External filter with built in heater -- Good idea?

BigAl81

Hi,

I am thinking of converting my cold water set up to tropical in the new year and want to remove my internal filters.

I came across this and it seems like a great idea, it's an external canister filter with a heater built in.
http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/fish/filters_pumps/canister_filters/eheim/126264#more

This seems like a great idea to me as there would be nothing unsightly in the tank at all then. I was just wondering if it is such a good idea, why don't all filters have this?? It's from Eheim so it seems to be reputable enough?? Very little info on-line as well? Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Al.

Sleepy

The one thought I'd have is that you'd need to keep a closer eye on tank temperature than normal as you'd not be able to see the light on the heater. Other than that, it seems like a good idea to me.

BigAl81

Humm, seems like a good idea to you, seems like a good idea to me, yet hardly any of them exist? Must be missing something... hopefully not, looks super handy!!

Good point on keeping an eye on the temp, I keep a small thermometer in my tank so should be covered.

Cheers,
Al.

paddy147

BigAl81 wrote: »

Hi,

I am thinking of converting my cold water set up to tropical in the new year and want to remove my internal filters.

I came across this and it seems like a great idea, it's an external canister filter with a heater built in.
http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/fish/filters_pumps/canister_filters/eheim/126264#more

This seems like a great idea to me as there would be nothing unsightly in the tank at all then. I was just wondering if it is such a good idea, why don't all filters have this?? It's from Eheim so it seems to be reputable enough?? Very little info on-line as well? Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Al.

Eheim External filter,2 in tank heaters and some nice plants and dead wood to cover the heaters.

You can keep the heaters on when cleaning out the filter,and you have 2 heaters to keep the tank warm and prevent a sudden temperature drop,incase 1 ever fails

Simples.:)

paddy147

You should keep a small thermometer at both ends of the tank,so that you can view what if any temperature differences will be at both ends of the tank.

BigAl81

Thanks for the tips and photos Paddy, I have followed your other threads with interest / jealousy ;o)

I went to Seahorse Aquariums and the staff there were great as always. They maintain a tank with this type of filter/heater combo and say it is a bad idea. If the heater breaks, which seems to happen commonly enough, you need to replace the whole filter which is disruptive/expensive.

Great idea from the guy there to run a heater "in-line", which means a standard heater in the infolw or outflow pipe of the external filter! Easy to replace and noting unsightly in the tank. Win win!

Cheers,
Al.

Baughn

It's a decent idea for larger setups, which have more than one filter - where a heater failure is not going to take the entire system down. You'll want to make sure you can repair it yourself, though, and maybe keep a small stock of spare parts. Always a good idea...

Re: Temperature, it's pretty easy and cheap to build your own networked temperature monitoring with arduino. Ask me how. :P

horsemaster

It seems like a great idea. I was thinking if the heater breaks down, will it affect the filter. But as it doesn't, it might be a good thing. Eheim filters are great and I have had very little trouble with it. They have been known to leak which was why I thought it might affect the heater. But I think this is not going to be a problem now.

Baughn

There are a couple ways a broken heater could affect the filter, depending on how well it's engineered, but we're not talking about cheap filters here. They definitely should be well enough made that it's unlikely for both to break.

YMMV on whether "unlikely" is good enough.