I love my Eheim 2215 canister filter. It is quiet and provides excellent bio-filtration and physical filtration. The Eheim canister filters often get a bad reputation for being expensive, but as far as canister filters go, they are one of the least expensive filters available. Many people in the US do not like them because of their low flow but that is a matter of preference. The lack of media baskets is a possitive in one respect but a negative in another. The absence of media baskets allow the user to control the amount of each kind of media that is placed in the canister, however on the flip side, this does make cleaning a longer process that takes more work. Overall this is a great canister filter that I would recommend for planted tank and high bioload fish keepers alike.

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Considering a Marine Aquarium? A Breakdown of the Components, Live Rock, Cycling a Marine Tank

"The capacity to learn is a gift; The ability to learn is a skill; The WILLINGNESS to learn is a choice." - Unknown

Top three canisters (no order)
1.FX5
2. Ehiem
3. Rena
All very good and worth the money!

From what I've heard these are some great canister filters.

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55g - 1 oscar and 1 red zebra
30g(planted) - 3 Trilineatus cories, 3 peppered cories, 1 female betta, 2 gold rasboras, and snails.
50g - 4 lethrinops intermedius
46g Hex - 2 black neon tetras, 3 bloodfin tetras, 3 blue tetras, 2 snakeskin gouramis, 3 Agassizi corys, 2 von rio tetras ,and 1 pleco

I find my Eheim very easy to clean.. Just dump the different media into a spagetti strainer, rinse with tank water, replace..

Quiet operation, decent flow rate.

See above for minor cons..

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75g - 20 cardinals : 7 panda cory : 5 Julii cory : 9 zebra danios : 1 CAE : 2 SAE : 2 yo-yos : 1 BN
25g: 5 long-finned zebra danios

I am here reviewing the mighty Eheim 2260, a huge filter that I have running on a 220 gallon freshwater tank. The 2260 competes directly with the Fluval FX5, and although I have not used the FX5 there are 2 points to consider when looking at these 2 huge filters. 1. The FX5 has a greater flow rate. 2. The 2260 has a greater media capacity. The 2260 has more than adequate flow for my use and the large media capacity ensures that it has great flexibility. There are no media trays but rather one large "bucket" in which to place the media. Although that could be considered to be a negative, I do not view it as such because I achieve mechanical filtration via the use of a sponge prefilter and therefore have the canister set up as a biofiltration device. There is literally no noise associated with the large pump that is atop the device. The pump is easily replaceable, thereby negating the need to tear down the entire unit should the pump fail, which it won't. Eheim makes outstanding filters and I have not experienced failure with any of their other canisters. I also make use of the Professional II line, which I will review separately. The 2260 is strongly recommended for use in large aquariums or in aquariums where media capacity is the key.

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8 tanks running now:
1x 220 gallon, 2x55 gallon, 1x40 gallon long, 1x29 gallon, 1x20 gallon long, 1x5.5 gallon, 1x2 gallon
Gouramis, barbs, rasboras, plecos, corys, tetras, fancy guppies, swordtails, ottos, rainbow shark, upside-down catfish, snails, and Max and Sparkles the bettas.

I have two 2217's on my 125 gallon tank. The water is super clean and clear. Cleaning is very easy, I do the same as Doug Z, wash the pads in old tank water and dump old tank water over the filter material in a plastic colander. Restarting is very easy if you follow the instructions. Just open the inlet valves and let the siphon fill the EMPTY filter. Watch the return hose for water coming out and plug it in. No need to clean it very often.

There is a good reason why this filter has stood the test of time.

Great Filter from a company that does not compromise quality for the sake of price.

Tim K

Eventhough I replaced my 30yro filter, it still works just fine. The only reason I replaced was to get a larger one...more flow rate

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Paul

Overall a GREAT filter. I wish I had switched over years ago. I only have 2 complains, first they use green plastic for the input and output lines which is hard to hide. Glass and clear plastic parts are available but expensive. It would also be nice if the units came with about twice as much tubing. Be prepared to use every inch you get if you plan to run the filter end-to-end in a big tank.

The basic setup doesn't use media baskets like some other filters. However, large media bags or even large cheesecloth bags can easily be used to contain media without a problem.

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75G Coldwater Setup (May 2011)
Angelfish Fry Development Project

I love my Eheim Filter. It is so quiet, so simple to use and has a very strong, classic case. The open cannister allows you to use whatever media you want, in whatever optimum quantities you desire, I use mechanical, substrate, carbon, phoslock and a sponge filter in mine and the performance is great. Very Reliable.

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75Gallon Freshwater 2 Angelfish, 4 Platys, 4 Flame Tetras 2 Anubias Nana, 2 Crinum Thaianum

I have had a couple of these and I am currently using the Eheim 2217. These things are very quiet and can hold a lot of media. I only clean mine about every 3 or 4 months. Some people I know go longer than that. It takes a while to figure out how to get it back together, with all the air out, after you are done cleaning it but once you get that mastered I think it is a very easy canister filter to use. And you should definitely get some kind of mesh media bags to use inside it. It makes cleaning it out much faster and easier and keeps things where they go. I use mine with an Eheim Pro on a 90 gallon corner bowfront tank.

I love the eheim i have the 2213 right now on a 46gal tank & i found when my tank was a community tank it worked great...on the down side when i changed my tank over to a goldfish tank i found this size filter to be to small to handle the load!
The best advice i have heard if you keep messy eaters or messy fish in general is to take the recommended tank size on the lable (the 2213 is rated for tanks up to 65gal) & divide that number in half & you have, what i think is a better idea of the ideal tank size for that filter.
so 65/2=32...so the 2213 would be great on a smaller tank!

my plan is to upgrade to the 2217 which is listed for a tank up to 160gal! I am sure this will keep my water crystal clear!!!

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How To Do Fish Surgery
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?t=74480
When 'How to do Fish Surgery' gets 1000 views do I get a prize?!!!

I own 6 tanks of varying sizes. 5 of the tanks are filtered thru Eheim filters, and yes, I love them.

I bought my 2217 simply because all the water goes through the media, it has no choice. All other filters I have owned, seem to by pass loads and try to make up for this with higher flow rates. The slower flow of eheim classics suit my sensitive fish. The media on my other filter used to collect loads of junk very quickly the eheim media just seems to go golden brown, I assume this is due to biological filtration working much better. I have also had leak issues with square filters, I trust this tried and trusted filter.

I've had an Eheim Classic 2213 for years and it works as well as it did the day I bought it. I can't really speak more highly of Eheim products. They are expensive but worth their price. I don't think I would buy anything else. There is a reason they are professional standard. The build quality is superb.

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"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." Carl Sagan