# New Filter for a 150



## scrapedogg (Apr 28, 2003)

I can get into a wet/dry online with everything included for about 145, an eheim 2229 is gonna run over 200 with all the bioballs and such, and super nate is probably gonna sell some for 90 bucks, but with no pump and no balls. I'm kinda leaning towards buying an eheim just because everyone raves about them, but they're expensive as all hell!! Are they better than a classic wet/dry filter? I'd like to know that much before I buy one. Also, is it the most necessary to have a biofiltration system set up before you put in fish to get the cycle going better, or can I wait before I cash out my credit card and buy a monster filter?? I appreciate the input guys


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

Wet dry's being the pinnacle of filtration. Then canisters.


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## RedShoal (May 3, 2003)

Look at bigalsonline.com for Eheim 2229 Plus kit. Its $220 and it includes the media. This is a great deal considering the cost of the media itself. I brought 3 of these because IMHO they are the best filter you can buy. They are Wet/Dry in canister form. Extremely quiet.

The only other filter I would recommend above the Eheim Wet/Dry is the Taiwanese Filter called Shui <something>. I forgot the name and I never found a dealer in America, but it is basically the same thing as the Eheim Wet/Dry with a few differences in its mechanics and it runs off any pump, including Eheim. They have sizes that are a lot bigger than the Eheim Wet/Dry. I have the one that holds 30 gallons and it cost $60 USD w/o pump or media. Extremely quiet... because it is using an eheim 1250 hobby pump, and it is the sole filter for an 180 gal, 50 3" goldfish tank. I put gravel and easter grass inside as the bio media.

Does anyone know the product I am talking about? I would like to buy more. It is a light blue colour bucket type canister with the wet/dry control tube connected to the side.


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

I have read that this canister is a dud. If ya can't find it on a search. Then i can do so. If ya spend over 220 it should be a wetdry.


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

Here ya go.

Do you mean an Eheim wet/dry? Of all of the high quality products that Eheim makes, their wet/dry is a dud. I wouldn't use it at all. Their canister filters are some of the best on the market>

wetwebmedia
This guy is the formost authority on aquariums.


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## RedShoal (May 3, 2003)

Do you mean these posts?



> Eheim Canister Filters
> Hi
> i recently bought an EHEIM wet&dry 2227 filter and i don't know if its working right !
> I filled the baskets with EHFISUBSTRAT PRO ( Eheim says : " All filter baskets must be filled with EHFISUBSTRAT up to the rim " ) and then i put the white sponge filter on top (the one for 2227) and then filled the filter with water by sucking air through the small breathing tube. The suction valve was open and the pressure valve was closed at that time.
> ...


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

This threadI am setting up a 75 gal. saltwater fish only tank. I am considering using a wet-dry filter, either a SeaLife Systems Pro-150 or an Eheim wet-dry filter. Would you give me the pros and cons of each of these filters?
<This information is catalogued at wetwebmedia.com In general, the problem is the same...they will both generate nitrates in the long term...The wet/dry will need almost no maintenance but the canister will need to be cleaned and "reloaded" regularly. Ooops...I'm sorry...Do you mean an Eheim wet/dry? Of all of the high quality products that Eheim makes, their wet/dry is a dud. I wouldn't use it at all. Their canister filters are some of the best on the market>
Would either be considerably "better" over the long haul, e.g. ease of maintenance, efficacy, better oxygenation, less noisy, etc.??? 
<A wet/dry will be fine if you have a heavy bioload and you don't plan on keeping corals. It will be practically no maintenance and as quiet as your return pump is.. Just the sound of the water cascading over the bioballs. You can also submerge the bioballs to decrease the nitrate effect>
It seems from your FAQs that many people use the Eheim canisters but not the wet-drys
<Most of us don't care for the wet/drys made by Eheim>
Are you familiar with Sealife Systems (they seem relatively pricey)?
<Sorry...I'm not familiar with that brand. A wet/dry is simply a tub full of tank water. No need to spend a lot of money>
My next question involves water filters- I live in a rural area and have a water well, i.e. my water is not municipally provided. Does well water typically present fewer or more problems in regards to quality?
<I can't answer this question with generalities. Every rural well is different. No way to tell what's in the water unless you test it. For the above reason, well water is generally more problematic. If you had municipal water, you could get results of water tests from the water company that would tell you exactly what you're up against...>
I have not had any testing done but, obviously, I would not have to worry about things like added chlorine.
<Municipalities also filter out many other things that we don't want in our tanks...And to be quite honest...municipalities allow some things like nitrates and phosphates that we don't want...>
Are there any sorts of elements that I should be particularly concerned about?
<Well...this is not really an easy answer...nitrates, phosphates, silica, metals of all kinds, PH...that would be a good start. Are your pipes copper? Many of these tests could be run with simple water test equipment like we use for our fish tanks.>
I guess there is always the (remote?) possibility of ground water contamination.
<I certainly hope that isn't the case!!>
I am considering purchasing a reverse osmosis filter from Home Depot for about $200. I would like your thoughts on all of this in light of the fact that I will have a fish only tank but would really like to provide a good quality of water.
<Dude. skip the RO. GO DI. RO leaves way too much waste water...An email that I responded to the other day stated that their RO filter took 10 gallons to produce one gallon of pure water!! As a comparison, DI has no waste water...Go DI>
By the way, I would like a substrate to go on the bottom of my tank that is black in color. Is there anything available (that would also be pretty easy to keep clean with routine vacuuming)?
<Keep the bed really thin like 1/2 inch or less and stay away from the volcanic stuff. The larger the grain the easier it will catch and hold detritus...but it will also be easier to vacuum>
THANKS! (ya'll do a great job and provide a great service)
<You're welcome! Come on back now...Ya hear! David Dowless>


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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

Hmmmm it's not letting me post his answers.


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## RedShoal (May 3, 2003)

I read the post and I don't think they have their information correct on Eheim wet/dry. I don't think they know how to use it. One person even put


> and then i put the white sponge filter on top


 in it. That is a no no and the Eheim manual even states it.

The gurgling noise is most likely from water getting into the breather tube, because they didn't cut it to the right length so that it won't have water sit in there. This happens just like the suction noise for overflow tubes in other wet/drys. This also happens if the breather tube is in water for short periods of the time like when the pump gushes out water and they just hook the breather tube to the tank and when the tank floods with water, the tube sucks in water. Eheim wet/dry units fills and empties itself to simulate the wet/dry effect, therefore unlike the canister, the water level rises and falles as it empties and fils itself.

I don't know what to say to this, but if it sucks so much, I am willing to buy other people's Eheim wet/dry off their hands for cheap.









If I even get a digital camera, you can see how many canister wet/dry eheims and the likes I have... which might make me a expert of sorts in the world of Eheim wet/dry. I think they are wonderful and I have no problems with them... but then of course, I had them for a while and I learned what causes those noises and pump problems.

Also, about the pump getting hot. When the eheim w/d is filling itself, it gets its water from a little hole near the w/d control tube. If you get one of those substrates stuck in it, it will over heat the pump. Also, people are sometimes careless when they put in the substrate baskets, they allow some substrated to fall into the suction tube hole such will cause the Eheim w/d to suck up the substrate and get stuffed.

In the Eheim W/D, the inner tube is for suction whereas in the regular Eheim (2228) the tube is for the input of the water. Eheim just turn the pump head 180 degrees to make the difference between Eheim 2229 and 2228.


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## RedShoal (May 3, 2003)

Raptor said:


> Hmmmm it's not letting me post his answers.


 Yeah I tried too. It is those greater than and less than signs.

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## Raptor (Jan 3, 2003)

I'm tring to say there bad filters. I just don't think that they are any canister filters that can mathch up to a wet dry. sh*t your ehiems are better than my fluvals.


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## RedShoal (May 3, 2003)

I agree wet/dry are the best. But IMHO the eheim type wet/dry are the best wet/dry because they are wet/dry in a canister form. You get the best of both worlds.

But I agree with you that there are problems with the Eheim w/d if you are a newbie to it. When I first got it, I heard the gurgling sound and etc, but after I discover what caused the problem, it never happened again since its more of a design inconvience rather than a mechanical flaw.


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