# Buying a Fluval 405...



## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

for $20!!

Anyone have tips or tricks for these? I have never used a canister filter ever before...


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## TCR (Jul 13, 2010)

never seen a fluval 405 for 20$!!!!!!!!!... very good deal... you will love the canister filter..


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## summit (Aug 22, 2010)

The rubber seal on the fluval 05 series can dry out and leak quite easily, so I would suggest a monthly coating of vaseline to keep it lubricated, I do it on mine and I have yet to see it leak. Other than that its been a good filter for me, priming is a pain though I find.


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## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

I got lucky! It was part of a whole setup, and it lived in a 90gal. Well, I just cant afford the whole setup right now, so I asked what the filter was on it.. and she said a fluval 405. So I looked it up and said "ok, what will you sell it to me for?" and she said "$20 sound ok?" Well you must realize i did not hesitate for a second! We set up a meeting time and place (230 today!) and I took the money out of the bank. Booyah. 

Good to know about priming pain... I've never primed a filter like that, so... I guess all I can do is wing it?

It has been out of comission for 3 months, so I'll check the seal before I do anything.. and put it in a bucket. 

Wouldnt vaseline warp the rubber, since it is a petroleum product??
I have a silicone based lubricant that I have for the hinge on my knee brace (that I currently dont have... ). Might that work too?


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## Aaron (Apr 21, 2010)

No just use vaseline, the lubricant that you have may have something in it that could do harm if it managed to get into your tanks water.


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## cowis (Apr 21, 2010)

while ur at it u might wanna lube the o rings on the in and out takes. jjust alows easy on and off and keeps then from breaking too.


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## TCR (Jul 13, 2010)

yea just use vaseline.. and yea my 303 was a cow to prime.. i forgot about that


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## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

I dont own vaseline. Guess Ill go out and buy some!


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## big_bubba_B (Apr 25, 2010)

i have a tip don't buy a 405 they are complete junk . mine leaked out half my tank . the impeller peace breaks all the time and the big seal keeps on coming off even after replacing it . even honestly i talked to the fluval rep when i was in calgary at Pisces pets and he said they were not verry happy with that product


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## TCR (Jul 13, 2010)

big_bubba_B said:


> i have a tip don't buy a 405 they are complete junk . mine leaked out half my tank . the impeller peace breaks all the time and the big seal keeps on coming off even after replacing it . even honestly i talked to the fluval rep when i was in calgary at Pisces pets and he said they were not verry happy with that product


well for 20$ i would tolerate a bit of leaking lol.. just put it in a container for if it does leak as it is better to be safe then sorry


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## big_bubba_B (Apr 25, 2010)

it wasent a bit of leaking 1/4 of my 170 leaked out


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## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

she said it was working 3 months ago. Leaking I would guess comes from an improper seal. I'll risk it for $20.


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## big_bubba_B (Apr 25, 2010)

just be carefull all im saying didnt take long for it to leake


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## TCR (Jul 13, 2010)

big als online is good if you need any replacement parts... check the o ring before you use too see if is cracked... if you notice that its cracked, just get another o ring.. they are fairly cheap..


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

Plumbing silicon at Homde Depot for $5. comes in a little blue container.

Vaseline jelly should works too.

I never had problem priming mine. May be the rubber in the priming cup could age? Use the priming pump to start water flow into the filter. Wait till it stop, plug in and mine fire right the way. Done it may 6-7 times.

Can't go wrong for $20, mine cost over $200 after tax. A 405 can'tbe too old either.


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## big_bubba_B (Apr 25, 2010)

i dont trust the 405 specialy after the rep said it was junk . i love my fx5's so easy to clean .


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## EDGE (Aug 24, 2010)

My 404 lasted for 9 years and going. The only beef I have is the clamping mechanism. I have a filstar 2 and I can definitely noticed the filstar 2 is out doing the fluval 404. Clamping system is fairly fragile. Not bad if you don't have to open it on a regular basis. I open mine up once in a year to see if there is clogging. Usually there is none as I run this in a planted tank with very little bio load. 

filstar 2 is easier to prime, clean after, and more quiet.

Can't say how much better the internal component is in the 405, but the clamping system and gasket is the same for both.


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## doogie (Nov 5, 2010)

Good job, gotta get a good deal once and a while up here in the north katie!


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## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

Rayne took the last rockin' deal, so it was definetly my turn. I picked it up today, it does need a good cleaning, but I had to go straight to work after picking it up so I haven't looked at it yet really. Looks like I might have Monday off so I'll have a chance to fiddle around with it then. At the most, I'll get it running and start seeding it, but I havent looked at any of the media yet...


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## summit (Aug 22, 2010)

if the filter is used, and the o-ring has been out in the open air for a while, it has probably dried out a bit so I might look into replacing it before you fire it up, as its better safe than sorry for a few dollars. Order a couple so you have a spare , apparently when they dry out is when they start to leak.

I use matrix in all 4 trays of mine, comes pretty reasonable from JL and pets and ponds, the later also have a good selection of fluval 405 parts as it is good to have a few spare parts on hand because like as mentioned as others a few parts are easy to break such as the ceramic impeller shaft.


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## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

Well I am currently test driving it in the kitchen sink and the cansiter is in a bucket on the floor. LONG priming time.. next time I am filling the canister by hand and priming the rest, but it wasnt difficult to do, just took a while (large volume...)

Currently pumping away.. quieter than my Tetra Whisper ex70! This makes me happy, as my tank is in my living room. No signs of any leakage yet. She kept the canister closed after she removed her used media, so it was all quite moist when I opened it up to see if there were any suprises inside.


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## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

What type of media should I use for my planted tank? All I have ever used is filter floss or filter pads with no carbon, and whatever equivalent of bioballs fits the filter. Should I stick with the same idea, but on obviously a much bigger scale?


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

its all about how much u wanna spend, you can get potscrubbers from the dollar store and use that as media, or you can go to the LFS and get the eheim biosubstrat or something similiar with 5x more surface area but it will double the price of your filter  (potscrubbers are probably fine on a planted tank that isnt heavily stocked)
you probably want to leave out the carbon, and filter floss is good but you will need to open the cannister more frequently to change it (personally i use it cuz i like crystal clear water and dont mind changing the floss every month)

mines a coarse sponge at the bottom, eheim biosubstrat in the middle then a bag of purigen and then filter floss
oh and btw you can buy the blue coarse sponge in matts in bulk at some LFS and cut to fit, saves money. you can also reuse them a few times just rinse them really well and get all the gunk out


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## NewGuy (Apr 22, 2010)

LOL it seems the market in aquarium stuff in PG is depressed. I personally recommend the plastic pot scrubbers because they are cheap, last forever and they work. I had those in my XP3 for 2 years on a planted tank and never had any issues.


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## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

OMG I AM SO DUMB.

Sooooo telling my boyfriend today how I have the filter all nicely test-driving in the kitchen for the day... I'm already at work you see, and he's gone to his parents for dinner accross town... so he says to me "and it the intake/outflow is in the sink right" and I say "yeah..." and he says "and you forgot that the sink eventually drains right?" and then my stomach sank... he's driving accross town right now to determine if I totally just EFFED the filter.


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## NewGuy (Apr 22, 2010)

Might be ok. When my 72g blew up, the filter probably ran dry for a good couple of hours (and had a ton of rocks gravel and water dumped on it) and it is still ok.


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## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

im really hoping on bulletproof here... thanks for the optimism though. Hes driving from College Heights to the end of the Hart Highway. I should hear about it soon.



*edit* - swiping the brow. The sink didnt drain at all. Filter safe and happy!!!


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## euroamg (Dec 14, 2010)

Make sure to check the shaft & impeller for any wear.. They are common problems on the fluval models.. Great deal!!


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## splat (Nov 17, 2010)

i have a 405 and find it works great. of course, it is my first canister filter. i heard to leave the carbon out because it will absorb your fertilizers. i use pot scrubbers, filter floss and the bioballs it came with. i heard some people put small lava rocks in there because lava rocks are so porous they are just as good or better than the bioballs. some people told me they can get them cheap at gardening/landscaping (maybe art knapps?) store..i have not tried them yet though. 
the only thing that drives me bonkers with this filter is priming it. it says not to prefill the canister but i found that dinky little primer handle takes way too long to fill up. i found the best way that works IS to prefill the canister and then use the primer handle until i hear water running and then plug it in. sometimes, even if i do all that the filter doesn't get going and i have to start all over again. i find they are really quiet though.
oh and don't do what i do..make sure you close off the intake/outtake tubes before you take it off the canister LOL...what a mess.


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## skrick (Apr 25, 2010)

I have 3 404s 1 fluval 303 and 1 fluval fx5 love them all just pre fill the filter then prime easy as pie never had a leak just lube and do the maintenance and you will have no problems great filters


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## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

So far it is working fantastically! I just crammed my old hob filter media in but I will be buying filter floss, pot scrubbers and I might try the lava rock thing out!


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## Luke78 (Apr 24, 2010)

Glad to hear your Fluval is working well for you.I dont if most people in this hobby got faulty units or didnt maintence them well enough, but i find them to be reliable canisters.I've been running an older 204 for about 4 yrs now(were on 2 different tanks) without any issues.I dont hear it all,the trays are big enough to add what ever media you want,and if you need any parts most lfs in the lowermainland carry this line.You mentioned using filter floss in yours ? you will be changing that often as this media runs down fairly quickly depending on your aquarium/stock.


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## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

Yes I agree filter floss requires more maintenance but the clear water is worth it!


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## summit (Aug 22, 2010)

filter floss was a pain in the canister when I tried it to give you a heads up, reason why I dont think many do it, tearing the filter down every few days gets a little tiring. Have you ever considered running the aquaclear on the unit as well as the canister? you can then run the filter floss and purigen in the aquaclear for water clarity to make for easy access for maintenance and put all the biomedia in the canister, its how I run mine and is working great.


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## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

Well I'll try it and see how much trouble I have. I'm tired of the noise of hob filters. Since I set up the canister I have cut my water top ups from every e days to once a week


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

I don't use filter floss anymore in my canisters. I've taken to using a prefilter on the intake that you can just pull off and rinse out every week or several days.


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## keitarosan (Apr 21, 2010)

i've been running 404 for 4 yrs straight now. no replacement of parts whatsoever. i lube the rubber ring every filter maintenance which is every 3 mos and sometimes more if i'm lazy. 

priming it wasn't really a pain for me. i always fill the canister with water before putting back the hose and everything. once i open the hose quick stop. the water in the hose pours back in the canister but only a bit since the canister is already full of clean water. plug in the filter. it just runs on its own without even priming.


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