Equipment Review and Discussion :: Ay thoughts on the Fluval

[Moose]

I've seen a few Fluval filters and they look pretty damn thorough with the most expensive telling you the water temp and the adjusted water flow.

[VeipaCray]

The fluval G series are very nice filters, just not for turtles. As your turtle grows you're going to end up needing a large filter that holds much media and has a very good flow rate. The rule of thumb is to take the filter's advertised rating and divide by three for turtles. So a filter rated for up to 300 gallons would work on a turtle tank up to 100G.

Fluval does make some good filters. Many of us, myself included are using the Fluval FX5. If you like the fluval brand, the FX5 is definitely your best choice for a turtle environment.

[mikee]

When putting a tank together I use the 5x rule which is at least five times the tanks volume exchange. You can get by with less but all other items have to be working correctly. Most pet shops will use fish sizing to suggest a filter pump for a turtle. They will tell you to up size two or three times the water volume and media. That is not enough. Turtles need a lot more water exchange and filtration than a fish.

[VeipaCray]

Different filters work differently. Eheim filters for example use a no-bypass system so all water sucked into the filter must pass through media to get returned back to the tank. Water in a fluval setup can bypass the media. Therefore eheim filters are more efficient and have a lower pump flow rate to filter equivalent water. Filter manufacturers take this into account when rating their filters. While tank turnover per hour is important, the more accurate way to size your filter is as I mentioned in my previous post in this thread.

[Moose]

So which would you prefer the Fluval FX5 or the Eheim?

[VeipaCray]

The large eheim pro 3 is definitely the better filter. The problem with the big eheim is the big price. It's $450 USD online. The FX5 is $190 online. I chose the FX5 for my setup for that reason.

Check out this review...it's the best I've seen comparing one of the big eheims and the FX5.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68458