Thanks for the info all!
Thanks all, it feels like in 'who wants to be a millionaire' when the crowd votes for an answer, and 95% of the audience votes for an answer
I already have a fluval 305 for my 55g community tank, had no problems with it in the past few months it's been going. Of course when you guys are talking of filters running for many, many years, a few months is no indication of quality.
I'm really asking for a few years down the line, once my little troupe of clown loaches get bigger, will need to bite the bullet and get a massive tank for them... (well, massive in a small flat, not massive by MFK standards hehe)
It will be a good excuse to finally go BIG FISH, my boyfriend is increasingly exasperated by the tanks taking over the house already, and there's only like 120G between four tanks, for trop. comm., oranda, an axolotl and a little tiny fry/hospital tank...
So, at that time, with a sturdy, lidded and lit 150-200g tank and moderately attractive stand costing well over 1k (and that's used!) over here in NZ, I will of course wanna invest in the best quality possible for equipment. In the meantime, It's all I can do to keep an eye out for equipment, going cheap... cause that price difference in linked thread is still a slight deterrent... however:
Looks like Eheim it is! *round of applause for Eheim*