Which Canister Filter should I purchase

[smitty]

I think that you made a very good choice. It will take some serious doing to convince me not to buy an Eheim. The spray can go below the water level, just under the water level to create current, or even just above the current. Watch out for water splatter and spraying. I will try and post a link on how I place mine.

 

[Lnelms2]

I have a couple eheims and a couple fluval fx5's. Any canister filter will work as long as you keep up on the maintenance.

 

[Narwhal72]

I would go for one of the new Aqueon Canister filters. But I am a little biased!

 

[apastuszak]

I have a Fluval 305 and an Eheim 2215. I like the design of the Eheim 2215 better, since it does a great job of eliminating bypass. But the 306 is SO MUCH easier to do maintenance on. All the media is stored in baskets. The Aquastop value makes it disgustingly easy to disconnect the filter and reconnect it.

Here is my pro-con list

PROS

Eheim Classic

• Virtually no bypass
• Comes with a spray bar
• Very flexible media, since it's just a big open tube. You can stick anything in there.

Fluval x05/x06 Series

• Aquastop valve makes disconnects/reconnects really easy
• Ribbed tubing will not kink
• Media baskets make removing and adding media easy
• Lid comes over pretty easily
• Easy priming with separate priming valve
• Not made in China

CONS

Eheim Classic

• No media baskets makes it kind of hard to easily change media (can be fixed by using media bags)
  
• The shutoff valves are OK, but they're annoying to use. You're going to need a towel when you disconnect them.
• The hose can kink easily if not careful
• Priming it is a PITA.
• Made in China

Fluval x05/x06 Series

• The filter supposedly has bypass issues
• Does not come with a spray bar, and Fluval doesn't make one you can add on
• I have a 305 and have issues starting it back up. Usually have to plug it and unplug it a few time and then burp it to get it going with a good flow.

 

[jcarson]

I just bought a filstar xp which has pretty good size baskets and the size I bought has 4.
Its a new tank but so far I like it.

 

[the loach]

For me as long as Eheim is on the market, no other filter gets considered, unless it is a gigantic steal. I don't care what anyone says. The Eheim quality is unsurpassed. I have been running some of the same filters for over 20 years with no problems.

I have been using some Eheim filters for over 30 years now, without problems. BUT..... those are the classic filters, the 20xx/22xx series. I have some of the newer models and while less messy to open up, they are clearly not as solid and sturdy as the "classics"(the only model they had back then). Stuff easily breaks off, they have replacement parts, but for the price you can almost buy a new cheap filter for...