Eheim Classic Canister Filter 2025 Review

Eheim Classic Canister Filter 2025 Review

One of the most respected producers of aquarium products is Eheim.

I’ve been thinking about buying the filter that is talked about so much online for a long time. Finally, I decided to get it.

I’ve been using it in my aquarium for about a year. This long period allowed me to create an honest review.

I’ll write about what I like and don’t like about this filter and who it’s suitable for.

Review Overview

Anyone looking for simplicity should choose this filter. The construction of this filter is very simple.

It’s perfect as a pre-filter for larger fishtanks and a good filter for fishtanks under 50 gallons. It’s very compact, making it easy to hide under a cabinet.

I must point out here that the manufacturer forces us to buy many additional accessories.

There are very few mechanical media included in the set. The biggest drawback is the lack of a quick connect valves in the kit.

I’ve written more about this below.

Eheim Classic Canister Filter

How I tested the eheim classic canister filter?

After reading many posts, I decided to buy and test this filter.

Unboxing Eheim Canister Filter:

I wrote that I tested this filter, but I should have written that I’ve been using it for over a year.

This period allowed me to create many notes, photos, and a detailed review.

I installed this filter in a 50-gallon aquarium with denison barbs.

While gathering information about it, I took into account the following factors:

  • Installation
  • Priming
  • Performance
  • Maintenance
  • Noise

Eheim is the simplest and least complicated filter I’ve ever had.

Just from the contents of the kit, you can expect that everything will go smoothly.

The kit doesn’t have baskets or compartments.

For some, this might be a downside, and for others, it could be a plus.

In my case, it’s a downside, but I’ll explain more below.

What is included?

  • Canister
  • Motorhead
  • Spray bar
  • 2 plastic grates
  • Intake tube
  • Hoses
  • Reusable sponge
  • Carbon pad
  • Suction cups
  • Ceramic noodles

Installation

Installing the filter was very easy. This filter model is basically one big open canister where you place all the filter media. Other Eheim models come with baskets for different types of media.

A crucial point to note – this model doesn’t have those baskets. The absence of baskets makes arranging the media more challenging.

Using a large amount of biological media significantly reduces the filter flow. On the other hand, installing only sponges deprives us of the biological filter, which is essential in an aquarium.

In my opinion, Eheim works perfectly as a pre-filter. In this case, I placed one of the grates at the bottom, followed by filter media.

Then, I placed a blue reusable sponge, additional filter media, a carbon infused pad, and a thin sponge on top. Everything is covered with a second plastic grate.

The mechanical media quantity in the kit is very small. If you want to use Eheim just as a pre-filter, you’ll need to buy extra sponges.

The small amount of mechanical media in the kit causes biomedia to quickly accumulate gunk and algae. As mentioned earlier, this reduces the filter flow and may lead to clogging.

The hoses provided in the kit were very soft, easy to cut even with small scissors. There was no issue manipulating the hoses during aquarium setup.

The filter is relatively tall, so it’s essential to check if it fits under the cabinet. My aquarium is on an old desk where I don’t have a cabinet.

Hose installation was straightforward, taking less than 30 minutes.

At that time, I didn’t know that something was missing from this filter. Only after several weeks of use did I realize that cleaning it would be complicated.

Why? Because I can’t disassemble the filter without removing the hoses. Here, I write a crucial point! When choosing this filter, you must buy two quick connect valves.

If you don’t have quick connect valves for the hoses, it’s a disaster. I made a mistake by initially buying only one quick connect valve. However, you need two quick connect valves.

The two quick connect valve must be on both the inlet and outlet hoses. Otherwise, maintaining the filter cleanliness will be very difficult. This, of course, is an additional cost for user.

The inlet and outlet of the filter and hoses are green, which may not suit everyone. If you have an aquarium with a lot of plants, I think the green elements will blend in with the tank’s overall arrangement.

The included suction cups ensure a strong attachment to the tank’s interior. The inlet and outlet elements are curved but fit perfectly into the tank.

Quick connect valves are very easy to install. Just slide the hose 15 cm from both the inlet and outlet of the filter. One end of the quick connect valve connects to a short section of the hose, and the other end connects to a long one.

Quick connect valves provide easy disassembly of the filter. You can quickly shut off the water supply and unscrew the center of the quick connect.

quick connect valves Eheim Classic

Priming

Priming this Eheim looks a bit different and somewhat funny, but it’s certainly effective.

You should know that the inlet hose is located at the top of the motorhead, while the outlet is at the bottom in the canister.

My priming looked like this: I connected the inlet and outlet hoses. I already installed the inlet hose in its place in the aquarium.

Before installing the outlet hose, I vigorously sucked air through it, causing water to start flowing into the canister.

If you also buy a quick connect valve, the priming process will be even easier. Just open the outlet valve, suck in air, and connect the drainage hose.

When you stop hearing gurgling, plug in the filter. The filter should start working right away.

Performance

The water clarity in the aquarium while using the filter was excellent. The tank is not densely covered with plants, but it has quite a large stock – 10 Tiger barbs, 10 Denison barbs, 1 Clown loach, 1 Red Tail Shark.

Although I had some algae issues in the aquarium for a while, the water parameters were generally correct.

The manufacturer declares that this filter can be used for tanks with a capacity of up to 92 gallons, with a flow rate of 164 GPH.

From my measurements, it turns out the filter can pump out just under 100 GPH. I presume that if the filter had only sponges, achieving 164 GPH is entirely possible.

Due to the lower GPH, I believe the filter is suitable for aquariums with much smaller capacities, perhaps no more than 50 gallons.

In smaller tanks, Eheim will handle water filtration and maintain the right parameters.

For larger tanks, Eheim will work better as a pre-filter to catch unnecessary waste from the water.

Eheim Classic lock

Maintenance

Maintaining this filter is very simple as long as you have quick connect valves.

After closing the water outflow using valves, disconnect the quick connect valves.

Then, you can move the entire canister to the place where you want to clean it.

I moved it to the bathtub and unscrewed the top, and then the bottom hose valve, so that water could quickly drain out.

Remember to point the bottom valve towards the bathtub drain.

Next, just pop the motorhead from the top.

The motorhead is usually tightly attached to the canister. You need to use quite a bit of force to remove it from canister.

It may seem that the lack of baskets will make it difficult to clean, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Just remove the top grate and sequentially take out the filter media.

It’s helpful to have biological filter media in mesh bags, as it makes filter maintenance much easier. I didn’t have it the first time, which made it a bit more challenging.

I rinsed all the sponges in water drained from the aquarium. Similarly, I rinsed the remaining media that I put into the filter.

After washing all the sponges and biomedia, I put everything back into the canister.

I connected the hoses, and it was ready. The cleaning took me only 30 minutes.

Noise

I think Eheim is quiet. From my measurements, it came out to be 54.0 decibels.

However, I would like to point out that my filter was under the aquarium where there are no doors. So, the sound spreads throughout the room easily. When the room is very quiet, you can hear a light hum. For me, it’s acceptable.

Although a filter that runs even quieter is the Oase Biomaster, but I’ll describe that in another article.

In general, if someone has an Eheim filter in a closed cabinet, they will get results even below 50 decibels.

Pros and Cons

Below I present my subjective pros and cons of this filter.

PROS 

  • Very quiet
  • Easy to set up
  • Easy to maintain if you have quick connect valves
  • Very good as a pre-filter
  • Suitable for aquariums below 50 gallons

CONS

  • Requires quick connect valves, which increases the price
  • No priming feature
  • Low gallons per hour (GPH)

How does Eheim Classic compare to other filters?

I took into account all the elements I wrote about earlier.

Installing this filter is very easy and much simpler than other filters I have had the pleasure of using before.

However, it must be admitted that the whole set is very poorly equipped.

The set does not have a quick connect valves, which is an essential element for proper filter maintenance.

The hoses can be easily cut—they are very soft and easy to adjust. This is much easier than dealing with Fluval hoses.

The kit has very few mechanical media. In this case, it significantly loses to the competition, such as Fluval, where there are a lot of reusable sponges in the kit that excellently catch gunk from the fishtank and keep biomedia cleaner.

Even though the filter flow is much lower than declared by the Eheim, it maintained very good water transparency.

I believe it is suitable for smaller aquariums with a capacity below 50, and even below 40 gallons. It should also be taken into account that it has limited capacity for biological media. A large amount of biological media may further reduce its flow.

If you want to use this filter for a large aquarium, I think it’s better to use a different filter or use this one as a pre-filter where you put only sponges.

It’s true that maintaining this filter is very easy and easier than other filters. While it doesn’t have baskets for media, I had absolutely no problems cleaning this filter.

The issue with cleaning this filter may only arise when there is no quick connect valves.

So if you want to filter a tank larger than 50 gallons, I think it’s better to use a different brand.

Who is the Eheim Classic Canister Filter Best For?

As I mentioned earlier, I think this filter will work best for aquariums under 50 gallons.

Even though it performed well in my aquarium, with a larger fish stock, maintaining water clarity might become a problem. If you have shrimp in the aquarium, I recommend using an additional filter.

It’s worth noting that if you want to add extra filter material, it’s not a problem to customize it to fit the canister filter by cutting a circle.

If you plan to use this filter in an aquarium larger than 50 gallons, it is better that it is not the main filter but a pre-filter. In this case, you can buy just filter sponges, which can also be purchased separately.

Of course, I recommend using mesh bags for filter media, which greatly facilitates maintenance. The first time I installed this filter, I didn’t have mesh bags, making it a bit harder to clean.

After a few weeks, I invested in mesh bags.

canister filter under aquarium

In conclusion

Eheim Canister Filter is an excellent choice for aquariums under 50 gallons, particularly as a pre-filter.

Its easy setup, quiet operation at 54.0 decibels, and user-friendly design make it a convenient option.

While it may not be suitable for extensive biological media, it excels in smaller setups.

I think the Eheim 2213 is one of the better and efficient models.

It may not be the fanciest, but it does a great job cleaning aquarium water.

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