I must say that 10 years ago when I couldnt afford Eheim external filters, I thought the world of them and always wanted one.
When I set my new tank up, I bought an Eheim 4ft tank which came as a set and had an Eheim filter along with it and presumed that I would be sorted!
It had an Eheim 2222 External Cannister filer which looked great but for some reason had a tiny amount of filter material in it and a gap at the bottom about the same volume as the pads that came with it!
I soon found out that on its own it couldnt cope and through a long series of trial and error have replaced it with a Tetratec External filter.
I had the following in the tank:
Eheim 2222
Eheim Ecco 2212 internal (700 ltrs p/hour)
Aqua One Internal (1200ltrs p/hour)
I found that with my fish I had to do a waterchange every 2-3 days of about 50%. The test kit I had was reading safe but the water looked horrible and there were huge algae blooms and I had to keep cleaning the glass every 3 days.
What I have running now:
Tetratec EX1200 external (running in)
Eheim 2222 External
Eheim 2212 Eco Internal
I ran it for a week, with crystal clear water. The tests came up perfect!
I did a waterchange as I though it would be a good day to do it. The Tetratec was brand new so basically there wasnt much bio happening yet but still the water was sparkling.
With the eheim I had loads of crap floating around... the water would yellow within a day (I do have bog wood but it wasnt just that). With the tetratec, I have clean, clear water. No floating material even within a minute or two of the oscars spitting out most of it after eating.
I think that perhaps Eheim is over-rated... or the other companies have learned and are putting out great products. Definately try one of these products... they cheap and work brilliantly, with realy quality rubbers.
When I set my new tank up, I bought an Eheim 4ft tank which came as a set and had an Eheim filter along with it and presumed that I would be sorted!
It had an Eheim 2222 External Cannister filer which looked great but for some reason had a tiny amount of filter material in it and a gap at the bottom about the same volume as the pads that came with it!
I soon found out that on its own it couldnt cope and through a long series of trial and error have replaced it with a Tetratec External filter.
I had the following in the tank:
Eheim 2222
Eheim Ecco 2212 internal (700 ltrs p/hour)
Aqua One Internal (1200ltrs p/hour)
I found that with my fish I had to do a waterchange every 2-3 days of about 50%. The test kit I had was reading safe but the water looked horrible and there were huge algae blooms and I had to keep cleaning the glass every 3 days.
What I have running now:
Tetratec EX1200 external (running in)
Eheim 2222 External
Eheim 2212 Eco Internal
I ran it for a week, with crystal clear water. The tests came up perfect!
I did a waterchange as I though it would be a good day to do it. The Tetratec was brand new so basically there wasnt much bio happening yet but still the water was sparkling.
With the eheim I had loads of crap floating around... the water would yellow within a day (I do have bog wood but it wasnt just that). With the tetratec, I have clean, clear water. No floating material even within a minute or two of the oscars spitting out most of it after eating.
I think that perhaps Eheim is over-rated... or the other companies have learned and are putting out great products. Definately try one of these products... they cheap and work brilliantly, with realy quality rubbers.