Fluval Number 406 External Filter

I wish i could give this ten stars. I love love love this filter it has transformed my tank completely, I started keeping fish in the 70s and all the way through the 80s and 90s and even most of the 00s you really had to over estimate the size of your filter relevant to your tank. My rule of thumb was at least double more often than not triple the size of my filter relevant to size of tank but those days appear to be long gone. I recently purchased a tank which had some weak trickle filter installed in the hood and I knew this would not cut the mustard just by looking at it. The tank construction itself is fantastic but the on board filtration is absolute poop. The aquarium is 4 ft and 300 litres so this is just over as it is market as up to 400 l being a 406. All the little niggly things that were slight issues with the 405 gone in the 406. Operation is super effective and super quiet. Keeps my water absolutely crystal clear and water parameters perfect and I love it so much I don't think I would buy any other brand of filter now. I used to be a Eheim fanatic but when I looked at the current prices they are absurdly expensive compared to these. Due to being less than half the price I did not think it would be as good but it easily surpasses my last Eheim in every measure, Totally converted. My parter has asperger's and as such he has super human hearing which is a concern and even he cannot believe how quite it is. This has got to be the quietest tank I have every had. In fact the T8 fluorescent tubes almost make as much noise! This has cut down my water changes drastically. I keep testing the water hoping i need to do one but no, water parameters still perfect three weeks in. Brilliant filter. Just two small gripes but these just could be me. I hate the clear intake tube and white connectors. Hate them with a passion as they stand out like a sore thumb on my black background which otherwise hides the black pipework perfectly. Also don't like the fact that you have to purchase a separate spray bar. This is a powerful filter and if you just hook up the return with what they give you i.e. basically straight back into the tank it could churn your tank like a washing machine ! I also did not really have enough pipe given to install the intake and out take on opposite sides of the tank as the filter has to fit in one or other side of the cabinet as there is a centre beam which means at 4ft long there is no way you have enough pipe. I got round this by installing the intake and out take on the same side but using a spray bar for the return which I would have done anyway and having the spray bar going almost the full length of the tank. If you don't want to do that you might want to thank about buying more pipe. Overall these are minor issues but it would have been good if you could even purchase black connectors and black intake tubes. Even if I had to buy them separately I would have gladly paid to get them but I have not seen them on sale anywhere. I do believe that the pipework for the 405 i.e. previous model fits this one and that had dark grey connectors so that might be an option.

So, its been nearly 2 years since I purchased this Filter and thought I would write a review on how it has performed.Well what can I say, it has performed flawlesly in that time with no issues, its still very quiet and has had no leaks and I beleive thats down to the fact that it is maintained every month where it is cleaned out and the seals have some silicon grease applied to them, and yes they are still the original seals and the large foam and medium biofoam are also still original, and as they still spring back into shape after a gentle squeeze to get rid of the large particules i see no reason to change them.Obviously the polishing pads need replacing, which for me is every month, however i will advise you to place the polishing pads on top of the black biofoam in the bottom tray as this will ensure that the water, when it gets to your biologial media, is super clean and wont clog up your cermic media/noodles etc.With regards to the polishing pads, I dont use Fluvals own, I bought a large roll of filter floss from Finest Filters and use this instead and in the process saved a fortune.My only other recomendation is to use Biohome Ultimate filter media and not the stuff that comes with it, your fish will be happier if you do and is probably another of my top purchases and recomendations.So am I happy, Yes, Would I buy another if i got another tank, Absolutely yes.Oh, my tank is 240l (Fluval roma) and is home to 3 Orandas.

Absolute god send! Takes a bit of time & care to set it up, but once it was up & working it's paid itself off. I've set this up on my coldwater tank, goldfish produce an awful lot of mess & it seemed like the existing filter just wasn't cutting the mustard, had to do a large water change every weekend without fail & the filter was always coated in muck. To clean this out takes about 10 minutes at most. Literally close a valve, unplug it, empty the water out & rinse all the media inside, put it back together again & that's it. Once it's back plugged in, it fills back up with the water in the tank & that's it. It has saved me loads of time at the weekend, and for that I'm grateful! Can't praise this enough, it's made fishkeeping an absolute doddle.