Eheim 2028 Canister or Marineland C-360 Canister?

[hybridd23]

I am currently using the Eheim 2028 Canister filter for my 55 Gallon tank and it works out great. I wanted to setup another 55 Gallon tank and I heard Marineland had come out with the C-360 and it is a cheaper then the Eheim 2028 but just as efficient. Do you think I but another Eheim 2028 or a Marineland C-360? Any suggestions would be great, thanks!

[Rbishop]

Get the Marineland C-360. They are awsome filters with the adaptability that everyone thinks they need. Plenty of space on the interior, very easy to disassemble and reassemble, and an almost dripless disconnect coupling to the hoses.

[echoofformless]

Ah but there is also the contrary observation - the Marineland filters have had some leakage incidence reports and have also not been around long enough to prove their potential reliability.

I've kept a Marineland C series on my eventual purchase list for a while. I was going to jump in and buy one a few months ago, but the leak reports made me back away and pick up another Eheim Classic. I'm going to wait another year maybe even two and keep watching the reviews of the C series on cichlidforum.com. If the leak issues prove to be less than worrisome, I'll buy one.

That's my advice I guess.

But have you also considered Rena and Fluval? Eheim isn't the only good canister filter in town.

[jmhart]

But have you also considered Rena and Fluval? Eheim isn't the only good canister filter in town.

Yes, but it is the Sheriff.



Anyway, to the OP:

He's right, Rena is another excellent cannister filter. I've had a Rena XP3 on my 46g for a while now and it's been very reliable. It's also very simple to maintain.

That being said, I should say that in the next few days I'll be replacing it with an Eheim 2128. My reasons for the switch are that I wanted an integrated heater and that I like the self-priming function of the Eheim better than the XP3. No funnel.

[Rbishop]

Well, I haven't heard of any C-series leak issues, that can't be attributed to plain operator error, just like on most other canisters. My 13 C series are all running fine.

As for reliability, I guess the other 20 some Mag 330/360 s I have show me the reliability, especially the ones ove 20 yrs old.

[jmhart]

Yeah, Magnums definitely hold up.....the design hasn't been altered in how many years? If you've got a good thing, stick with it.

[Rbishop]

I believe the new C Series is their first 100% design change in the lifetime of the Mags. Past ones were with the feet/base or changing the media basket. Then came the addition of the bio-wheels. They also added the HOT a few yrs back. The C Series are much more similar to other canisters. Wouldn't surprise me if they soon drop the 360 line.

[jmhart]

Wouldn't surprise me if they soon drop the 360 line.

The end of an era, I suppose. That's ok, I have my three Magnums, so I'm set...aside from the infrequent magnet change, they'll run forever. Great for water polishing. With the micron filter, it's hard to believe there is a manufacturer out there that encourages you to "rinse and reuse" instead of just buy again.

[Ozymandias]

well i have a C-220 and love it so far as i think many people have said the real down side the them is the fact that there isn't a spray bar. but i think that the rena spray bar will fit on the hosing that the C series use. by the way i'm using this as a reference
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/equipment/66472-marineland-spray-bar-mission-accomplished.html
that being said the eheim is a proven filter and ether one i think would work.

i've also heard stories of ehiem filters failing too (mostly O ring or gaskets), now why this is a rare ocation it does happen from time to time. this was just to point out that ehiems are impervious to error ether.

[pre98zetec]

i have a c160 and im also getting a c360 for the 55 gallon. They are excellent filter. I had two whisper 40 gallons before and the water still had particales floating around in it, once I put the marineland on there the water was crystal clear.

from the look, the marineland is about 50-90 cheaper then that eheim. I would go for the marineland.


my 160 h ad a few drips on start up. But i didn't put vaseline around the gasket. once i did that it was drip free ever since.

[Mgamer20o0]

right now i would go with the marineland c series. my first option has been rena xp3 but with how much they gone up in price the c series isnt much more.

[OldMan47]

I am going to jump in on the C series praise. I agree that my C series has been a very good performing filter so far. Mine is only about a year old because I decided to try something different than the 4 XPs that I had been happy with. Only tried out a new one because it seems like every time I like something, it ends up discontinued. Now I am seeing the TetraTec on European sites that people seem to love and when they show its internals, it is a C series, I have no doubt. Even the basket covers look identical.

[hybridd23]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I will give the C-360 a go = )

[Reddog80p]

Cant go wrong with a c-360

[mott]

For a 55 gallon I would buy the best filter ever made... the 2217.

[tankboy_taylor]

I absolutely hated the magnum 350 when I owned it cant speak fior the new c-series might have to try one.

that being said Id go for an Eheim Classic Series Filter for the win :)

[echoofformless]

I'm for the Classics. It's the pure simplicity of design that has me enamored. Plus I don't see any reason to spend much more than a hundred dollars for a canister filter. Especially when the Classics perform so well.

As for the leak issues in the C Series - I consider it a bit of a caution to have come across so many reports of leaks when these units haven't been around all that long. Of course Eheim isn't perfect and you will hear of them failing, but when you consider the fact that hundreds of times more Eheims have been in use for so many years compared with the C series, any reports like that are at a lower percentage of incidence.

I am well aware of improper setup and the power of stupid people to make bad reviews of good products. But one can tell the difference between the randomly odd incident and that which seems to be a pattern. When I read so many reports of issues on a product so young on the market, I simply cannot justify taking the risk.


http://www.petfish.net/kb/entry/789/

Scroll down to the update on that page.

Then look here:
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idProduct~AS3515~tab~4.html

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=1166267&sid=4141b7b43cdffce31df0c80344f0d784

[Rbishop]

The Articles you listed do not exactly justify your earlier comments echo, of "so many reports". In all of those, 3 people had a leak issue. There are countless threads on this site alone with leaks from eheim and rena filters. Not to mention their priming issues.

[Riiz]

I am going to jump in on the C series praise. I agree that my C series has been a very good performing filter so far. Mine is only about a year old because I decided to try something different than the 4 XPs that I had been happy with. Only tried out a new one because it seems like every time I like something, it ends up discontinued. Now I am seeing the TetraTec on European sites that people seem to love and when they show its internals, it is a C series, I have no doubt. Even the basket covers look identical.

Thats cause both brands are owned by United Pet, lately United has been using their brands on the same products. You can even find marineland's products at walmart under the aqua-tech name, I bought a magnum HOT from walmart for $40 10 years old that is still going strong. And I still buy the cartridge's for my Penguin 350 from walmart, the 6 pack of C-size are 15+ at any chain or LFS but at walmart its $10 for the same product.

[Squawkbert]

I'd tend to overlook the C series just because Marineland *still* has not put a winners list on their website for a contest (enter to win a free C series filter) that closed a year ago. They were supposed to post the winners *last* August. I've emailed them a couple of times - nothing. They did notify some winners but there was never a list...

Eheim classics are tough to beat - look at the media volume, the flow rate and the price as compared to a C series of comparable flow & volume. I haven't priced C's, but I bet they're not much, if any cheaper than the well known, proven Eheim classic.

[tankboy_taylor]

Eheim Classic best bang for your buck period

[echoofformless]

The Articles you listed do not exactly justify your earlier comments echo, of "so many reports". In all of those, 3 people had a leak issue. There are countless threads on this site alone with leaks from eheim and rena filters. Not to mention their priming issues.



There used to be a few more reviews on cichlidforum which seem to have gotten deleted or what not. A good four or five with reports of leaks - and when you consider this is such a young series and had only a handful of reviews, that doesn't look good.

It's not like I'm an Eheim fanboy or a Rena fanboy - I had every intention of buying a Marineland C as my next filter. I'm just cautious.

But still the Eheim Classic does hold its own above all other filters in my opinion. It's akin to my insistence upon driving cars with a standard transmission. The pure simplicity of the design makes it the most reliable, effective and efficient.

And it's less expensive than the Marineland C anyway!

[Rbishop]

There used to be a few more reviews on cichlidforum which seem to have gotten deleted or what not. A good four or five with reports of leaks - and when you consider this is such a young series and had only a handful of reviews, that doesn't look good.

It's not like I'm an Eheim fanboy or a Rena fanboy - I had every intention of buying a Marineland C as my next filter. I'm just cautious.

But still the Eheim Classic does hold its own above all other filters in my opinion. It's akin to my insistence upon driving cars with a standard transmission. The pure simplicity of the design makes it the most reliable, effective and efficient.

And it's less expensive than the Marineland C anyway!

We each have our own thoughts..won't even get into manual transmissions and the farce idea of them being more efficeint.

A "good" 4/5 reports out of 10,000 plus sold is pretty negligible. But thats kewl.

[pre98zetec]

the ehiem from what im looking at doesn't even come close to moving the water volume the marineland can.

[echoofformless]

We each have our own thoughts..won't even get into manual transmissions and the farce idea of them being more efficeint.

A "good" 4/5 reports out of 10,000 plus sold is pretty negligible. But thats kewl.

Hey I'm down with the notion of having our own thoughts....but saying that a manual transmission's efficiency is a farce?? Have you lost your good marbles? :eek3: Nah I know that it's all about how you drive the car...and I drive mine to a point of punching every last gasoline cent that I can. I'm in neutral going down every hill. I shift up as soon as it's physically possible. Sure some people will drive a stick stupidly and even get really bad fuel economy because of it. But all things considered when you know how to use the stick shift, you will always get continuously better economy than an automatic simply because you know what the car needs to be doing whereas an automatic is always guessing - and will never go into neutral while in motion.



As far as moving specific amounts of water - the higher flow rates of which you speak aren't as important as filtration efficiency. In regards to Renas and Fluvals for example, there is so much bypass that a lot of that water doesn't even get pushed through the media. The reason why Eheim Classics are effective at lower flow rates is because there is so little bypass.

If having strong flow is your priority, then yes the flow rate is something important to consider. But if it's filtration efficiency and cleaning of the water that is priority, look for the unit with the least bypass. In that case Marineland claims a zero bypass on the C series.

[tankboy_taylor]

with a Classic Series I dont see how there can be any bypass because of where the suction line is positioned and as far as flow rate over time it is a champ.

Imo there is Eheim canisters and then the rest.

Im still trying to get a good deal on a Pro 3 series on ebay see if it matches up to the Classic

[Ozymandias]

actually the C series clams i think at virtually no bypass not zero. and the way thay are deigned i'd say that is about right.

[will74]

I own both filters along with about 20 different other ones all in use. The ehiem 2028 I would consider the best filter I have because of ease of use and lack of maintenance required to keep it functional. I only have one of the eheim because of the price, I got it second hand along with a tank I bought.
As for the 360, it is a great filter but i still think the mag 350 is better, the 350 is more difficult to use because of the disconnects but i solved this problem by adding pvc unions connected to ball valves and it is way more durable than the disconnects it comes with. The 360 is a great filter, I like the quick disconnects but it seems to lose flow rate after a while when the media gets a little dirty whereas the ehiem will pretty much keep the same flow rate for months without being cleaned. Also my eheim went dry one time{long story don't ask} and it ran for 20 hours with no water. This would burn the motor up in almost any pump but after I unplugged it and let it cool down for an hour I primed it,plugged it in and it ran like new!
And as far as the bypass is concerned I blocked the tops of the media trays and started the filters{eheim, 360, fluval 405,and mag 350,which has no trays,} and believe it or not the mag 350 actually had 0 bypass, the others were as follows from least to most bypass, eheim2028, 360, and the fluval which had way more bypass than expected. I will remind you that the 350 has no trays and therefore I had to test it differently by wrapping the media container with saran wrap several times. It may not be a fair test but it does make sense.
Oh and by the way I ruined the 405 by doing this, seems that the canister cracked or something because now when the siphon fills the canister up with water it leaks! I replaced the o-ring and it still leaks. so I called hagen and they said it had to be a hairline crack in the canister and advised me to buy a new canister because i didn't have the reciept.

[echoofformless]

Funny I used to be averse to Eheims just because of the way everyone who owned them acted all fanboyish. But after buying an Ecco and then two Classics, I'm pretty much sold. I honestly don't see myself running any other filter.

Like I said I'm waiting for some more time to pass on the Marineland C Series. If in a few years there are no significant reliability or leaking issues, I will likely buy one. Until then I see no reason to stray from the Eheim Classics. they've proven themselves time and time again with reliability. And my tanks do so great with them.