EHEIM Professional 3e 2078 External Electronic Canister Filter for up to 185 US Gallons

Both excellent filters. Eheims, while expensive, consistantly outlast my other filters and are always quiet. The 2078 is fairly new to the US Market (in 2007). Oddly it has a higher flow rating (1850 l/hr) than others with larger numbers in the same Eheim IIIe family, the 2080 (1700 l/hr) - an odd thing to make note of when comparing prices. I run this 2078 along side a fluval 505 and I look forward to comparing them side by side over time. This is the 2nd 2078 I own - my primary tank is 450 gallons. The reason I waited to find the 2078 rather than others was the electronic flow control - measures and increases pump effort to maintain a constant flow rate as the filter fills up with debris over time. Combined with the indication of next required cleaning, this should significantly increase the accurate times between filter maintenance intervals.I already own several Eheims - one 2217 for over 20 years.6 month update.I've had both the Fluval and the Eheim 2078 running together for 6 months now. So far, my experience comparing the two is that the Fluval is slightly easier to clean (the bottom drain makes it simpler to empty the filter to carry it to a sink; the eheim isn't as heavy as the full fluval but the empty one is easy). The eheim is consistantly quieter - the fluval sometimes has a whine to it, particularly as it starts getting full. I do like the huge volume of sponge material in the fluval in addition to the other media. I really like the eheim's ability to increase it's pump flow to keep a constant rate as it fills up with more material. While we probably won't do this regularly, we've tried to run them until their output drops to a low amount. The Fluval does so after a month or so whereas the Eheim went 3 months and even then we only cleaned it as we thought we should - the flow hadn't dropped significantly. This isn't a full fair test though as our eheim doesn't have the volume of cloggable sponge media that the fluval has. Overall I am so far very pleased with both, with noise of the Fluval being my only complaint on either.5 year update.It has been 5 years since I wrote the first review on the Eheim 2078 versus my Fluval FX-5. Since then I have purchased 4 more FX-5's and 2 more 2078. Together they were managing 1400 gallons across three tanks. My experiuences and opinions noted earlier/above have not drastically changed however I have to note that the slight noise/vibration noted in the FX5 seems to have been unique to that pone unit as I've not had the problem on the others although all were purchased new. Also, over the corse of the 5 years I did break the priming handle on one of the 2078's but Eheim Canada (I am in the US) was excellent and quick to send me the parts and photos to repair it (very easy and my choice - they offerred to replace but would have taken longer). I have since migrated the system to a single, large, 1600 gallon system running off of a pond filter (identical in concept and similar in design to a pool filter) and a Pentair pump. This was done in order to reduce maintenance effort (a cleaning of this one filter is a case of just back flushing through a valve change) and energy savings (the collective size of the aquariums is much more efficiently run by one large pool pump rather than the multiple filter pumps) even with the added cost of the AquaUV ultraviolet filters I added to reduce that chance of cross tank parasite contamination. I have since sold or given a couiple of the FX5's awway and their new users love them. I still have the rest for backup / temporary use and still highly recommend both the Eheim and the FX5 with their respective differences.Last note - across this 5 year period I also tried two different Via Aqua large filters. They were absolute CRAP and both failed fairly quickly with leaks aned cracks. They were a wonderful foil to the Eheim and the FX5 as they illustrated beautifully the much better design of the Eheim and FX5s - from both an operational and maintenance perspective - and, of course, from a quality of manufacture perspective. Run quickly AWAY from any AquaVia filter and investigate the MUCH better Eheim (expensive) and Fluval FX5 (less expensive) units with their respective benefits noted above.

7/12/15I've gone through a lot of bad filters. After my last Fluvial bit the dust (went through three 406’s in 2 years), I bought an Eheim Classic 2217. It’s been running on a 75 gallon fancy goldfish tank for four years (quiet, excellent filtration, never had a problem).I'm in the process of upgrading to a 125 gallon for fancy goldfish so I needed a second filter. I've read so many forums, visited aquarist shops, all the reviews. Everyone keeps pointing to the Eheim Pro 2078. The first one I got was missing part of the power cord so the seller overnighted a new one before I'd even had a chance to return the old one (AWESOME service).The instructions are lame, but this filer was so intuitive to set up that I didn't need them. I've had it running for about a week on my old tank to get the bacteria cooking. This thing is powerful and QUIET. My air pump sounds like a diesel truck in comparison. Put your ear up against it...can't hear a thing. It's super powerful. I've read some of the reviews that there wasn't much flow...either a defective filter or it wasn't set up correctly because this filter is a beast.It's super easy to adjust the flow pressure to accommodate the smaller tank and my water has never looked more pristine. I'll report back in a few weeks after the new tank is set up.Downside - doesn't come with media (sold separately). If you buy at an aquarium shop, the canister costs more but the media is included so it may have been about $50 less expensive to buy local, but, come on, I buy almost everything on Amazon.9/8/15Figured I'd update on this. I LOVE THIS FILTER. It's still going strong. Completely silent, maintains pressure, crystal clear water. I have 125 gallons fancy gold and teamed the 2078 with an Eheim class 2217 and my water has never been as good. I've never been as happy with a filter.

Very happy to receive a Eheim Profesionnal 5e 700 2178. Both filters are similar except that Wifi is included with 5e. Pro 3e needs an optionnal USB cable and transmitter. So I received the best model and I am really happy.I have a Pro 3e since 10 years and I know that Eheim filters are the best ones.Only concern, user manual is really really cheap.

Good filter, quiet but heavy when it's filled with media and water. A shut off on the intake side should be standard so you can empty it pior to picking it up and cleaning it. The programmable features are actually quite useful.