Tropical Fish keepers of the org, Recommend Me

[Owenski]

An external filter,

I have a 200L aquarium but I came down this morning to find the water level had dropped 2inch and the living room floor much wetter than I remember it been last night.

Sooooooo, half a dozen towells later we have a dry floor but now a filterless tank. I was using the the Fluval 205 and would like to know if any of you have a quiet external filter that you can reccomend? It needs to cope with over 200L and be quiet as the aquarium is in the corner of the living room.

Cheers.

[speedplay]

Any of the fluval range are good.
I've got a 206 external canister as an extra on my american set up which is very quiet.
Im running the 206 and the rena one at each end of the tank filtering 2000 litres an hour between them.
I used to have 1 205 but it died after 3 years or so an replaced it with the 206.
Buid quality is pretty much the same and its still really easy to use.
Rena have some really good filters too but are a bit harder to come by.
I'm using an eheim on my Malawi tank but im not that happy with it.
Yes it will do 2000 litres an hour and keeps the tank nice and clean but the hose connectors are fiddly and maintainance is a pain due to not having a prime plunger like the fluval range.

Maidenhead aquatics (spit) usually have deals on pumps and filters due to the sheer number they can buy at any one time.

The other option is have a dig through the aquarist classifieds (http://www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/) and see if anyone has any spare kit kicking about.

[Reckless Rat]

I was always told by fish shops that Eheim are the best, and have best back up for spares.... but are also most expensive!
I had lots of problems with external filters leaking, or pulling off the wrong pipe, or just getting the thing to seal when reassembling it!
I also had problems with the quick release valves clogging on my Fluval, oh... and the internal plastic bits seemed to go very brittle after a while.
I gave up and ended up with a Juwel Rio 240 that comes with it's own internal filter/heater, which I've heard is a bit marginal for filtering that size tank, but I've never had a problem.
And no more wet carpets of course!

[Owenski]

Any of the fluval range are good.
I've got a 206 external canister as an extra on my american set up which is very quiet.
Im running the 206 and the rena one at each end of the tank filtering 2000 litres an hour between them.
I used to have 1 205 but it died after 3 years or so an replaced it with the 206.
Buid quality is pretty much the same and its still really easy to use.
Rena have some really good filters too but are a bit harder to come by.
I'm using an eheim on my Malawi tank but im not that happy with it.
Yes it will do 2000 litres an hour and keeps the tank nice and clean but the hose connectors are fiddly and maintainance is a pain due to not having a prime plunger like the fluval range.

Maidenhead aquatics (spit) usually have deals on pumps and filters due to the sheer number they can buy at any one time.

The other option is have a dig through the aquarist classifieds (http://www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk/) and see if anyone has any spare kit kicking about.

I cant find the 206, but I've had a look for the 205 again and having thought about it decided not to get another one of those. The one I have has leaked for ages, but as I said it finally died spectacularly during the night so I'd rather stear away from them and try a different make.

[speedplay]

I cant find the 206, but I've had a look for the 205 again and having thought about it decided not to get another one of those. The one I have has leaked for ages, but as I said it finally died spectacularly during the night so I'd rather stear away from them and try a different make.


So what went wrong with it then?

Fluval are pretty good for spares if you need them too.
I've not had any problems with things popping off (I have used the clips on the pipes though ) or the plastic getting brittle.
The only problems I seem to get is that the suckers loose their suction in the tank after a while:(
The eheim I have is a bloody expensive filter and works really well but I dread filter maintainence :(

[Bluefish]

I used to have one small internal power filter, one jewel internal and a eheim external on a 180 ltr tank no problems with the eheim and it had a plunger on it. You only need to clean them every 6 months anyhow, even then they shouldn't be that dirty.

[speedplay]

You only need to clean them every 6 months anyhow, even then they shouldn't be that dirty.


Mine gets filled with silt and has baby fish living it it (not fry but 20mm sized fish).

[fizzwheel]

Eheim are what I've always seen recommended and its what I have. Its nice and quiet and has been no trouble at all. If you go for one of the range of "Classic" filters IIRC they guarantee to keep spares available for 10 years after it goes out of production so if it does go wrong getting the bits you need shouldnt be a problem.

Only niggle I've had with mine is its a big of a pig to reprime it after a filter change or just cleaning the gunk out of it.

[speedplay]

Only niggle I've had with mine is its a big of a pig to reprime it after a filter change or just cleaning the gunk out of it.


I end up over filling mine before I put the top back on that way the water spilling over the top tends to push most of the air out too.

Still a ball ache though.



*best to put the top back on over the sink with this method.

[Owenski]

Somewhere around the seal there has been a leak for over 3months. But its only been a tricle so I've had it sat in a bucket, when I notice a drop in teh water level I pour the bucket back in the tank. No drama, this takes place about once a fortnight, but I did this process on Wednesday night and then this morning water was everywhere. So at some point during the night something on it failed, so the bucket was overflowing all over the floor.
My fault for not replacing a broken thing but with all the other things I've had to pay for recently it simply didnt figure very high on my list.

My back up filter is 120l internal one I only really use it as a jet to keep water flowing around the tank. But at a 200l tank its wont cope for long. Im going to get 2 external ones and get rid of the internal Ive just found the Ehiem classic 2213 which will do upto 200l but only costs £42.90, so 2 of those for less than £100 I think is a bit of a steal.

[speedplay]

Im going to get 2 external ones and get rid of the internal Ive just found the Ehiem classic 2213 which will do upto 200l but only costs £42.90, so 2 of those for less than £100 I think is a bit of a steal.


Good plan and it sounds like you found a good deal there too :)
I like the 2 filter set up myself as I keep some pretty big fish (VT wil vouch for the size of my monster...lmao) and theres always a lot of waste produced.
If one goes down (like yours has) theres always one to back it up.

Dont forget to post some pics of your set up after the new filters have been set up ;)

[fizzwheel]

I end up over filling mine before I put the top back on that way the water spilling over the top tends to push most of the air out too.

Thats what I end up doing... I'm glad we dont have carpet in our house...

[Owenski]

I was just thinking similar, I'll start a "Show us your Fish" thread once I've got it all re-filtered.

[kwak zzr]

just a quick question, why an external filter and not internal?

[fizzwheel]

just a quick question, why an external filter and not internal?

OK I might be wrong but this is how I understand it.

Its down to flow rate & capacity, i.e the Eheim in my 300l tank filters the entire contents of the tank 3 times in 1 hr. To do this is uses alot of filter pads and these all take up space. So rather than taking up space in the tank itself with an internal filter, with an external canister filter you can hide the cannister away underneath the tank in the stand and it leaves more room inside tha take itself as well as getting the filtration rate you need.

I think... When I bought my tank we asked the shop assistant what she would recommend and she showed us the Eheim we bought and another external one, she never mentioned internal filters at all...

[kwak zzr]

seems like the more professional way to do it and like you say frees more space up in the tank, mines only 100lts so an internal fluval thing seems to do the trick.

[Owenski]

Fizz, pretty much the same answer as I would have given.

The filter and the aquarium size is obviously proportional so for larger aquariums (anything over the 120l region I'd say) then the size of the filter gets to a stage where if you were to leave it in the tank it would look horrid. Its not so bad when your filter is a little one that isnt any bigger than a 750ml coke bottle but when you require a filter the size of a shoe box then it would be a bit of an eye-sore in the there. So buy an external one its looks better and you free up more space for the fishes.