Fluval 404 :(

[whaase]

I swear as soon as I get my sump going I'm going to throw this Fluval 404 in the garbage! The damn thing takes forever to prime. I now have a massive blister on my finger from trying.... Anyone have some tips for priming this thing?

Walter

[Josh23]

No I went through the same thing if it makes you feel any better. That damn thing Im sure lead to over 30 gallons of water ending up ending up on my floor over a couple months.

Josh

[Canadian Man]

I swear as soon as I get my sump going I'm going to throw this Fluval 404 in the garbage! The damn thing takes forever to prime. I now have a massive blister on my finger from trying.... Anyone have some tips for priming this thing?

Walter

You want to know how to prime it Walter?
Do what I did with my 404....Throw it in the garbage! :roll:
My 404 caused about 10g of saltwater to spill on my floor.

[BC_Grl]

Hello josh what is that contraption in the left hand conner of your main tank. Is that your home made overflow box or ?? If it is how many gallons an hour flow rate do you get? curious.

[whaase]

Well, I don't feel so bad now.... too bad I spent so much on the filter... oh well, it has done me for a year I guess... :?

Walter

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

I have a fluval 403 and a 303 for about 6 years now. IMHO, they are okay as long as you don't need to take them apart. Priming is a bit fun, but there are a couple of ways to make it work. The easiest way is to fill the canister with water and flip the fluval upside down while you turn it on. It is a bit hard to do this, but if you have the room...it will work. The other ways are trickier, but it is possible. Another way is to tip the canister on its side (make sure there canister is full of water) and let it run like that for an hour or so.

I still hate fluvals and I don't really recommend them. The 404 is much better than the 403/303...lets say...at least you can put the lid easily. I would recommend the Marineland Magnum 350, HOT Magnum or the Eheim Classic family. All three of these are workhorses and can easily last 7 to 10 years.

How much do you spend on the 404 ?

- Victor.

[Canadian Man]

Hi,

I have a fluval 403 and a 303 for about 6 years now. IMHO, they are okay as long as you don't need to take them apart. Priming is a bit fun, but there are a couple of ways to make it work. The easiest way is to fill the canister with water and flip the fluval upside down while you turn it on. It is a bit hard to do this, but if you have the room...it will work. The other ways are trickier, but it is possible. Another way is to tip the canister on its side (make sure there canister is full of water) and let it run like that for an hour or so.

I still hate fluvals and I don't really recommend them. The 404 is much better than the 403/303...lets say...at least you can put the lid easily. I would recommend the Marineland Magnum 350, HOT Magnum or the Eheim Classic family. All three of these are workhorses and can easily last 7 to 10 years.

How much do you spend on the 404 ?

- Victor.

I gotta disagree with you Victor.
Althought the old 3 series are hard to prime and hard to get the lid back on they are alot more indistructable then the new 4 series. The old Fluvals are a bull/ the new fluvals are a flea.
I have a fluval 203 that just got taken off line cause I didnt need it anymore and it's been running for 24/7 for 8 years now. My new 404 lasted 7 months :roll:

[whaase]

I think I paid arounf $200 when they first came out. I'll just wait a bit until I move my tank and set up the sump. I must say that is a nasty blister I got from that thing! To top it off I put a brad nail in my finger today aswell.... it's been a good week so far :wink:

Walter

[UnderWorldAquatics]

ive had a 404 running 24/7 for over 5or6 years i belive... not a single problem yet, and its run on fresh and salt. primes easy if you ask me... i didnt know you could break them, ive stood on them to reach something and i think you could almost run them over with a big truck without problem. At the same time i wont highly recommend them as i am a sump man myself. i think they would be great on a 33gallon fresh tank
not any bigger though.

[Canadian Man]

ive had a 404 running 24/7 for over 5or6 years i belive... not a single problem yet, and its run on fresh and salt. primes easy if you ask me... i didnt know you could break them, ive stood on them to reach something and i think you could almost run them over with a big truck without problem. At the same time i wont highly recommend them as i am a sump man myself. i think they would be great on a 33gallon fresh tank
not any bigger though.
Are you sure your not talking about the "403" which are the old round fluvals and the new ones are called "404's" which are rectangular shape and made from cheep plastic and have not been out that long?

[UnderWorldAquatics]

yeah im talking about the rectangular ones, i belive i got it when they first came out, actually before they were released to the public, promo thing. ive had it for quite some time! at least 5 years and ive had the round ones(304) and i hate them, the 404 is fine with me, i use clear tubing on mine if that makes a difference, the ones ive seen around have cheap grey plastic tube and i belive it pops off easy, mine has never leaked.

[bongy]

Well, after using both the 403, 404 and the eheim for many years, here are my 2 cents.

For me, it will be eheim all the way. The main reasons are easy to clean, durable and they generally last longer between cleaning.

For me, the filter must be easy to clean, otherwise, I wouldn't clean it very often. I can clean my eheim 2222 (the professional version) in 5 minutes max! And without a drop of water. For the old 403, even with the quick release, it takes atleast half an hour and usually with several cups of water spilled. Sometimes, it will leak a while before I figure out the o-ring was not on properly. The new 404 is better because it no longer has the o-ring. However, getting it to prime is usually quite time consuming as they never seem to want to start right away after connected back.

Durability:
Struture-wise, the 403 is quite durable. However, there are things like the clip, and impeller that has broken on me.
The early-version of 404 seem to have a problem with seal. I got two friends that have to get their 404 replaced because they leak after being properly put back. So far, mine seem to be OK. Although the tube and connecter leak air so it usually blow a lot of air bubbles into my tank.
The eheim, no comparison again especially the profession series.

Both the fluval has a stronger flow than eheim. However, the flow will drop quickly especially if you are running it in a planted tank like me. The eheim has a weaker flow but seem to be better at maintaining it.

For me, it would be a lot cheaper and much less headache if I have gotten the eheim to begin with instead of the 403 and 404. (I got the 404 to replace the 403) I just bought the Professional 2 at boxing day to replace my current 404. Looking forward to get it setup this week.

As you can see, I really like my eheim. The only thing I don't like is their price.

[EmilyB]

Well, sometimes you get what you pay for, I guess.

Which did definitely not pan out when I bought a Rena Filstar when they first came out (to replace the Fluval we had grown to hate with a passion).

Now there was a POS. We paid over $300 at Petland. I sold it for $20, and kept waiting for the person to send over some hitmen. Couple stores pulled the product from their shelves interestingly enough.

[whaase]

hmmm... I almost bought one of those too.... :)

Walter

[Canadian Man]

Me three but I bought my fluval instead. seems I made a bad decision if I would have gone either way :lol:

[clintyiu]

I have both fluval types: a 403 and a 304. Both run very well and they are pretty quiet. I had the 403 for 6 years and the 304 for 2. I just find the media containers hard to take apart with they are slimey and slippery. You can make them easier to prime by filling the container to the top of the tubes in your laundry tub.

The new 304 is much better and primes very easily (for me). Cleaning is a cinch too. But they should get rid of the cheap corrugated tubing. The suction cups are not strong enough to keep the tubes in place. The old swivel fittings are much better because they just hang off the glass.

You can get a new fluval 404 for about $160.00 btw from a LFS on Commercial drive.

I had a Magnum too and it's noisey. The impeller can jam if it accidentally sucks in some gravel and the magnets on mine started to lose grip. Maybe the new models are better.

I heard a lot of raves about Eheim's. The problem is Big Al's being their only local vendor and I do not support that company. Eheims are expensive to start with and BA makes them even more unaffordable.

jm2c
clint

[Seamonkey]

:D I have used Fluval filters for 3 years. I Love them. (the newer style anyway) I find them really easy, never any problems with the priming, just make sure they are full to the top before putting on the lid, when you restart, plug em in and give them a minute, pump the primer a couple times if you have to. Always start....... no noise, run quiet, I'll shut up now. :P

[Canadian Man]

:D I have used Fluval filters for 3 years. I Love them. (the newer style anyway) I find them really easy, never any problems with the priming, just make sure they are full to the top before putting on the lid, when you restart, plug em in and give them a minute, pump the primer a couple times if you have to. Always start....... no noise, run quiet, I'll shut up now. :P

Thanks, you must work for hagen :wink: :P :lol: :wink:

[EmilyB]

:lol: Fluvals are $140 off at Pisces....

[whaase]

That's about $139 too much :) :lol:

[Canadian Man]

That's about $139 too much :) :lol:
:lol: :lol:

Yea their MSRP is 350 - the discount. So if they didnt have a sale their regular price would me 200? :roll:

[trilinearmipmap]

It makes me glad I bought my Eheims.

I have 3 Eheims on 3 different FW tanks and I am happy with them.

The best way to get an Eheim is you need someone who lives in the U.S. to order it for you from Big Al's U.S. website, it is usually less than half the cost of their Canadian prices.

[whaase]

Hmmm $200... still about $199 too much :) ;)

Walter

[BCOrchidGuy]

Easiest way to prime it, is.....

Unscrew the intake from where it just goes over the top of the tank. Hold that tube higher than the water level, get a funnel that will fit in there and slowly pour water into the funnel, when you have enough water in there you will have water coming out of the outlet. remove the funnel, lower the tube slowly until the water in it is almost about to over flow, cover it with your thumb and then quickly slip that over the barbed thread and do it up again. NOW turn on the pump and rock it from side to side, you may need to pump the priming pump a few times as there will still be some air in there.....

Easy huh?