Canister filters - Filstar vs Eheim - pricing questions

[neilanh]

So I'm researching canister filters to consider adding on to the HOB I currently have. There seems to be 2 prime clubs here - the Eheim club and the Filstar club.

While I'm trying to research these, I keep hearing that the Eheims are much pricier than the Filstars. I search on Ebay for an Eheim 2236, and I find them in the ~130 dollar range.

Then I look on Bigals and I find the 2236 for $89. link

This is cheaper than I can find the XP3 for anywhere.

Am I missing something?

What I've gotten from the Filstar club is that the XPs are so much cheaper than the Eheims, yet at bigals they're more expensive. link

Not by much, to me these are in the same price range. But this doesn't match the threads I've read and the info I've found on either of these units.

What am I missing?

[BrianNY]

You aren't missing much. I think there are advantages and disadvantages to both. Big Als obviously has a better arrangement with Eheim. Either that or they holding lots of inventory and just want to turn it. Truth is you can't go wrong buying either the Filstar or the Eheim.

[Andos99]

Big Al's runs sales on their filters every now and again. I bought two XP3's a while back for $94 bucks a pop with free shipping during a sale. Just have to keep a look out. I love my XP3's by the way.

[neilanh]

So since the price is about the same, is the differences between the two purely preference? or is one technically better than another, comparing the 2236 vs the XP3 for instance.

[tropicfishman]

I bought an awesome cascade 700 model ( or something like that ) on here with everything in almost perfect condition for like 40 bucks including shipping off someone on here. its by far the easiest canister filter to assemble, operate, and maintain I have ever seen IMO, With my experience with ehiem, model 2217 classic cansiters, I find them to be a real pain sometimes. they have these small metal clips with metal hinges that hold the pump to the canister, they always fall out and get lost, there hard to prime, abd apperently you need a rpiming too to get them started, that mya not be true with all there models though. but by far you can't forget about how ehiem stores a ton of media and is very easy to customize, although I do not like the metric parts, odd to work with, buying adapters and what not

[Woody83]

I love my XP2, super quiet, easy set up, easy cleaning. And I'm sure Eheim owners will preach the same about theirs. So go for whatever is on sale.

[travis74]

I have an XP2 that I love, a real workhorse. I poked around and found one interesting difference between the two. The XP2 is listed as having a 250gph flow rate and the Eheim 2234(can't find specs or difs between 34 and 36) listed at 145gph. My XP2 is on a 40g and I wish I had just a little more flow rate.
Good Luck!
-Travis