Reviews: Canister Filters- Heto & JHW

UPDATED
Trial of the Heto NEO-501 Canister Filter
Some time ago (7th April) I wrote about the Heto external filter stating it was pretty good value for money. It is, but with some reservations. Numerous months down the track I have been concerned that despite its rated flow rate it does not really put out as well as it might.
The negatives definitely start to accumulate:
1. Tricky set up- priming is somewhat messy in that you need to completely fill the canister through the breather hole at the top and this can involve spills.
2. Water flow is in no way as impressive as with the Eheim- this is more of a trickle than a flow while the Eheim still outputs the same rate as the day I first hooked it up.
3. You do need to clean this filter every couple of months as it does fill up with muck that just does not want to break down fully. The Eheim on the other hand was opened once to take out the active charcoal pad and that is it.
4. The inlet cover can be knocked off more easily than I would like. While covers should not get knocked around generally, I think that in case of accidental bumping from children, animals, etc the inlet cover should be a little more secure.
5. Because of the low flow rate you cannot expect the Heto to also aerate your water sufficiently. The Eheim has no issue with aeration, flow or cleaning as it really pumps the water through.

Conclusion
Still a good purchase- I would probably put it in a 3 foot tank rather than a 4 foot one and would definitely not go any bigger than 4 foot for the Heto-501.
I would also put an internal filter in to assist in aeration. Even a cheap $10 powerhead would probably do making the cost of the Heto still good for an economical canister filter. Does it really stack up against the Eheim 2217? No, but it isn't terrible either and if you really cannot afford the Eheim range then this is not too shabby.

Initial Review of the JT JHW-303B with UV
This is going to be the replacement filter for the inside 4 foot tank. I am constantly seeking to improve this tank and I can watch it 24/7 checking out noise, flow rate, etc from the comfort of my computer only a few feet away.
So now the Heto is being moved out to the smaller volume 5 foot tank housing my Tans to see how it goes with a smaller bioload and a smaller volume of water to clean.

In steps the JHW.

First Impressions
With the arrival of the box comes the fun of looking at the packaging and then the opening of the box with all the bags of bits and pieces. First thing is that there are no internal instructions- they are all on the box, so do not throw the box away or you lose the instructions.

The translated text was interesting but better by far than some of the text I have had to decipher over the years and with the excellent pictures putting everything together was not hard at all.

Operating Guide (as stated on box)
1. According to the diagrammatic representation, the buckle (1) and (2) should be unfolded at first, which will separate the main body and barrelhead.
2. Putting the draining skeps with filter medium into the main body in turn. And pressing the barrelhead with your hands to combine the main body and the barrelhead. Then you should fasten the buckle (1) and (2).
3. Pulling the securing buckle to take out the input and output discreteness. After this, the input and output pipes should be installed and they will be fastened by nuts. Later, putting the input and output discreteness to the former place and press the securing buckle to fix the input and output discreteness.
4. According to the diagrammatic representation, installing the input and output curvy bar in the aquarium. (Notice! The curvy bar with spray bar is output curvy bar, and the curvy bar with dirtiness entrance is input curvy bar.)
5. According to the diagrammatic representation, pressing the blue buckle forcibly and leave it immediately. The blue buckle will rebound. And the input bar absorb water into main body at the same time which compel the air out of main body through output bar. When the level of water in output bar is equal to the level of aquarium, you may electrify the equipment to make it work.
6. Things under the transparent cover are control switch of UV light and indicator light of electricity. (Notice! Because of the life of light tube, it doesn't mean the UV light is ok when the equipment is working. So it is necessary to check the UV light regularly.

The Method of Replacing the UV Light Tube (as stated on the box)
1. According to the diagrammatic representation, you should loose the six bolts to separate the barrelhead and the cassette mechanism.
2. According to the diagrammatic representation, separating the contact of electric wire.
3. Turning the nut anticlockwise till they disjoin completely.
4. According to the diagrammatic representation, pulling out the bad light tube.
5 Installing the new light tube.

On the opposite side to the operating guide is the contents of the box and the diagram for building the filter.

I have to say that the company has made a nice looking filter. It is almost an Apple styling to it and has some nice little bits on it that even Eheim didn't add to their parts list, like the "Dirtiness Entrance" which is a skimmer for the filter to catch up all those floating nasties, shame I have floating plants that would just end up in the filter otherwise I would be adding it. The filter also has multi-length inlet so if you have a very tall tank or a very short tank you can just add or remove a section to the inlet pipe. The cover for the inlet is quite firmly on (yay) and there is also a 2 part spray bar so you can adjust the sprays if you want to having 2 levels of spray (1 straight down, 1 horizontal maybe? who cares I like the feature).
The filter also comes with a priming button (the quite large blue and grey button at the top) you pump it and the filter fills up with water.
The box provides a number of options as to the basket contents such as ceramic rings, active carbon and Bio-balls but only came in the box with the "Biochemical Cotton". However, the online company I purchased this from also provided the ceramic rings and active carbon free of charge when I bought the filter.
I opted out of the activated carbon debacle and instead filled up my baskets with "Super Zeolite", the free "Breathing Bio-Rings", and the "Nitric Back Base" (volcanic rock) all from 101 Fish. I opened up the 2 net bags the bio rings and the volcanic rock were in so as to distribute more evenly over the baskets but the zeolite was left in the bag as it is quite fine and I did not want to ever have to pick it out bit by bit plus recharging in a bag is much easier.

Starting Up the Filter
I took the new filter outside for its first run as after the mess of the Heto I decided trying to get a new filter working without carpet around would be a good idea.
The priming method is very good, creating a siphon effect so that very quickly the filter fills up with water. The filter itself is very quiet almost noiseless. The waterflow is excellent looking to be the same as the Eheim it was sitting next to.

Setting Up the Tank and the Filter Together
Here is where the real test will lay. Fitting up the hoses to the inlet and outlet pipes so that the water can begin to flow. As always, try to heat up the silicone tubing so that it becomes more pliable. The connectors are the slip on and screw down type at both ends so once on will not come away easily.
After some dancing around removing the old and putting in the new this morning, I now have the JHW in place. Firstly, either I have my tanks quite full or they make spray bars to go way too low, as mine is sitting at a 30 degree angle half in and half out of the water. The only way it will just sit out of the water would be if I propped the "Curvy Bar" up higher but I have had this problem with even Eheim and no real solution that isn't unsightly.
Also, I took one of the joins out for the inlet and it still sits on the bottom of the tank so the joints are quite long. I am considering removing a second one to raise it up further... ok I removed one of the additional sections of the spray bar and now it is somewhat shorter.
The noise level of the filter is almost silent with the noisiest part being the water return via the spray bar. I would say that it is more quiet than the Eheim but without a decibel test I cannot say how much quieter.
The unit is fairly tall by the way so if you have very limited height you may have issues putting the canister into certain spots.

Conclusions
I have to say it, this is a definite competitor to the Eheim and at $156.50 delivered to my door it is very good value for money. The filter would have been even cheaper if I had opted for the non-UV model which is $136.50 delivered (the same price as the Heto when it was on special).

The Eheim 2217 is rated at 1000L/hr and costs $260.00 approx. and scores 82% (2.5/4.5/4.5/4.5/4.5)
The Heto NEO-501 is rated at 980L/hr and costs $136.00 approx. and scores 54% (3.5/1.5/4.5/2/2)
The JT JHW-303B with UV is rated at 1400L/hr and costs $156.50 approx. and the score is 98% (5/5/5/4.5/5)
The JT JHW-303 no UV is rated at 1400L/hr and costs $136.50 approx. and has the same score of 98% (5/5/5/4.5/5)

Update
I have completed the scoring on the JHW now and it has romped in over the competition. Tanks in the future that I buy will definitely be filtered by the JHW filters.

Scored as 20% value for money, 20% flow rate, 20% noise levels, 20% ability to clean the water and 20% maintenance level.

BTW thanks to The Age of Aquariums Pty Ltd for their timely supply of the filter- coming from Queensland to Perth in 8 days and only costing $7.50 delivery always makes me happy.

Next Week
Next week my sons Axolotyl is getting a filter system so I will be installing the EDEN 501 300lph when it arrives. If you are interested in if this a good filter for your small tank ( under 60L) then stay tuned and find out if this filter might be what you are looking for ;)