Jebao 825/828 filters

[piranha]

Has anyone had experience with Jebao 825 or 828 filters? I've heard they are very similar to the eheim line.

[TankGirl]

What I have heard is not terribly good, but is anectdotal so may or may not be worth anything.

I'm old school and the only filter I have run across that I am equally satisfied with is the Rena Filstar line, but they are relatively new in comparison and I'm not sure they will have the longevity that you can expect from Eheim. For my money, Eheim is the way to go if you can scrape together the funds, because when I look back at what I have spent on equipment that winds up needing to be replaced, I would have saved $$ if I had invested in Eheim to begin with.

[chasgood]

TankGirl
I have a Rena Filstar XP1 on order from Big Al's. They seem to be the best for the money right now. Your talking about them helped me finally make up my mind. Rena seems to have the highest rated air pumps on the market. The filstar filters are second only to the Eheim. Good products.

piranha
The Jebao is a cheap knockoff of the Eheim and likely made with poor quaility control and subpar parts.
If price is a factor the Fluval canisters cost a bit less. The 204 and 304 seem to be the best of that line. 104 and 404 owners are not as happy.
Seen good reviews about the ViaAqua Canister Filters (better reviews than the Fluval). But they are a unknown company. Hard to say if they will be around long. They are low cost.

Magnum and proquatics are the lowest rated.

[piranha]

Thank You Tank Girl and Chasgood for your replies.What I have found out in my research is that the aqua via is produced by the Jebao company but what may make the Jebao 825/828 better filters are the features they have that the via aquas don't.They are 1)a priming button 2)rubber gaskets to prevent water bypass.I have heard the cascade line and via aquas have this bypass issue. One question I have does the filstar xp1 have a primmer button?

[TankGirl]

The Filstar does not have a primer button, but there is a self-priming feature with a cap on the hose where it hooks over the tank, or the highest point of the intake hose, and the first time you run it you pour water into that to fill the intake, close it off and it starts the syphon. I have had to do that only once. When you service the filter you disconnect the hoses in a unit from the top without losing your syphon.