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With the upcoming build of my 90 gallon aquarium, I have been using my 30 gallon tank as a bit of a testbed for exploring different filtration methods. Thus far I have implemented an under gravel and a homemade sump. Both have worked quite well. In this article, I will share the results of using the Eheim Ecco Pro canister filter.
For three decades I have turned to under gravel filters as my filtration method of choice. Though incredibly simple, I will always contend that, when properly set up, the under gravel filter is a fantastic choice.
The sump was not your traditional sump, it was made from a 5 gallon bucket. I posted details on it in this article. It took some fiddling to get it, but in the end, it did the job it was supposed to do and kept the water a lot more clean than the under gravel filter. However, the wife was not a fan of the running water noise it produced, so back to the drawing board.
While visiting my parents, I took a look at my father’s fish gear cabinet. There are things in there that have not been made in decades! It is a treasure trove, and in the corner of that pile, I spotted an Eheim Ecco Pro canister filter. I had found my next filter to test!
The hoses were missing and it was covered in thick, crusty, dust. My father did not know if it worked. I brought it home, disassembled it, and cleaned it up. When I first popped it open I was pleased to find it had three media compartments, which still contained Eheim’s glass beads. The Eheim Ecco Pro is a small canister, which gave me pause, 30 gallons is not a big tank, would this provide enough filtration?
The Ecco Pro is an outside-in filter, meaning that water comes into the canister around the outside of the media baskets. It is then sucked up from the bottom and through the middle of the media baskets. Water then gets pushed out the top via a return pump, and back into the tank.
With filtration, there are three components that go into every system: mechanical, biological, and chemical. Unless you are an advanced fish keeper, they should also go in that order. When I looked at the order in the Ecco Pro baskets, I noticed the biological filtration was before the mechanical. Not only that, but Eheim’s own manual also shows it that way! For an otherwise great product, this misinformation disappointed me. Not to worry though, the baskets are highly configurable. I simply swapped in some of my own filter floss and moved the biological filtration later in the stack.
The Ecco Pro has been running on the 30 gallon for a couple months (as of the writing of this article). The numbers on my water test kit are consistently on target. The pump is nearly silent and there is no water flow noise, a big plus for my wife. I was able to use some common hose that I picked up at the local hardware store for cheap.
Would I use a canister filter on the 90 gallon tank? Yes, but not an Ecco Pro. 30 gallons is the max I would consider using it on.
Do I recommend the Eheim Ecco Pro canister filter? Absolutely! It is a great unit, quiet and compact. The Eheim glass bio-media works well. Just make sure you put the mechanical filter in front of the biological or the biological media will gum up real fast and become ineffective.
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