# TETRATEC EX 1200 General consensus?



## dfektor (21 Jun 2013)

hi
 as title reads whats your thoughts on the tetra tec ex 1200 its the cheapest external i can find locally under £100 and above 1000ph rating?


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## Alastair (21 Jun 2013)

Never had any problems with the two I owned a while ago 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2


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## biffster (21 Jun 2013)

never had any problems with any of my tetratec external filters


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## jojouk (21 Jun 2013)

I bought mine second hand 2 years ago. Never had a problem. Can be tricky to prime, but easy enough to sort once you know how. A very very big plus is the customer service is beyond excellent. Any problems ever and they will help you to remedy, send out spare parts, even replace the filter. Can fit in tons of media, which means you can only put in half if the supplied media, not reduce flow that much and still have plenty of surface area to be very effective. 

I recommend. I have 2 on my 5 foot.


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## sanj (23 Jun 2013)

I am not a fan.
I liked them to start with, but both I had suffered what seems to be a known leaking issue. I thought they had sorted this as a company, but i still hear this happening to people who buy them. Bear in mind this is probably only a minority of filters they produce. Very good customer service, but I would rather go Eheim 2080/2180. Yes expensive, but "the dogs hangy things".


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## Andy Thurston (24 Jun 2013)

You get what you pay for.


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## terry82517 (24 Jun 2013)

jojouk said:


> Can fit in tons of media, which means you can only put in half if the supplied media, not reduce flow that much and still have plenty of surface area to be very effective.



Do you put in half the media that is supplied in each tray of just have 2 or the 4 full and have the other 2 empty??? 
Cheers


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## jojouk (24 Jun 2013)

Yeah half the media in each tray


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## dfektor (25 Jun 2013)

I have heard of this tap leak problem which as mentioned their very happy to replace... IMO and indeed experience external filters will always leak at one time or another o-rings are not permanent seals in any industry and water will always find a way   I have run eheims and Fluvals for over ten years and found not one that seems infallible to this.

I'd obviously choose an eheim over a fluval but after a friend had had only good words to say about his ex2400 I thought it might be worth a punt.

After research I've seen that the 1200lph though is the filter running without media in which is disappointing to say the least for real world application!


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## ian_m (25 Jun 2013)

The JBLe1501 is 1400lphr empty and quoted 800-900lphr with clean media and all for 20Watts about £26/year cost.


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## AshRolls (25 Jun 2013)

One thing to consider is that the Tetratec Ex1200 comes with a nice long, dark grey, spray bar. I have actually ordered this spray bar (and some new hose) from the Tetratec EX1200 to go with my fluval 306. I believe the supplied spray bar is 75cm long.


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## Andy Thurston (25 Jun 2013)

dfektor said:


> I have heard of this tap leak problem which as mentioned their very happy to replace... IMO and indeed experience external filters will always leak at one time or another o-rings are not permanent seals in any industry and water will always find a way   I have run eheims and Fluvals for over ten years and found not one that seems infallible to this.



Rubber seals are never intended to be permanent because they need to be taken apart for cleaning. The problem with this is many hobbiests  dont know how to look after them properly. Any seals on filters can be damaged easily when not put back togeather carefully and even more so when not lubricated. Its also a good idea to change them before they leak.
I use filters with o rings because there more reliable than molded rubber gasket types long term and i can buy them at an engineering suppliers for half the price. Iv used fluval filters and imo for what they cost, the quality is rubbish and you may aswell buy a cheapy because some are much better. Iv never had a tetra but have worked with engineers that rate them and have never had any leaks


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## KeyboardWarrior (27 Jun 2013)

I loved my old one as it felt quite powerful and had lots of room for media only problemwas the prime button broke and I had to do it with my mouth which tasted different...


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## Slyspy (17 Jul 2013)

I have had a 1200 for a few years now. Normally dead quiet it developed a knocking sound. Contacted Tetratec (by phone to Germany, no language skills required!) and they sent a new impellor which didn't help. Contacted them again and they sent a whole new pump unit and this for a filter which I'd had for over two years. Can't grumble at that level of service.


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## GreenNeedle (29 Dec 2014)

I think I have sorted out this leaky problem now.  Doing Tetratec's investigative work for them.

The back story is I have had this 'orrible' filter in a cupboard for quite a few years now since I replaced it with an Eheim.

This was probably one of the originals and yes Tetratec sent me a new hose adaptor unit to 'solve the problem' which didn't 

I needed an extra filter on one of my tanks and thought I'd give it a bash and yup still leaking.  So I took the powerhead casing off, then put it back on the cannister and connected it up and ran it again.  This way I can see where the water is coming from............and it was coming from the edge of the prime button.  It fills up the powerhead casing and then drips over the edge (where the handles are.)

Unscrewed the prime button (not the casing just the button which is a twistlock) and at the bottom there is a rubber washer with a groove in it.  I am not sure whether this groove is there when new or if it is 'worn in'.  I turned that washer around and re-seated it and then twistlocked the prime button back on.

I then undid the 5 screws and took the prime casing off.  There is a rubber diaphragm that seats in there and you can see the sections of that diaphragm that are in contact with the running water because they are roughened.  I took that out, cleaned it and wiped it over with some silicon grease.  Then cleaned thoroughly the casing and reseated the disphragm.  Then screw the casing back on.

Started it up and there is now only the tiniest leak.  No drip and in over an hour it is probably only 2 or 3 ml but in that hour I could see that what was a dry compartment had a tiny bit of water in it.  It is only in a section next to the prime button casing so definitely coming from there.

Next I pressed the prime button and the leak got quicker.  So I took the casing off again.  Dried the diaphragm, dried the casing, greased the diaphragm and put it all back together again.  This time I didn't press the prime button at all, I left it well alone and the filter has been running now for over 2 hours.  Still that 2 or 3ml leak over an hour but it is easily usable now.

So far from it being the hose adaptor or O rings which Tetratec always tell us it seems to me that it is more than likely the dodgy diaphragm design that the prime button uses.

I ma trying to figure out a way of blocking off the prime button entry now as it is right above and open channel which is the inflow to the filter.  If I can seal the top of that channel off then there will be no more leaks 


I also notice someone above talking about a noisy impellor which was replaced with no improvement.  I have that too and I bought a new impellor years ago thinking it would stop the noise.

The only thing I can think of (and its a guess) is that air gets into this filter the same way that the water leaks out and that air means over time the impellor damages its housing.

So this filter is awesome but do not use the prime button and if it starts leaking look there before you waste time and/or money on O rings or hose adaptors 

I will report back if it starts leaking again and if I think of a way to seal the top of that channel.


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## OllieNZ (31 Dec 2014)

Why not just replace the primer button oring? Ime(which in this area is fairly extensive) once an oring is knackered nothing you can do will make it seal like simply replacing it. I'd go for a new diaphragm while you're at it. Install with plenty of grease(which I doubt the factory does) and you should be able to kiss your leak goodbye permanently. I know you're trying to sort this without spending money but nothing fixes a leaky seal like fitting a new one.


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## GreenNeedle (1 Jan 2015)

After leaking through the first day and there barely being enough water to cover the bottom of the bucket it has sat in it seems to have stopped leaking totally.

If I can buy a diaphragm then I will but what I would prefer to do is close off and seal that whole area completely and eliminate the prime button.  So rather than an intricate diaphragm with several potential weak points and also a hole in the middle which it uses for the suction I would use a solid piece of rubber and a plate to clamp down and seal the whole area removing the priming button and it's casing with the plate in it's place.  Will get round to it eventually but its fine for now.

The O ring in the prime button isn't a problem  Its the flat rubber washer at the bottom of the prime button and possibly the worn diaphragm letting drips of water.  There is no water coming out of the prime button itself so the O ring inside the prime button is working.  The tiny dribble (after turning the washer the other way round) was coming from the side of the casing of the button where the diaphragme is supposed to seal it all the way round.


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