Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)
Hi,
John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.
I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.
With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.
I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.
If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.
I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.
I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.
Thank you
Darragh Sherwin
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- paddyc1 (Paddy Corrigan)
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Any advice on which is the best of these............
Tetratec ex900
Crystalprofi E900
Fluval 405
Thanks in advance,
Paddy
Tallaght, Dublin 24
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- mixer (MICK BRADLEY)
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- paddyc1 (Paddy Corrigan)
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Tallaght, Dublin 24
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- dar (darren curry)
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Check out the angling section, it is fantastic
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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People in general treat Filters badly, they try squeezing and pulling them to fit the Lids etc, they are engineered to sit in a certain way, not positioning stuff correctly or filling Baskets brim full with media will inevitably lead to damage or unsatisfactory performance, I would have to say that priming is a big let down with externals but patience usually leads to success.
Tell me, how many Filters are sold world-wide? how many are faulty? there are millions of Filters sold yearly and not all are faulty. I have also sold used Filters on this Forum and no problems reported so...
Kev.
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- dyco619 (steve carmody)
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ive never had any problems with them,
i have an ehiem classic as well, nothing wrong with it but would prefer to swap it for a fluval!!
very handy to take apart for cleaning too...
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- dar (darren curry)
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but if you do buy one watch for the little ceramic rod, if you have the baskets slightly out of place or if you put a wee bit more media in it, it can smash the rod. i busted mine this way (only about 6quid to replace plus a bit of postage), then the primer went (the plastic warped), the filter leaked flooding the gaff, the clip for the propeller cover snapped in my hand and would not work without it. and now the motor is a total disaster and i am forking out for a new filter. but i will get some pleasure out of it...by taking a sledge hammer to my old pal fluval. i might scream a few obsanities while i am at it.
it is totally your call but you need the good and the bad comments before you make your call and that is just my experience
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- paddyc1 (Paddy Corrigan)
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There's always gonna be a mixed bag of experiences.
I was thinking of going with the JBL, maybe the E1500.
Thanks for the comments. Keep em coming !!
Tallaght, Dublin 24
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- JohnH (John)
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You seem to have totally dispensed with the thought of getting an Eheim.
I personally would recommend that make over any other available - but this is really what it's all about, opinions.
I think they - as a brand - are head and shoulders above any other.
Maybe others will disagree, but to me they're 'simply the best' (good title for a song there).
John
I have just re-read my post and have to say that I only ever use Eheims, I do have a Tetratec I bought second hand and it's still out the shed (in case of emergency) I have a good few Fluval internals and they are very good, but I cannot comment on their range of externals though if they are in any way as good as the internals they can't be that bad.
Location:
N. Tipp
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.
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It's a long way to Tipperary.
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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if you have the baskets slightly out of place or if you put a wee bit more media in it, it can smash the rod. i busted mine this way (only about 6quid to replace plus a bit of postage), then the primer went (the plastic warped), the filter leaked flooding the gaff, the clip for the propeller cover snapped in my hand and would not work without it. and now the motor is a total disaster and i am forking out for a new filter.
Thanks Dar, exactly what I said, abuse it and you lose it, all of the above anecdote points toward abuse of the article and inexperience. Why put in more media than you should? the Baskets will not fit together properly if overfilled and will result in damage, rtfm ! it's stupid to put more media in than it is designed to take, I'd love to put a Jet turbine Engine into my Honda but I doubt if the chassis could take it.
Kev.
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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Kev.
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- dar (darren curry)
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Check out the angling section, it is fantastic
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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So If I read this I must assume all Eheim are rubbish too?
How on Earth is having the media Baskets slightly out of place got anything to do with manufacturing errors?
They only get bad Stick if you look for bad stick, Dyco and I have had no problems .
Kev.
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- Jim (Jim Lawlor)
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The one external I wouldn't get again is a fluval (ive got a 405).
I've had it from new whereas most of the others are second hand and therefore older. Each time I clean it, you can almost see the flow begining to degrade within days. Much higher maintenance too.
I'm not trying to claim that's representative of all fluvals but that's my experience of them.
The tetratec are great and the eheim, although more fiddly to set up, is at least as good.
Jim
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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Kev.
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- dar (darren curry)
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calm down Kev, if you read again you will see that i clearly stated that was my fault and you will clearly read that it is my opinion
if i write a letter of apology to captain fluval will that untangle your undergarments?
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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- dar (darren curry)
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paddy my apologies for the thread going off a bit. i gave an opinion. it is up to yourself, as i said
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- paddyc1 (Paddy Corrigan)
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JohnH, don't know why I haven't considered Eheim. Any idea which model would suit best ??
Tallaght, Dublin 24
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- Fishowner (Gavin fishowner)
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All valid opinions there from the looks of it. The main thing I would take from the experiences of others above is exactly as Kev said in relation to the Guarantee. Use the filter as its meant,and if you do have problems,know that your warranty will stand up.
My own experience is with Tetratec, I find them excellent,so silent you wouldnt know that it was even running. Easy to maintain and clean etc. (I know some of the earlier models had a problem with the seals leaking but I think that batch of models are all sorted now and Tetratec held up to their warrantys as well).Ive never had an issue with Tetratec and would recommend them.
Other thing I would say, its good you are overfiltering. Sizing up the filter capacity,will serve you in the long run. However I dont know where you are buying the EX 900 ?? I didnt know Tetratec did an EX 900? did you mean the ex 600 or 700 or 1200!!!!
Gavin
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- JohnH (John)
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I have two which have been running almost non-stop (apart from occasional media cleans and the time spent moving over and getting tanks set up again after the house was finally built (I know I've said this before, but it bears repeating - Irish builders can learn nothing about prevarication from their UK counterparts).
I'm also running two of the 2213s as well for at least five years - also without any problems at all, and they were 'previously enjoyed' by Russell.
The 'Wet and Dry' range is well spoken of too - I actually have one, but am keeping that for a special purpose later in the year. I know others here who swear by them, but I can only talk about the ones I have eperience of.
I also have a couple of smaller Eheims running and - like the others already mentioned - they continue to give good service after well over a decade.
John
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We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.
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It's a long way to Tipperary.
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- Fishowner (Gavin fishowner)
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I mean fair enough the filter wool needs replacing regularly, the carbon is the same (although I dont run carbon unless needed to remove something). The sponges seems to last fine once washed every now and then, while the ceramics and bio balls seem perfect once washed. (all washed in tank water of course). I never replaced any of mine,keep them regularly maintained and it should be fine. (I will admit to cutting the sponge into several sizes so I can seed other filters if needed in emergency etc, and I have used them to good effect eg.Quarantine tank).
So just wondering how often do people change their media assuming its not for any reason other than replacing existing worn out media ?
Gavin
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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Kev.
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- andrewo (andrew)
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Probably end result will be something like Eheim;____;_____;______ but then again there could be a surprise or two in store.

So John?
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- stretnik (stretnik)
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Are they not popular due to Aesthetics?
Kev.
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- christyg (Chris Geraghty)
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- mickdeja (Mick Whelan)
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Having recently met up with and spoken to, a member of the forum , he told me that he uses Sponges and Pipes and Air, so why do we use expensively crafted Externals?? why do we not all just use Sponges and Air, they would certainly be cheaper.
Are they not popular due to Aesthetics?
Kev.
Its now is the time to think about savin money and the sponge and air is a very cheap way to go. I have only really seen them on breedin tanks and other smaller tanks within a house. i think for the main tank or bigger tanks in the house little is more, by this i mean u can go with the sponge and air option with heaters and the rest on display, the external option with heaters and the rest or the sump where everything is hidden. I know i would prefer the sump on me main tank and that is down to astethics. So yer probably right sure thats why fluval make that flash lookin cappucino maker external because it looks nice.
Mick...

Follow me up to Carlow
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- dubfish (Alan Martin)
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Fluval FX5 is a good match,highly recommend them.Anything that beats an Eheim would have to be pretty special. Its hard to beat German engineering and quality and reliability.
Regards Alan..
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- jakepitbull (john)
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- paddyc1 (Paddy Corrigan)
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Those who've seen my other post (Filter help) will see it's annoying me already !
Tallaght, Dublin 24
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