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Fluvals have a bunch of minor problems compared to eheims. It's not enough to say they aren't worth buying but the eheims tend to fewer problems and perform a little better. Fluvals have a bit of media bypass, are just a little noisier, and parts such as impellers have to be replaced more frequently. They are still a well known and often used brand.

If I ever get an eheim it will be off ebay because you can get even new cannisters for considerably less than any store.

Yea im planning on getting it through big als, ive order tons of stuff from them and everthing has always been great.

sharkbait_whohaha, i think you raise a very good point. Less people have the Eheims so even if there are problems with it you dont hear as much.

big als online has the 404 with media for 99.00 my lfs sells it for 189.00 go though big als. my oldest fluval is 9 years old and still runs quite its one of the old 403 befoe they made the change to the 404 and i have never had to do any thing but clean it any one who says fluvals are full of prolems deither never had one or jusst dont know how to run one. i have several with no problems.

This is very interesting.

I myself have a fluval 204 for my tank. I have had this running now for 2 months, and l have to say.. If this unit can satisfy me this well.. what can an eheim do better for the extra money?

The stop drip works wonders as l have never had it leak while cleaning the unit, its very very quite (my Stellar Air Pump W-40) is louder then the fluval and its easy to clean and maintain and keeps my tank nice and clean.

You may hear people say.. “oh my unit leaks, its noisy” or some other crap. But at the end of the day you have to ask yourself, how do they look after it in the first place.

With anything you buy, if you read the manual and install it right, service it when needed, it will last and do what it needs to do with out a problem.

You can for some unlucky chance get a faulty unit… this can happen with anything mass produce, but when l was in the LFS the other day, l saw a Fluval returned and funny… l also saw a Eheim unit. The reason why you see more fluval’s returned is coz there is way more of them out there then Eheim units.

And there are a lot of people out there that just have no clue on how to look after things.


Anyways.. What ever you go for, I’m sure you will be very happy with it.


Cheers
Wayne

Thanks for all of the info guys.

For now i think i will just go with the Fluval. Afterall im just looking for a good canister for a small 30G tank. I dont really need anything special and the media for Eheim is hard to get around here since no LFS carries them. The LFS here already overprice fluvals, imagine the price of a eheim in their stores lol.

I have recently bought a Fluval 305 to replace my Aquaclear. The Fluval sits underneath the tank in the cabinet and is very very quiet, especially compared to the Aquaclear that developed an annoying noise over the past few months.

So far so good - but it has only been running for a week and I have not had to clean it so not sure how messy/easy it is to clean, but looks pretty simple.

i have tried both brands and the so called better brand is not worth the extra money.i did not find them to be any better so why pay all that extra money. if they were any better i would buy and use them i have the money but certanly dont go around wasteing it.

I saw that PS has a box of Bio Balls that would work in the 404 for about 10 bucks. Just enough to fill 2 or 3 chambers I think.

My 2 cents,

I have Fluval 04 Serie on almost all my tanks and like Mel said, they do the job well. Oh, maybe not as well as an Eheim unit but at a much cheaper price.

One thing that was not discussed here was the price of the media between Fluvial and Eheim. Believe me, it HAS to be taken into account... actually, out of your account. lol

Eheim filters, excluding the ECO serie which should be avoided at all cost because it's a b**** to clean and service, are expensive, and so are the media replacements. I was at my LFS yesterday and was asking what I could put in my sump as an extra shelter for good bacteria and the guy showed me some Eheim top knotch bio-balls... $179.99 for a box of about 2 or 3 pounds!!! If you check the price tag of other Eheim medias, you will also go for sure. On the other hand, Fluval medias are good, reliable and pretty cheap. They do the job correctly.

Bottom line, I will keep on using my Fluvals and keep my money for quality food and quality fish / plants. After all, not all cars need to be BMWs and cost an arm and leg. A good Toyota or GM will do the trick for half the price and will go the distance.

Oh... yeah, if I was a rich person with money to burn, I'd go for a Eheim any day.

CC

When I asked a guy I respect at the LFS about eheim vs fluval and he said it was the same as buying a luxery car vs a good, solid car. Fluvals will get you where you need to go, be safe, and last for years. Eheims fall more in the 'a pleasure to drive' category - which includes excellent preformance and design - but at a price.

I went with a Fluval. Maybe if I had extra money that I didn't know what to do with I'd get an Eheim, but even if an Eheim is more fun and better quality -- I haven't ever heard anyone say that a Eheim is in any way significantly better for your fish.

Obviously I'm just quoting what I heard - but the analogy made sense to me and the guy who said it is super-super-super experienced and knowedgable guy at a high-end serious-hobbist LFS.

First i would like to say hi to every one again, i havent been around for a LONG time, it took me 10 minutes to even figure out waht name i used on these boards so i could log in lol.

Anyways, i was wondering if these filters have any major problems, i read a few reviews about how the imepllor and the aqua stop system clogs easily and water can bypass the media. is this really true?

What would be another good canister filter around this price?

I've had my Flueval 404 filter for about 4 years now with no problems what so ever. I once went 5 months without cleaning it and other than a dip in the output volume (about 30%), it performed flawlessly. After that length of time, it still managed to push the fish about 10 inches across the tank when they passed the output valve.

Ok, ill check that out. Thanks again

The extra money will be worth it otheres filters do a good job but Eheim do it better.

I have the Pro11 which does have two baskets.

Contact your LFS and ask them or look up www.eheim.de there is a lot of info there.

Have a look in [link=My Profile]http://
www.fishprofiles.com/interactive/forums/profile.asp?userid=6741" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link] for my tank info

[link=Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos]http://photobucket.com/albums/b209/keithgh/Betta%20desktop%20tank/" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link]

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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Ah ok, thank you.

Since my sister is sharing the cost of the filter, I might be able to get an Eheim, but it depends if shes up for paying a bit more.

Does the Eheim classic filters use baskets as well?

they comm with a bunch of charcoal and bio beads and ceramic rings enough to fill all four layers of baskets.

Thanks for the comments guys.

So far i think im going to be sticking with a Fluval. The Eheim Classic ones are good, but i dont think i want to put out some more money for one of those. I might, but im not sure if i can even spare a small amount of money..

BTW, do either of you know what media a Fluval comes with?

to answer your question fluvals are very good filters and no they dont have any big problems i have used them for years with out fail.they keep my tanks very clean.

I was told the other day by owner of LFS that the later models of the Fluval canisters have improved. Saying that she next said she will be using Eheims in all her tanks at home and at the LFS.

I think that says it all.

Eheim is a far better Canister but it will cost you more. Cost equals quality and reliability.

Have a look in [link=My Profile]http://
www.fishprofiles.com/interactive/forums/profile.asp?userid=6741" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link] for my tank info

[link=Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos]http://photobucket.com/albums/b209/keithgh/Betta%20desktop%20tank/" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link]

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