old phone books under the cannister
filter to allow it to reach.

More problems with the hoses followed... to secure the hoses to the brackets
hanging over the rim and from there to the inflow and outflow nozzles, the
kit comes with these rubber bands which are the chief way you hold the hose
down onto the clamps over the rim of the tank. A bit weak of a design
considering how catastrophic it could be if the outflow hose especially were
to come loose and fall out of the tank! Is this how all these things work?
I was suddenly missing my simple hard plastic Aquaclear inflow nozzle.

The instructions also don't explain that you are meant to double these
rubber bands to hold everything in place causing me to have to redo the damn
thing after setting it up the first time. Suckers were popping off, water
getting everywhere... I was getting pretty frazzled. I got it together more
or less finally, but this whole aspect left me rather uncomfortable and I'm
going to buy a new hose and redo the whole thing from scratch again so that
it all fits together a bit better.

After that, it was a breeze, I used the manual primer to pump water through
the thing, then plugged it in. So far so good. The tank is a bit milky
from fine particles I wasn't able to completely wash out of the gravel, so
I'll see if this new fangled cannister filter can clean it up a bit tonight.

It's not too powerful in terms of flow, I didn't look up how many GPH but
eyeballing it, it looks about the same as the Aquaclear 300 I had been using
on the (new) tank previously, but it's only a 30 gallon cube tank so it
should be powerful enough. And my better half appreciates that quiet
operation.

DB