JHW 303 filter or rena xp 4

[DJ-don]

Hey guys
Im looking for a cheap effiecient filter to use in one of my pleco tanks and i was wondering if anyone has any experience with the JHW 303 filters.

http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/catalogue_products.php?prodID=4330&catID=6

people have been saying its not that good because its cheap and that just leads to bad things. but i have heard some good stuff from people who get them.

im a 15 year old on a low budget right now have about $220. maybe i could get the RENA XP 4 for $295 which is pretty cheap for the filter and maybe some convincing parents may work plus i get 10 percent discount from there because i am a member of a society which it sponsors. and i am working durign these school holidays at my lfs for 10 an hour so by the end of the holidays should get $360 and all together i should $580! which means enough for an ipod touch and a filter

Thanks in advance

 

[Lornek8]

Somethings to consider when purchasing a filter:
1) How much are your fish worth to you should something go wrong?
2) If something goes wrong can you fix it? Is there parts available? I've had cheap import canisters that have been put out of comission simply because an impeller broke or wore. As many of these imports are seemingly from fly-by-night type operations with no local support, should something go wrong your only option is to simply throw it away & get a new one. Could you afford to do this should you have to? In contrast, I can still buy nearly every part for my Ehiem Classics that have been in service since before 1990 (though during that time I have only ever bought o-rings & an impeller for it). Over the life of the filter the initial additional cost is easily justified.

As it seems that you don't "need" to have it at this moment, my advice would be to save up & get something good.

 

[DJ-don]

the reason why im getting an another canister because my 12 plecos in my 180 liter tank has a filtration flow of a total of app. 1200 liters per hour and this is resulting in me constantly changing the filter once a week. but 2 of my ancistrus in the tank are soon going to be moved once they grow up a bit more.

people say it may be a bit overloaded but i have had this tank with this many fish for a nearly 6 months and weekly water changes help me to keep the fish alive.

so i want one of these filters to help me.

eheims are expensive at lfs and my parents are only allowing me to buy a filter off the following site:
www.aquariumproducts.com.au
$7.50 postage and i get 10% discount for being a member of a local society which the shop sponsors
people in canberra always buy off this site.

so what are peoples experiences with these filters?
or for you guys to help me i have given you the whole list of filters i can get:
http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/external_canister_filters.php?page=1&instid=8124

Thanks in advance

 

[Lornek8]

More filtration won't help you from changing water so often.
The end result of the denitrification process is nitrate & this is what you remove when you do water changes. The only way to reduce how much you change water is by removing fish from the tank, thus reducing the total amount of waste the fish produce. Yes, I would tend to agree with what others have said, that is quite a bit of fish for that tank, but as you've shown it is possible to house them, you just need to do more maintenance. The addition of another filter will not keep the fish from producing waste, so it will all go somewhere, if not in the first filter, then in the second. There it will continue to break down & produce ammonia/nitrite/nitrate. Therefore, to keep up your water quality you'll still need to do as many water changes but you may not need to replace the filter media or clean the filter as often.

Think of it in terms of the garbage your home produces. If you don't remove it from the house it'll just keep pileing up. You can add more waste receptacles to hide the garbage from sight but it's still in the house. Still the only way to totally get rid of the garbage is to take it out of the home.

 

[peter]

I bought one of those JHW303 from the same place as you were looking at after the filter being recommended by a person I know who has years of experience in fish keeping. I was pleasantly surprised by its performance and value for money, and 6 months later I havent had an ounce of trouble with it.
I bought some good quality media to put into it and I have a very clean and healthy standard 6ft tank full of African Cichlids in it. The UV light works ok, I noticed about a 50% reduction in algae since using it.
Spare parts could be a long term issue, but that doesnt bother me if I have to buy a new one in 2 years then I will still have got my moneys worth.
The plumbing is as you would expect from a cheaper canister but does the job. All I can say is it does a great job, is great value for money, and its a unknown on how long it will last.
Also I have seen it much cheaper on ebay recently so have a look there also.
Pete.

 

[DJ-don]

More filtration won't help you from changing water so often.
.

sorry i dont think you got what i mean.
i know more filtration wont help for water changes. actually my tanks water is perfectly fine except for the muck.

what i meant was there is so much muck in the tank that my filters get clogged up and which means weekly filter changes.

and i do a lot more maintenance on the tank. 50% water changes a week with a gravel vacuum. and even when i do these water changes, my filters do get clogged once a week. but i would just think the extra filter im getting will help remove more muck from the tank.

so if i get the JHW it will give the tank a total flow rate of 13.3 times the whole tank
and the rena will give it a flow of 16.6

as people say, there is no such thing as too much filtration.

and thanks for your insight pete. still just doing more research before i get either one