External unbranded filter off ebay.

[Cali]

Hey. I was wondering if anyone knew what these seemingly unbranded filters from ebay were like. I nearly brought the £55.99 one last night but thought better of it, they seem very cheap for what they are??.....

2 examples:
EXTERNAL FISH AQUARIUM FILTER 1800LPH 9 WATT UVC +MEDIA on eBay (end time 05-Oct-09 14:17:48 BST)
http://http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aquarium-fish-tank-external-filter-2000L-H-9WUV-Media_W0QQitemZ310167778915QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_P et_Supplies_Fish?hash=item483770b663&_trksid=p3286 .c0.m14

There are plenty more like these on eBay though. I tried googling the name of the filter but it showed up pretty much nothing.

All thoughts/opinions/experiences would be great!

I dont know if I am posting this in the write section so apologies if you think it should be elsewhere mods. I am just trying to get maximum exposure to this question. I am sure there are other people out there wondering the same thing as well so...

Thanks

[jakies13]

Not really much to be said about them, cheap branded filter with a hit and miss approach, i personally would buy a much better branded one like eheim, tetratec or fluval or in fact aqua one. My experiences with cheap pretty much unbranded are they do not last nowhere near as long as the more reputable companies.

What size tank do you want an external filter for?

mark

[Cali]

Ok yea I guess that makes sense. You get what you pay for hey!

It is only for a 60ltr aquarium which has about 30ltrs in there. Now hold up, I am not crazy!

It has a baby terrapin in there, which will very quickly be out growing that tank and be needing something far bigger. So I want a filter which will cope with a high volume as I need one rated 3-4times what his water capacity is. So I am thinking rated 600-800 ltrs which will mean I can go to about 200ltrs of water which should last me a good few years! Where they are so expensive I want to buy a far over rated filter for now to save replacing in the very near future ;-)

Either that or I am thinking about making a D.I.Y canister or sump filter. I would rather go down the sump route as that will last me a very long time as I can make it very good and over spec'd. And also it wont be to powerful for a small tank (the output flow wont be to powerful is what I am getting at). The only issue is I dont know where I would put a sump filter as I dont really have the space behind or next to my tank unless I setup another little stand next to mine!

[jakies13]

Just be aware that if a filter says it is rated for 1000lph it usually is around half that rate, the companies give rating for no actual media in the filter, once media is in there it will slow the rate down significantly.

200ltr tank to have the actual turnover you want would be either TT ex1200 or a fluval 405 both would suffice and both would happily filter that size tank. Now im not sure how much waste a turtle makes so overly cautious me would go even higher, I'm not sure on eheim brands and what models would suffice but a tetratec 2400 or fluval fx5 would be perfectly ideal and you would never have to upgrade again.... they also with very over filter a 200 litre tank which would probably be much better for a turtle. Then you have more cost of them filters, FX5 would be my choice and from ebay new you can get them for around £130 so not to bad

mark