Hi,
I thought I would put this out there while it is still fresh. I have had a Fluval 407 for 9 months and last set up an Eheim Professional 4+. When I bought the Fluval it was my second choice as the Eheims were out of stock at the time. I set it up and it has worked fantastically on my 55 gallon tank with a chiller. I just set up another tank and set up the Eheim. I was surprised to find I like the Fluval much better. It was much faster and easier to set up, easier to prime and get the water flow going. I took me 20 minutes to get the Eheim to prime an flow properly. I almost gave up and thought it was defective The connections on the Eheim while standard, are hard to press together and at the intake and outtake connections are at a 45 degree angle making them hard to access and press the tubes on. On the Eheim the intake and outage connections are also directly in front of and blocking the primer making it harder to pump. There is also a crappy plastic hose clamp to secure the intake and outtake tubes to the connections and it feels like it is doing nothing. Another thing I am noticing is when adjusted to the lowest flow for the benefit of axolotls the fluval has a much more even flow through the spray bar. All holes let out an equal amount of water. The Eheim water drips out unevenly from the different holes. The fluval comes with its weird ribbed proprietary tubing which I thought I would not like, but it is easier to cut and handle than the standard heavy weight tubing that comes with the Eheim. I can't speak to the filtration action yet on the Eheim, but I expect it to be great. The Fluval is keeping the water in excellent shape. Once the bio filter was going, I haver never had ammonia or nitrate issues. I have only cleaned ithe filter two times and it was not even really necessary. I have 3 adult Axolotls in the 55 gallon tank. While I think the Eheim will prove to be an effective filter the Fluval wins big on design, ease of set up, maintenance and use, and has provided flawless filtration.
I thought I would put this out there while it is still fresh. I have had a Fluval 407 for 9 months and last set up an Eheim Professional 4+. When I bought the Fluval it was my second choice as the Eheims were out of stock at the time. I set it up and it has worked fantastically on my 55 gallon tank with a chiller. I just set up another tank and set up the Eheim. I was surprised to find I like the Fluval much better. It was much faster and easier to set up, easier to prime and get the water flow going. I took me 20 minutes to get the Eheim to prime an flow properly. I almost gave up and thought it was defective The connections on the Eheim while standard, are hard to press together and at the intake and outtake connections are at a 45 degree angle making them hard to access and press the tubes on. On the Eheim the intake and outage connections are also directly in front of and blocking the primer making it harder to pump. There is also a crappy plastic hose clamp to secure the intake and outtake tubes to the connections and it feels like it is doing nothing. Another thing I am noticing is when adjusted to the lowest flow for the benefit of axolotls the fluval has a much more even flow through the spray bar. All holes let out an equal amount of water. The Eheim water drips out unevenly from the different holes. The fluval comes with its weird ribbed proprietary tubing which I thought I would not like, but it is easier to cut and handle than the standard heavy weight tubing that comes with the Eheim. I can't speak to the filtration action yet on the Eheim, but I expect it to be great. The Fluval is keeping the water in excellent shape. Once the bio filter was going, I haver never had ammonia or nitrate issues. I have only cleaned ithe filter two times and it was not even really necessary. I have 3 adult Axolotls in the 55 gallon tank. While I think the Eheim will prove to be an effective filter the Fluval wins big on design, ease of set up, maintenance and use, and has provided flawless filtration.
