Review on EHEIM Professional 3 Thermofilter 2180: Powerful External Canister for Large Aquariums up to 317 US-Gallon Capacity by Kevin Cota

Just received the Eheim Pro 3 2180, the setup looked very complicated at first and it was a bit difficult to follow the instructions at first. With all the parts assembled, the next task was to fill the filter. Let me give you some tips that I thought worked. This filter has 2 air inlets, one I placed next to the filter (at one end of my 250 gallon aquarium) and the other at the other end. The one closest to the tank filled up with no problem, but I had time to move the farthest one so it was constantly flowing with no air in the hoses. What I did was turn off the flow lever, fill the real canister with water and recap, keep filling the tubes with water, turn on the flow lever and plug it in. . I had to constantly fill and refill the tube but it worked in the end. I didn't use the start button much. To be honest it didn't help at all after several hours of trying. By filling the canister and continuing to fill the tube. Turning on the filter and opening the valves did the trick. I don't even hear the filter, the output is strong, it produces a good current. I'm using this on a 250 gallon tank and the built in filter heater seems to be 1-2 degrees over the temp. In addition to heating the filters, I added 2 eheim 300 watt heaters at each end of my 6 foot aquarium. I installed another temperature sensor. I set the heaters to 78 degrees Fahrenheit and set the Eheim filter to 78.8. According to my aquarium thermometer, we are stable between 77.5 and 78 degrees depending on night and day. After a week the water is crystal clear and the turtles are dirty animals. The only downside to the aquarium is the green tubes that come with the Eheim. Ugly! He works like a champ, highly recommended. I decided to get a Cadillac with a filter and I'm glad I paid the extra money for it. This makes maintenance much easier.