Experience with different methods?

[shoggoth43]

I'll be working on a new tank soon. It'll be at least a 75 and hopefully a 120. Right now I'm growing out some discus in a 45 and I'm finding I need a little more filtration. Since I don't want to waste yet more cash buying things that won't readily transfer to the new tank I'm looking for opinions on some stuff.

I could go the wet/dry route with an eshoppe rig powered by something like a maxijet pump.

I could use the same type of pump and go with the nu-clear cannisters.

I could skip that and go with an eheim, marineland, or FX5 cannister.

Can anyone give me their gripes on any of that equipment? I really like the whole sump idea since the water level is rock solid. However, if I get a tank with a built in overflow I can put the intake on a canister at the bottom and just make sure I have a high water level in the wier. This will give me something of a sump as the water level in there will drop before the main water level in the tank. I'm not sure how well that will work in practice.

I'm just basically looking for the models I should avoid, or things like "the handles always break or the media trays are sharp" so I can get an idea of whether or not I even want to deal with it. I read a lot of people loved the nu-clears but Tom also mentioned the eheim 2260 was easier to service. The FX5 has a lot of flow but I have no idea beyond that. The marineland looks pretty good, but it seems noone has actually used it yet. For the cost I should have no issues snagging a wet/dry in the same range, although lots of people don't seem to be using them anymore for planted tanks.

Thoughts?

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S

 

[Tom Barr]

Rena's say 2x the 300gph ranges would be good for a 75, maybe 2-3 of the good sized ones for the 120Gal, you can run more options and have less issues this way.
Might be better/more cost effective vs ehiem.


Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[shoggoth43]

I'll look into it. Rena isn't one of the common types around here. It's pretty much eheim, fluval, or the marineland units.

 

[cggorman]

I've been running Fluvals for about 15 years. The early units had a tendency to get brittle over time and leak or divert flow, but the newer ones seem to have those problems licked. They are still a pain to prime, but I need to do that so infrequently that it's a non-issue for me.

The 304 on my 55 is rock solid after five years and I think it's easy to service. Parts are plentiful, thought I've yet to need any for the newer model. It's in my bedroom and it's absolutely silent.

I don't have any experience with the FX5.


I've had a Rena XP3 on my 70 for a couple years now and it's been a fine filter. The inlet/outlet fitting kit that comewith it is nice if you've got a typical tank and/or requirements, but I had to build the outlet plumbing (after the hose) from scratch to accomodate my CO2 equipment and flow needs. I've got a vertical "spraybar" that runs the full depth of the tank so I don't have any surface agitation and still get good circulation in this odd-shaped tank (Perfecto/Marineland 70 Corner).

Anyway, the XP3 is also easy to service and quiet in operation, but it seems a bit less forgiving of hose routing. If you side-load the siamese connector at the canister, it will leak. It's low-tech priming provision works well for me. Nothing to break and it's fast. Nowhere near as elegant as the modern Eheims, but it works for me.



I've also gor a Vortex H.O.T. diatom filter that's a major pain, but with some mods it serves it's purpose well. I only use it occasionally for polishing and such.


In years past I had a HOT Magnum and thought it was a really good filter.


None of the off-the-shelf solutions seem to quite suit me, so I'll probably build my own "canister" next time around.

 

[shoggoth43]

I snagged an Eheim 2028 last week and so far it's been pretty decent. I'm contemplating grabbing another.

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[jonny_ftm]

I also have an Eheim 2028 and I find it a really good filter.

The only issue is when cleaning. Their supposedely easy-start button often doesn't work and the filter needs to be filled and started manually. You won't have this issu if your inlet/outlet remain submerged during maintenance though.


To start it, I fill the filter manually after closing it, plug the hoses, push down the start-button and maintain it pressed. Plug the filter and release the button once it started

I found it relatively silent once the door of the cupboard is closed

 

[shoggoth43]

I ran into some issues starting it the other day. After futzing with it for ten minutes and filling it manually it occurred to me that perhaps if I'd actually plugged the thing in that might help somewhat...

I can't say I've noticed any real noise from it unless I'm kneeling over it doing something. It's considerably quieter than the powerhead on the sponge though which is the important bit.

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[shoggoth43]

Yeah....

Still having issues restarting it. I'll try refilling the cannister manually next time. The autosiphon capability doesn't seem too reliable thus far. Or I just don't have the method down yet.

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S

 

[jonny_ftm]

Hi,

All Eheim auto-syphon stuff never worked. Neither Pro or Pro II versions. Don't know about ProIII and electronic models

If you keep all inlet/outlet extremities submerged during maintenance, it will auto-syphon as soon as you plug the hoses, without you do any thing

Now, if they got emersed during waterchange, the spontaneous auto-syphon on hoses plugging won't work. Here should come their auto-syphon button. But it doesn't work.

Now, if you understand how their canister is built, it is very easy to solve it. Actually, you have to close the canister, fill it with water from the hoses opening and then plug the hoses. When you press the auto-syphon button, it will push on the water making it rising to contact the impeller (supposing you well filled the canister as I explained above). The water will be sucked by impeller and the canister started (what actually happens is that the impeller is rotating dry, which is very bad). Then, you can release the auto-syphon button and the filter will work like a charm. You'll still need to shake it hardely to release all the trapped air

Once used to it, it is really done in less than 1mn