jamie1942 Posted August 4, 2011 Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 i am interested in buying a large eheim for my large tank am looking at either the filter with the heater or one without heater i have been told dont touch the one with heater but it would be good for me can anyone give me advice please if maybe you have one of these with heater installed how is it working for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artem Posted August 5, 2011 Report Share Posted August 5, 2011 Ive heard bad things about the one with a heater as well, however I have never tried it myself. You can order an inline heater from the US if you don't want it in the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshlikesfish Posted August 5, 2011 Report Share Posted August 5, 2011 Ehiem filters are superb but I haven't heard much about the ones with built in heaters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted August 5, 2011 Report Share Posted August 5, 2011 I highly recommend Eheim filters but havent tried the built in heater model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammerhead Posted August 5, 2011 Report Share Posted August 5, 2011 I've been using an Eheim Professional filter (without the heater) for over 10 years on my tank and I'd have no hesitation in recommending one. I don't like the idea of having filtration and heating in one unit because if it packs up it's going to have a much greater effect on your environment than if just the heating or filtration alone has a problem. In fact I went to the extreme of having 2 smaller heaters at either end of the tank instead of one larger one so if one heater packs up the other will keep the environment steady while I replace the faulty unit. Probably because of my IT background I'm a big fan of redundancy. I would recommend you have a supply of replacement O-rings if you buy the Eheim because it's really irritating when you shred one and the unit starts leaking. I guarantee you that none of the local stores will have one in stock when you need one and I just love hearing that it'll be 2 weeks away. Also get a small sachet of the Eheim grease or lubricant to keep all the seals in good condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ismart120 Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 I highly recommend eheim filters, although I wouldn't be so keen on having a heater in the unit as well - I'm having a problem with a juwel filter where whenever the filter flow drops, the heaters ability to heat all the tank water drops markedly. I use two eheim classics, never given me any problems, even when thrown about by the earthquakes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamie1942 Posted August 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 hi thankyou everyone for all your information and funnily just today i am having the same trouble with a jewel filters inability to heat tank properly and i dont trust heater i screwed it right up but it wasnt working overnight and temperature has dropped to 65 degrees poor discus however have now put a large 300 watt heater outside of filter casing and things hopefully will return to normal i like the idea of the water flowing through the filter casing but i wonder if it is stopping some heater heat getting into the tank i keep the top sponge very clean and i think this helps somewhat i am told that sometimes these heaters are made and calibrated for a little warmer conditions than we have here in new zealand not sure whether this is correct or not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acara Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 I picked up a nice crenicichla 2 days ago,and the guy threw in an Eheim Pro 2 thermo(2128),it has the heater built in. However,I havn't plugged it in,as he broke the inlet tap,and I'm waiting on the replacement. My only concern is the thermostat and sensor may not be working,and these are quite expensive to replace. However,the tank is already heated,so I simply won't use the heater on the filter,that's no problem. Generally Eheim will give you no problems,I know guys who are running models over 20yrs old. I'm switching over to Eheim,mainly from Tetratec(which are exceptional filters),and also the new JBL Greenline range. Eheim Ecco Pro are very low wattage,so if you're running a lot of(smaller) tanks,they are worth looking at,I find on heavily stocked tanks they need more cleaning,but only takes a few minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted August 11, 2011 Report Share Posted August 11, 2011 I know that you're asking about Eheim filters, but why don't you consider Fluval as well? As far as I know, they are cheaper and probably as good (I've never done an apple-apple comparison myself because I've never had the need for two identical canisters). I bought my Fluval 105 about 3 years ago and it has been used on-and-off for 4 different tank set ups. There was even a period of time where it was lying in my backyard in between uses (oops.), but when I cleaned it up, everything clicked into place and worked just like new! I recently bought an FX-5 and I'm in :love: - so I would recommend Fluvals for being reliable and more affordable. But if you're set on Eheim, then go with your heart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted August 12, 2011 Report Share Posted August 12, 2011 I know that you're asking about Eheim filters, but why don't you consider Fluval as well? As far as I know, they are cheaper and probably as good (I've never done an apple-apple comparison myself because I've never had the need for two identical canisters). I bought my Fluval 105 about 3 years ago and it has been used on-and-off for 4 different tank set ups. There was even a period of time where it was lying in my backyard in between uses (oops.), but when I cleaned it up, everything clicked into place and worked just like new! I recently bought an FX-5 and I'm in :love: - so I would recommend Fluvals for being reliable and more affordable. But if you're set on Eheim, then go with your heart. Whats the inlet/outlet connections like? are they big, bulky and awkward to setup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amtiskaw Posted August 12, 2011 Report Share Posted August 12, 2011 When I was researching a new filter I found good and bad reviews of the FX-5, but I only found good reviews of Eheim. That's what sold me in the end... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted August 12, 2011 Report Share Posted August 12, 2011 I was talking to an owner of a petshop in town and he reckons that the fx-5s aren't very good, apparently the computer chip is because of a design flaw - not meant to be a feature (due to the construction/design air gets trapped in the motor head, thats why they have a chip to tell the filter to bleed the air out) Also thought it was a bad idea to have that much flow in a filter. But I've only heard good things about them on this forum, and its one of the best filters out there at removing large amounts of fine particles in the water - thats why i want one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamie1942 Posted August 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2011 hi everyone and thankyou all for taking the time to reply to me however one gets thoroughly confused i think depending on who you talk to and i think as in breeding fish you have to learn for better or worse from hands on experience i have had a fluvall work for me quite satisfactorily over a number of years the only problem i had was priming the damn thing and getting all air bubbles out of the system but this was an old model and hopefully the newre ones are much better i think in the long run you do pay for what you get but one could probably argue you could buy a new fluvall every two to three years ;for about ten years for the price of the top of the line eheim like heaters i heard of someone buying beautiful discus at great expense and cooking them with an aqua one heater maybe investment in an eheim heater would have been a better proposition my problem at the moment is i have about 12 discus in three five foot tanks these each have 3 large bio sponge filters in them as i have witnessed in breeders tank photos on trade me they are run by a very large air pump but i am not completely confident with the water quality even i do at least one good water change per week i was thinking perhaps i would be better to do away with these and substitute eheim filters such as a 2128 in each of these tanks it is not actually the initial monetary outlay but the end result i am interested in what do others think any comments would be helpful many thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted August 12, 2011 Report Share Posted August 12, 2011 If you have the 3 large sponge filters in each tank and they are cycled and you keep up with water changes then the water quality (chemically speaking ammonia etc) would be fine, sponge filters are great at biological filtration and I run them on some quite big heavily stocked tanks with no issues. They are not very good at mechanical filtration (poos etc) so you may end up with some extra waste floating around in the tanks, you can add air powered box filters (no good with fry) to pick up this mechanical stuff though. It is a very common misconception that you need to spend money to have good water quality. It is all pretty basic really, get water flow through any media bacteria builds up converts and ammonia the ammonia to less toxic stuff and people have been keeping fish with basic filters with no issues for years. Personally if you were wanting to add a filter to each of these tanks I would recommend aqua one CF1200s they are only $132ea at hollywood fishfarms atm and they flow 1200LPH (roughly obviously drops with media). They filter well and last for years I know people have had them running with no issues for 7-8yrs with no issues, and you can buy many for the price of one eheim. They are the toyotas of filters, cheap and basic and just keep on going And if they do happen to crap out parts are cheap and easy to come by.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ismart120 Posted August 13, 2011 Report Share Posted August 13, 2011 Yeah, aquaone heaters aren't that precise all the time, I've found my jager heater to be really good though. One thing to watch with the cheaper filters is sometimes the wattage is quite high on them - I have an external that uses about 15 watts, compared to an equivalent aquaone which is 22w, as well as it being quite a bit quieter than the cheaper brand ones (I am biased though). Just somethings to think about though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acara Posted August 15, 2011 Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 As a general rule,cheap filters = higher electricity bills. Also consider cost of replacemnet parts. A lot of friends use the FX5,never heard a bad word about it,but it is heavy on the leccy. I've been using Tetratec heaters for years,and am now switching to Eheim Jager,simply due to prices,but a friend here who swears by German kit(he's German),won't touch them,as he's had them stick and cook fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted August 16, 2011 Report Share Posted August 16, 2011 Whats the inlet/outlet connections like? are they big, bulky and awkward to setup? Not really.. It's just a matter of fitting the hoses into the right sockets and using a screwdriver to tighten the 'grip' bracket. Of course, I had to go and screw it up by accidentally leaving the rubber bit on the end (which should have been on the other end) connected to the output socket. Went out for dinner, came home and saw that the bend of the hose had caused a slow leak from the connection point. Cabinet was a little wet for a day or so, but then again, so glad that the rubber connection didn't give - THAT would've been a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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