Tropical Fish keepers of the org, Recommend Me

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.

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 and see if anyone has any spare kit kicking about.

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!

Originally Posted by 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 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.

Originally Posted by leedsmatt7

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

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.

Originally Posted by bluefishman

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.

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

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.

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.