Rena XP 4 Filter

[DJ-don]

Hey guys.
I'm looking for a good canister filter to add on to one of my tanks which is mainly filled with plecos. and i was thinking the Rena XP 4 filter would do a great job.
http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/cata ... 39&catID=6
Im buying it from the following site.
Well its the only site i can buy from because its our local fish clubs sponsor because my parents wont let me buy from any other site and its uite cheap on this site too. also our local lfs dont have a good range of filters cheap enough and plus i get it cheaper with a 10% discount!

Has Anyone had any good experience with this filter??
Any advantages? Any disadvantages??
Are there any other good filters on the site i could buy???
Thanks in advance

[MatsP]

If it was me, I'd get one or two Eheim classic 2217 (or two 2215?). These are the most basic design ever, but they aren't very expensive, and work really well. And thanks the the intake being at the bottom and the output at the top, there is very little chance of the water being "diverted" from the intended path - some other filters do have problems with the water going straight from the intake to the pump and out again - which leads to "poor to none" on the filtration functionality.

I tried to find an online shop that sells eheim products in Australia, but I couldn't find one in the 30 seconds I spent on google.

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Mats

[DJ-don]

i couldnt find anywhere on the webs to find any eheims. but the lfs here do sell them but they arent cheap. 300 bucks for one (cant remember type) which does a flow of 600 litres per hour.
but i do like how the classics work

but the rena xp filters do have a very unique way of working
http://www.PlanetRena.com/Rena-Filters.html
the link above shows how they work.

but the rena xp 4 is going for quite a cheap price. 300 dollars is heaps cheap for a filter like that

[MatsP]

I've only had one internal Rena filter, so I can't say anything about their externals. And Eheim have a range of filters - if it's a Pro II or Pro III series filter, I'd expect it to be at least double the price of the equivalent Classic series filter.

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Mats

[Mike_Noren]

Rena's external filters are cheap and work well, but are not of high quality. The pump is weak and loses a lot of capacity when you add filter material, the square o-ring sealing the top of the filter is prone to crack and leak (causing the filter to suck in air), and they're near impossible to evacuate all air from, leading to noise problems.
Expect to get about two years service out of them.

Most people swear by Eheim, but to be honest I've had nothing but bad experiences with that brand. Since a year I'm using TetraTec filters, and so far I've got only good experiences, but time will tell.

[MatsP]

I have three TetraTec filters, and I'm happy with those in general. One has developed a leak that will be expensive to fix, and only shortly after the warranty ran out [it's leaking somewhere inside the "one part in the spares list" so called "pump head", which is the entire top of the filter... I've been planning to take the head apart and see if a replacement o-ring or some silicon sealant will fix it - but I'm not entirely sure it'll be obvious where it's leaking].

But I think that everyone has a filter they like and another they don't like, assuming they have used more than a couple of them... ;)

What I really like about the Eheim Classic ones is that they are very basic when it comes to the internals of the filter - there is very little that can actually go wrong.

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Mats

[bronzefry]

I have an XP2 and it's been up and running for about 5 years. The input/outputs are cheesy. I replaced them with the Eheim ones that you can buy separately. I have it on a 29 gallon tank and it runs well. I found these to be a good introduction to the world of canister filters.
Amanda

[DJ-don]

Thanks for the input guys!
have been hearing 50/50 from both bad and good.
i actually decided to look up on youtube on people using these filters and it seems that the do work quite well.
i also do get a 5 year warranty with the rena xp 4
i just called up an lfs and they sold the eheim classic 2217 for 350 dollars!! so i think that is actually nearly out of my range

but i would still like to hear what others would have to say before i purchase any of them

[MatsP]

Can I just say "I'm happy that I don't live in Australia". Unless my math is completely wrong, AU$350 is about £200. When I looked up one of them on CharterHouse Aquatics, they sell it for £89.95. So that's about 45% of the price in Australia. Even my LFS will have them at about £120, I would expect.

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Mats

[DJ-don]

australia~great place to live-bad place for your hobby
i just have that feeling i could buy a filter in the UK and get it sent over here and it would still be cheaper!!

[MatsP]

australia~great place to live-bad place for your hobby
i just have that feeling i could buy a filter in the UK and get it sent over here and it would still be cheaper!!

I'm sure you could if you can accept waiting for a few weeks for surface mail to arrive. I was going to check up the pricing, but royalmail doesn't accept "small packets" over 2kg, so needs to be shipped some other way. They also suggest 12 weeks for the delivery of it... ;)

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Mats

[2wheelsx2]

The XP4 is just the XP3 with an extra basket and a bigger pump. Good filter, but as others have said, quality is not quite there. I like my XP3, and if money were an issue, I'd get it again, but I like my Eheims much better. IMO, you'd be better off getting 2 XP3 if you're going to go with Renas than one XP4.

[DJ-don]

hey guys
the lfs i work at is sellign an eheim ecco pro 300 for $300 dollars

which would you say? rena xp 4 for $300?
or the eheim ecco pro for 300? even though the pro has less flow rate

[MatsP]

I have never used the Eheim Ecco series filters. I did read something about them "not being Eheims best" (or something along those lines).

It's always hard to give advice on spending a rather large amount of money like this.

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Mats

[DJ-don]

yeah the money is a bit of a problem!! grr

but so far people have been just saying eheim classic filters but they are heaps expensive than the others in the canberra lfs'
there are other one such as the aquaone brands and the chinese brands which i hear is pretty good despite the huge wattage

[PlecoCrazy]

I have tried just about every brand canister filter almost except Eheim. Unfortuantely I gave up on canister's before I bought an Eheim or maybe it'd still be using them. The rena's looks like a good filter and works pretty good but the hookup accessories are made of cheap plastic your afraid to break. I also had to replace the O ring several times. Penn Plax cascade start off good but eventually they don't prime well at all and the orings in the hose connectors eventually get screwed up and leak requiring replacement. The host connectors screw into the canister which requires an oring that most canister models don't even have and of course it the problem part. It not a normal part you would normally stock but you should on these. Fluval's, I've had so many issues I won't even start. I can't say anything bad about the Magnum 350's. They've always done a great job at filtering. Too good for me as they were always getting cloged but they definently did there job. There was so little pass through you could actually crush the metal screen the filter pad went around if it became clogged because it created so much suction through the media. Not much biological going on inside. Just my experiences. If I ever bought another canister it would be a Eheim only because I've not really been that happy with the rest. I avoided Eheim due to the price and they were not that available in my area at the time. but I'd probably been better off in the long run buying a Eheim instead of settling for the less expensive manufactures and being disappointed model after model. You get what you pay for!

I have switched to Large HOB and powerheads for the most part. The only problem to have is an impeller needs replaced. So you just stock those. Usually with a little silicone you can fix the impellers and make them stronger than they were from the manufacturer.

[Chouin]

Hi,
I have been using a XP2 for almost 10 years, the only problem I had after 8 years was with the inlet/outlet rigid plastic tubing, it cracked and need replacement.
I also have a XP4 on my 125g for 3 years and I have no problem at the moment, it work great !
I didn't tried the last serie of Fluval, but didn't heard a lot of good thing either, but I have been using Fluval 403 for almost 15 years without any major problem (I only replaced the clear plastic plate that hold the impeller).
I have no experience with Eheim, but from what I know, they are good, but expensive.
By the way, you can have a XP4 for $200 in Canada without media.
Thank You
Chouin