fluval 404 get what you pay for !

[Bad Inferno]

Well I thought when my 13 YO 2215 ehiem needed to be retired (only ever had to change the o-ring)I would buy a fluval, thinking they are all really the same.

Well I thought this was great, huge flow, baskets, fantastic.... however after 18 months of service (if that) it rattles and when I look at the rotor the hole is now very oval. I don't know the rotor price however suspect I should of paid the extra $100 and got a filter that would last me another 10 years.

I will buy another rotor as I cannot justify an entire new filter although I do have ehiem envy !

[barramundi]

Oh no,

Inferno just got a 404 with my new tank, would be intrested if anyone else has same comments,have another fluval on my other tank never a problem, touch wood.

john

[vishy]

Yeh i loved mine and find it realy easy to service and stuff but it has started rattling admittedly i've given it a fair bit(running it clogged up really bad for a while :roll: )
Thanks
Matt

[FishLover]

When FLuval rattles, mostly it is the air trapped inside the filter after services. Try to tip it a bit and let the ait out. That should cut down the tattle a bit.

I have a 304 and a 404 in my fish tank and I think I may need some new o-rings for them. They are only about 1 year old. :-(

[Bad Inferno]

If you look at the impella you can see the hole is oval and the shaft moves heaps. As my tank is close to bedrooms, after service I always "pre-fill" the filter and then let it sit a little while and then try and purge out all the air by tipping and changing the flow rate until I cannot hear any more air inside.

It pumps great, however at night time it is loud. You would be hard pressed to hear it during the day over ambient noise when the cabient is shut. I have wrapped the filter in a sheet of 1" foam and also lined the top of the cabinet under the tank with foam to try and make it silent.

[Daetarek]

why would you retire an eheim ?

i mean wouldn't you just get it serviced ?

[Bad Inferno]

the 2215 was really too small for my 200 lt with 5 large discus.....plus I have an inline ph probe on the inlet and a large UV unit on the outlet.

[Daetarek]

oh ok that makes sense :)

[DarrenJThomas]

Where did you get an inline ph probe..... I like the sound of that :lol:

I have had Ehiem for years and wouldnt consider any other brand.

Thanks

[Proteus]

You must also bear in mind that the '04 series Fluval has been superceded by the '05 series.

I have one friend who swears by his 404, he wouldnt trade it in for the world you could say, yet another friend threw his out. I guess you get your good and bad banana's in every bunch.

[Bad Inferno]

Darren,
I have an industrial ph electrode as I work for an instrumentation company. I'm about to install an inline conductivity probe as well. I am interested in how the conductivity changes over time between water changes etc etc

This is NOT the electrode I have (see link) however you will get the idea of how its installed, you just install it in a tee piece.

http://www.automatedaquariums.com/h_1001.htm

[DarrenJThomas]

Thanks

What have you got it connected to (display) unit.

Are you or your company able to supply to the general public?

I am very interested in this sort of equipment. I love instruments, especially when it comes to using industrial supplied as oppose to commercially available aquarium products (Dupla). They dont seem to have a hobby tax attached to the price like aquarium products. :lol:

[Bad Inferno]

This is the meter I just purchased for conductivity, you can also see the probes. I have the same type of unit only it measures ph. paid only US$50.00 and it controls my CO2. These meters new are 2000.00 each and are capable of controlling dosing via their contact outputs. If you want more info just PM me.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7593910788&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1


Now back to my Fluval post....just went to my LFS and the new spindle & rotor is worth $40.00 I'll try on the web.

[mike os]

you could not pay me to have another fluval external......eheim all the way :wink:

[nicholas76]

Yep Im another fluval victim.

Expected a great deal more from my 404 yet sure enough within 12 months it did slow down, it became louder and I became tired of it very quickly. I simply became tired of the constant routine work on it, clean the prop,,, get a new this , that etc

Im now running an ehiem and prefer it ten times over!

saying this I have heard of nothing but positive remarks regarding the fx5 fluvol so I'll probably buy one of those down the track.

[Bad Inferno]

lets see the FX5 run for 12-18 months...price seems too good to be true

[nicholas76]

spot on inferno!

12 - 18 months will tell us heaps!

[Bad Inferno]

went to my LFS, looked, felt and drooled over the ehiem then realised why I purchased my fluval, ehiem is twice the price for 1000 l/hr unit

OK got a new impella $28.50 (the old one was soooo sloppy on the shaft) and she's back running whisper quiet again. I have always seen impella's in the shops never knew why people needed new ones when I had my ehiem for 10 years. I now know and have accepted these are fluval consumables.

[AussieStar]

my 2 404s run like a dream on my 180g planted. If i dont do my maintance they do reduce a tiny bit in flow rate but i normally clean then monthy so dont have a problem really.

[Cliffeh]

I've got a 405, rena and an eheim 2226. I must say I like the Eheim and the Fluval (Fluval probably edges out the eheim for me and is running like a dream)... not too keen on the Rena but it came with the tank!

[Bad Inferno]

whats differnt betweent he 404 and 405 fluval ? besides colour :)

[Proteus]

new model, superseeded model

[Wakexprox]

Hey i am setting a 120 gal planted discus tank. I just bought a brand new 405, i am going to get another filter but i am deciding between a rena the big one or a magnum 350 pro with the inline bio wheel , which one guys???

[Merrilyn]

I think I"d go with the Rena. I'm not a big fan of bio wheels. From my experience they always clog up and don't turn.

[bushie]

worked in aquarium shops for years ( perth and sydney), used and sold both eheim and fluvals.
imo, both are excellent units when used in comparison to any opposition, but as with anything mechanical you get good and bad one offs.
it is imperative that you do regular maintenance and service, and yes sometimes you need to change impellars, on both.
bad points are, fluval always seems to need to be tilted to discharge air pockets.
whereas eheim needs to be stolen to avoid air pockets in your wallet. :lol:
both are excellent units but remember, nothing lasts forever.
BUSHIE

[Bad Inferno]

Well its been two months since replacing my impellar in the fluval and its still very quiet.

I have an inline UV with the 404 canister output, I am looking to upgrade my tank from 180ltr to 390 ltrs. I may just purchase the fluval 305 and move the UV unit. It will give me more filtering capacity running two in parrallel and give the benifit of slowing the flow through my UV.

rob

[Wakexprox]

Where did you find an inline uv for a fluval 404, did you change out the tubing??

[Bad Inferno]

I used a Hozelock vorton 9000 UV unit with 11 watt phillips bulb. The inlet & outlet adapter was stepped so I used the smallest tube size 19mm which also went into the fluval. I just got 1 metre of plastic tube from bunnings

http://www.rockaroundtheblock.com.au/categories.asp?cID=12

its been running for 18 months and have changed bulb once.