What External Filter For Rio 180?

[Christoff]

Would appreciate anyone's thoughts on what eheim external I should get for my rio 180? I'm going to be stocking dwarf rainbows and a few others. Eheim 2217? Or is the 2075 worth the additional cost? Or is that overkill for a 180 litre tank? Or should I look at another brand? I'm a little overwhelmed with all the options!

 

[the biffster]

Eheim nice filter but i find a bit
on the pricey side i would go for
one of the bigger fluval 305 or 404
as they normally come with all the
media and sponges there easy to
maintain but that's only what i think

 

[raptorrex]

Would appreciate anyone's thoughts on what eheim external I should get for my rio 180? I'm going to be stocking dwarf rainbows and a few others. Eheim 2217? Or is the 2075 worth the additional cost? Or is that overkill for a 180 litre tank? Or should I look at another brand? I'm a little overwhelmed with all the options!

neither is any good. from Eheim, the minimum i would use is a PRO 2, 2028.(probably 2) in truth i would consider a pro3 2080 as ideal.

 

[Always Learning]

Why do you say that then?

Either of the two you mentioned would be fine for your tank and an improvement over the stock internal. You can even pick up the FX5 on Ebay for £140 brand new if you wanted to cover yourself a little for the future, but don't forget you need to take into account the size of the filters. If you want it hidden away in the cabinet, then your options are a little more limited, so research each one properly before making that mistake.

 

[RadaR]

Both the 2075 and 2217 are good choices. If you were to have large fish then I'd be tempted to go larger.

 

[T1KARMANN]

go for a 2076 or a 2078 they have electronic flow adjuster so you can slow the flow down to what you want

don't bother with a 2217 they were good in their day but a lot has change since that design

get the best filter you can with the money you have don't try to cut corners as the filter is the most important part of your set up its the kidney of the system

 

[raptorrex]

Why do you say that then?

Either of the two you mentioned would be fine for your tank and an improvement over the stock internal. You can even pick up the FX5 on Ebay for £140 brand new if you wanted to cover yourself a little for the future, but don't forget you need to take into account the size of the filters. If you want it hidden away in the cabinet, then your options are a little more limited, so research each one properly before making that mistake.

2017/13 flow far to little for a 180l tank. as others, here, have suggested. 2013/17 are good for tanks up to 35-50l respectively.

 

[Christoff]

Thanks for your thoughts all. Do any of them vary in noise levels? Tank is going to be in my living room and to keep the wife happy it needs to be as quiet as possible.

 

[T1KARMANN]

Thanks for your thoughts all. Do any of them vary in noise levels? Tank is going to be in my living room and to keep the wife happy it needs to be as quiet as possible.

buy the eheim 2076 i had a 2078 which was the larger version

it was a great filter with auto prime and everything easy to use easy to clean no fuss

the problem with the old 2213 or 2217 is they can be a pain to clean and prime also if you don't get the rubber sealing ring in the right place you flood the place

also the 2076 has a much longer change time a 2213 2217 would probably need to be cleaned every 4-8 weeks due to the way the media is packed

a 2076 is a much newer design and all i had to do was wash the blue pre filter on the top and change the white pad every 6 months

spend the extra money on the 2076 and you will have more time to look at the tank and not looking after it and hoping you don't flood the place every time you change the 2213 or 2217

 

[hamfist]

spend the extra money on the 2076 and you will have more time to look at the tank and not looking after it and hoping you don't flood the place every time you change the 2213 or 2217

Blimey. You must be doing something wrong with your Eheim classics then.

They are still fine, fine filters. Nothing has really changed in filtration. It's still a case of passing water through media. The Eheim classics do that very effectively and are astoundingly long-lived. Yes, they are a tiny bit more awkward to clean the media and get started than some of the more modern ones out there, but anyone with an IQ over 70 should really not be having a problem with it.
I use the classics exclusively. They are quiet and never let me down.

As to the OP's original quaestion, the key response has to be whether it is to be in addition to the Rio 180's internal filter (which is not a bad filter at all) or as replacement. Personally, I would go for an addition, rather than replacement.
If as an addition, then I think a classic 2215 would be just fine. If as replacement then I'd go for a 2217.

I run a 2217 and a 2215 on my 300 litre (which is fairly heavily stocked with cichlids) and they are a good balance for the tank volume.

 

[OldMan47]

I am totally clueless about the Eheim product line Christoff. I use lots of other brands but in the US the Eheim product line is just too expensive to warrant serious consideration. In my own case I would be using a Rena XP2 for a tank that size. They are reliable, silent and can be had for much less cash than a comparable capacity Eheim, at least that is true here. They are also easy as can be to clean and are auto priming once they are set up.

 

[T1KARMANN]

spend the extra money on the 2076 and you will have more time to look at the tank and not looking after it and hoping you don't flood the place every time you change the 2213 or 2217

Blimey. You must be doing something wrong with your Eheim classics then.

They are still fine, fine filters. Nothing has really changed in filtration. It's still a case of passing water through media. The Eheim classics do that very effectively and are astoundingly long-lived. Yes, they are a tiny bit more awkward to clean the media and get started than some of the more modern ones out there, but anyone with an IQ over 70 should really not be having a problem with it.
I use the classics exclusively. They are quiet and never let me down.

As to the OP's original quaestion, the key response has to be whether it is to be in addition to the Rio 180's internal filter (which is not a bad filter at all) or as replacement. Personally, I would go for an addition, rather than replacement.
If as an addition, then I think a classic 2215 would be just fine. If as replacement then I'd go for a 2217.

I run a 2217 and a 2215 on my 300 litre (which is fairly heavily stocked with cichlids) and they are a good balance for the tank volume.

the 2213-2217 are so old and out of date things have moved on so much since the day of putting media in socks theirs a new invention called a media tray

or you could buy a 20 year old mobile phone and get a van to carry it around it may work great but whats the point when you can buy one that fits in your pocket

its much like buying a new 30 year old car without all the new things that come on new cars like air bags

i am not saying the 221 filters were not good in their day but so was under gravel filters they were also good in their day

i cant see why anyone would buy a new filter with 20 year old design when you can buy any pro eheim which is much better

 

[Christoff]

As to the OP's original quaestion, the key response has to be whether it is to be in addition to the Rio 180's internal filter (which is not a bad filter at all) or as replacement. Personally, I would go for an addition, rather than replacement.
If as an addition, then I think a classic 2215 would be just fine. If as replacement then I'd go for a 2217.

I'll be replacing the internal to add a bit of space and for aesthetic reasons. And because most posts here seem to recommend doing so!

I am totally clueless about the Eheim product line Christoff. I use lots of other brands but in the US the Eheim product line is just too expensive to warrant serious consideration. In my own case I would be using a Rena XP2 for a tank that size. They are reliable, silent and can be had for much less cash than a comparable capacity Eheim, at least that is true here. They are also easy as can be to clean and are auto priming once they are set up.

Had the XP2 down as a possible on my list. Will explore the differences. Suppose my main consideration is whether they're audible. The eheim 2076 looks tempting but it is expensive!

I'm also going to need to look into an in line heater, but that's a different thread! Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[hamfist]

the 2213-2217 are so old and out of date things have moved on so much since the day of putting media in socks theirs a new invention called a media tray

or you could buy a 20 year old mobile phone and get a van to carry it around it may work great but whats the point when you can buy one that fits in your pocket

its much like buying a new 30 year old car without all the new things that come on new cars like air bags

i am not saying the 221 filters were not good in their day but so was under gravel filters they were also good in their day

i cant see why anyone would buy a new filter with 20 year old design when you can buy any pro eheim which is much better

It's not exactly "fact" that media trays are better than not having them. Yes, they do make rinsing the media rather easier, but they also take up significant amounts of room. In a 2217, for example, in it's 6 litre canister, you can actually fit a genuine 6 litres of media (with NO bypass !). If a media tray system was employed, then that media volume would go down to somewhere between 4 and 5 litres I'd guess. So thats a significant reduction.
Your analogy with mobile phones is actually very poor, because the Eheim classics are no bigger than more modern designs. In fact for the same flow rate and media volume the clessics are actually physically SMALLER.

So why should anyone consider buying a 2217 as opposed to a 2076 ? Hmmm, well they have the same media volume capacity. The 2076 does have a higher flow rate. BUT, lets look at the price .... gulp, the 2076 is more than twice the price. Two 2217's would still be cheaper than a 2076 and would provide way better filtration, with higher overall flow rate and 12 litres of available media compared to the 6.6 litres of the 2076.

If you're looking for neatness, an all-in-one solution and ease of use then a modern design is more likely to give you that. If you are looking for simplicity, reliability and value for money then a classic will be better.

There really are two sides to this story.

 

[T1KARMANN]

your right their are to sides to the story

i used 2 x 2217s on my tank for years before the eheim pros came on to the market

the classics have some very bad points that i used to have

1. the double taps are a pain and you need to add them to the price of the filter
2. the rubber sealing ring is sometimes hard to get right
3. the rubbish metal clips on the side are rubbish
4. if you get air stuck i can take ages of moving it around before it starts to run silent
5. the rubbish flimsy intake connection on the bottom of the classic can start to leak after time
6. the classics were designed to use carbon in socks they were made before efisubstrate was made

now the media amounts of the eheim pros is worked out AFTER the trays are taken into account

the pro filters got rid of most of the problems

if you don't have the money for a 2076 then buy any of the eheim pros they are great filters and by far better than the classics

this is from someone who has run eheim classics for 10 years and also the eheim pros for 10 years

i have run all of the pros and all of the classics