Should You Buy An Eheim External Aquarium Filter?

Yes, by all the powers of the fish lords, I say yes. Why? Because after messing around with a gazillion cheap aquarium filters in various configurations, internal filters, HOB (hang on back filters) and the rest of it, I have found salvation in the Eheim Ecco 22 series.

Eheim has always had a reputation for quality and its price point puts it at the top of the market, but you know what? It is worth every penny or cent you pay for it. Eheim external filters are whisper quiet (my Eheim Ecco 2236, which pumps 300 liters of water every hour is far quieter than my internal or HOB filters that provide far less filtration,) and they are incredibly enegery efficient as well. The same filter I just mentioned, the Eheim 2236, runs on just 6 watts of power.

If you are just getting started in fish keeping, you may want to get a cheap filter to begin with, but mark my words, if you stick with the hobby for longer than 6 months, you are going to want to upgrade to an external filter, and you're going to want to upgrade to an Eheim.

Fluval external filters are often popular, however they are far more prone to breakages. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Eheim filters can reasonably be expected to last for a decade, and they all come with a three year guarantee, which is more than you'll get on most filters these days.

So if you're sick of hearing whirring, clattering and clunking, invest in an Eheim external filter. Your water will never have been cleaner (Eheim's usually come with the filter media already in place, and with a fairly decent stock of additional filter material to replace it with as well. My Eheim 2236 came packed with filter material as well as three additional boxes of Eheim Substat Pro,) and your fish will never have been happier.

In any aquarium set up, the filter is the device that makes or breaks the aquarium. Faulty filters can kill fish, as can filters that fail to keep up with the tank's bioload. That's why it is an excellent idea to purchase a filter which is rated for a slightly larger tank than the one you will be filtering. Overfiltered tanks can accommodate more fish, but more importantly, they are also a great deal cleaner than tanks which are just filtered enough. You can never have too much filtration on a tank, and you can't get a better filter than an Eheim, so make the leap today and enjoy how quiet and powerful they are.

After having to keep my fish in a separate room for months on end, my boyfriend only agreed to put a tank in the lounge when he heard the Eheim running for the first time. Seriously, they have to be seen to be believed.