Fluval you drive me crazy and not in a good way

[Nerine]

I have a Fluval canister...304, so yeah it's getting up there in years. BUT...I have 2 others (which i need to clean out and see if they work too) and this one particular which will soon have a red X on its head....likes to randomly stop. just completely stop. I thought it was clogged, but nope. and it also takes a VERY long time to prime to start once it's been cleaned.

I think the motor is dying, which I'm not surprised, it's been running 24/7 since the day it was purchased except for during moves! BUT...does anyone else have issues with restarting them ? I fill it to as far as I can with water, pop the lid on, and it just won't fill with water till I tilt it to the side and air bubbles slowly go out.but I find the 'self starting' thing to be moot. I've had this stupid thing for years and am thinking of switching canisters....is Eheim the same in regards to being a pain to fill back up with water? My ProQuatics was awesome...it had a little valve on the top, you pop all your tubes in place, two different lines for in and out, and presto chango bob's your uncle, pour water in the spout and pop the cap on and filter is going. Sadly it stopped working. (I had two so am hoping the 2nd one still works, it's just super loud) because Fluval, you make me insane! though I love my internal fluvals

[magnosis]

My 304 does ok as far as power is concerned (it doesn't randomly stop) -- knock on wood 

BUT, it is a pain to prime once it's been emptied.  It takes forever.  Seems like the little rubbery cup that does the suction is just too flimsy.  It works for about 1/4 of the travel then simply bends and stops pulling water.  So I basically need to work the prime handle back-and-forth 1/2 inch at a time, for what seems like 10 minutes.

On the other hand, I found that if I pump it a little, then plug it in, it will make some noise for a bit then spit out a huge cloud of bubbles, then it works.

As a comparison, my Eheim prime-push-button-thing is very tough to push down (I put my entire weight on it) but it just needs 2 or 3 pushes then it's ready to go.  I don't like the quick-connect mecanism for the hoses on the Eheim though, I can never pull out the hoses without making a mess    The Fluval one works flawlessly.

So, priming the Fluval is a pain.  Unplugging hoses on the Eheim makes a mess.  But all in all, the Eheim is a much superior filter in my opinion.  It's a better design and the internal flow isn't flawed like the Fluval is known to be (there is only one way water can flow, and it's the right one - whereas the Fluval doesn't force water to flow where it should; when it starts to clog, water just flows around the filter media and the whole thing becomes useless).

Just my 2 cents.

[freshfish]

i never ever trust fluval filters they always are faulty or the pieces are fragile. I go with Rena best filters I have ever used i use a rena xp4 on my 75 gal and a rena xp2 on 65 gallon:)

I had a fluval 203 i believe it was for my 25g and if i could close it then it was fine but i woke up one day to a flood in the back. A finger nail size crack was in the canister i sealed it but once i sealed it and then cleaned it put the top back on entire canister broke in half. I then yelled at it said fine you want to break ill make you break and took a hammer to it this is after roughly 3 hours of trying to fix the blasted things patience were very thin lol.

but ya rena has always been reliable they last years can even last past your life time. very easy to maintain and clean only takes about 5min. marineland also seems reliable and i have always wanted to try a eheim but why change something that works already right so im sticking to rena xp series:P

[Toss]

+1 for Eheim. There is a trick to prime the eheim the easy way. If you don't clean the hoses, then no priming is needed, just clean and plug it back in.

[ajm1961]

I like both my Eheim Classic and Rena XP series filters. The thing about priming either of these filters, once it has already been running, is NOT to re-fill the canister after cleaning. The hoses should already have water in them - if they are equipped with shut-off valves. As soon as you reconnect the hoses and open the valves, the water runs into the filter and pushes air out. After a few minutes, then you plug it in and priming is a breeze. Just wondering whether the Fluval works the same way - what does the manual say?

[Stussi613]

My Fluval 404 was the same way. A true pain in the rear to restart.

My Renas, however, are dead easy!

[Nerine]

hmm maybe when it dies, if I can find a good price on a used rena or eheim then i'll switch haha but there's no way i can afford a brand new filter at the moment!!

I looked at my tank today and noticed it look strangely still, turns out the filter killed over. took it apart, shook it, felt like kicking it but it FINALLY started again...ugh! guess I should start saving those pennies now...

[freshfish]

there is actually a rena xp3 and xp 4 for sale on kijijji i believe 120 for the xp3 and 150 for xp4 good price

[ajm1961]

I managed to get a brand new Rena XP3 from FishTail's awesome sidewalk sale for $140. A used XP3 at $120 is a bit pricey IMO.

[Nerine]

yeaah that's less than a tire and I need 4 tires right now sooo until I have my $900 for tires....there aint gonna be any $$'s for filters eek!

but saving I have a fish fund along with my tire fund hahaha

just hoping till then that the fluval doesn't decide to stop randomly...holding breath...

I missed their sale!!! had too many other things to purchase at the time but hopefully there will be some awesome sales again, or a trip to TO to pick up some cheap filters and goodies