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Cant speak for the Rena, but Ive owned a Fluval 400. It was a little on the loud side and a pain in the neck to prime. The filtration was great though. Ive switched to Eheim recently and I dont think I'll use anything else in the future. Its completely silent.

Rena is fairly new on the scene but fluval has been around for a while. The reason people talk so highly of eheim is its perfection really.

Fluvals are nice but it depends on the filter you get. If your lucky you get this flawless version that never makes noise and never leaks. More often then not there is SOMETHING imperfect about it. might make a little noise or have a small leak you gotta fix. Just one of those things that makes it "cheaper".

Eheim are more often then not perfect out of the box. Sure there are those bad apples but thats really just what it is. Factory screw up happen and usually cant be helped with any product. The difference is its out of the ordinary and unexpected. Ive owned mine for 3 yrs without out any issue. It started makeing noise ONE day but it was my fault. I popped it opened cleaned the impellar with a towel and dropped it back in and back to perfection. Also keep in mind i have a eheim rated for a 40g running on a 75g lol so it gets dirty.

Another point i would like to add is skip the lesser eheims. yes they work and yes the quality is just as good. the professionals cost ya like $10-$20 more then their lesser counterparts but are SO much more convienent. your paying a few extra dollars for simple cleaning and priming and on a tight budget the few extra seems liek alot. but 4 yrs down the row when your on your 50th cleaning your gona wish you had a professional i promise lol.

skip the heater version just another thing to go wrong if for some reason your filter fails you dont wanna add to your headaches by haveing no heat.

Seems like the ehiem is the one to go with just thought i'd check on those two as I found them for around half off. So whats the difference in the Ecco and the Classic????

I dont think classics come with a basket for the media. this makes it a severe pain in the behind to clean. gotta dump everything then sort it then clean only the mechanical part of it and try not to upset the biological part to much.

Not sure about eccos, i think they have baskets and a primer but are on the small side.

I am looking on bigals now and it seems they have cut way back on their eheim selection. they use to cary so many different version of basically the same gph it made it alot easier to compare. now it seems they only have a few of each size range

I had the ecco, it came with a basked, with handles even! The filters we have now do have baskets but not the handles so they're sometimes a little finicky to get lined up. Granted I wouldn't go against a filter just cause it didn't have handles on the basket. But it was a nice touch.

The ecco was my first canister filter. Was very easy to operate and the price was right in my book. I think I paid $80, though I don't remember now what model I had, I think it was the smallest one that came with the three baskets.

I would also stay away from the heated ones. IMHO not really necessary, heaters are easy enough to hide.

Also, since it is a cichlid tank, if you plan on using sand there's less of a chance of filter damage IME with a canister vs a HOB.

The only reason I speak of the filter in the past tense is that it was one of those items that just couldn't come to oz with me.

^_^

As I have mentioned to you before in Chat and here GPH is not the main thing in a filter it is the filtration method and this is where Eheim win hands down every time, reason the quality, reliability, excellent filtration, and extremely quiet when working, the baskets make the cleaning a lot easier as well this also make it a lot easier to change filter media if you want to.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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So either the classic 2215. Or the ECCO 2236 is what you said are my best options correct?

Ok onelast question. I've been researching these and found that the ECCO 2236 is hard to find. Also I noticed they push 185GPH, and the biggest classic pushes 209GPH. And the Rena XP3 Canister. I looked at for half price pushes 350GPh. I know you a big Eheim Fan. And I've read reviews and they seem to both get the same kinda reviews. Would it be worth trying the Rena that pushes more GPH. I'm not trying to upset anyone Just trying to get a good filter for a good price.

I have never seen the Rena filters but what I do know Rena did have a good name.

I will go to the Eheim site and get back to you later tonight

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

I have had a good look at the Classic, Ecco and the Pro

Of those three I would go for in order of preference
Pro mainly because of its design in filtration the large baskets and ease of handeling.

Ecco 2235 baskets but could have a bit more power for my liking.

Last the Classic no baskets basically

Having the Pro11 myself the baskets make it a lot easier to clean and change if necesary. The pro11 certainly has an advantage over the Pro but you are paying extra for it.

Also as far as I know all the Pro series atre made in Germany most of the other varieties are made under licence in other countries.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

i honestly know very little about the rena. no idea on the amount of bypass it has resulting is less actual filtration. for example if it has 350gph and only half of it is goign through the media due to cracks and spaces then your really only getting 175gph with more water movement. does this make sense?

ill see if i can find any literature or diagrams on the design and get back to ya.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.aquahobby.com/products/img/filstar3b.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.aquahobby.com/products/e_filstar_2.php&usg=__X3F-YRkpR7uN63Vdk16hatM9f4k=&h=240&w=121&sz=11&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=VLDYHM55gvDBJM:&tbnh=110&tbnw=

http://www.aquahobby.com/products/e_filstar.php

Any Word on that canister yet? I did find a aquaclear 300 in my shed im going to get the tank all set up and get that filter running on it and start cycling it atleast until after christmas when I'll hopefully have a canister. And by then hopefully have a start to the cycle! Any Thought on that?

I dont know. Thing with electronics is you usually get what you pay for. So typiccally i like to keep to the dependable name brands. Course its your wallet so you can try them if you like. They are new to the scene so i cant say i have heard anything bad about them.

Well they reatil around the same as the others. I just know a place I can get a good discount!