Eheim 2215 quality? (2013-2014)

I love Fluval's canisters. I used to have a 106 which was awesome and really quiet and kept my water crystal clear. I eventually upgraded to a Fluval G3 which I love even more, it is hands down the easiest canister to clean because you can just open it right up and clean the mechanical filter and swap out a bag of purigen without disconnecting any tubes or needing a second person. I also love Fluval's quick disconnect mechanisms (they call them Aquastop) which make it easy to disconnect hoses without dripping, and every Fluval canister I've ever had is super easy to prime with one or to presses or pulls on a level depending on the model. I've also never had any of the parts fail on me, even the stuff that I expected to be fiddly like the quick disconnect valves have given me years of reliable service.

I'm sure Eheims are super reliable but I think there is a bit of a downside to keeping the same basic design for so long because they miss out on some of the nice features that other manufacturers like Fluval have added over time.

To answer your other questions, I don't think any decent canister is going to have a leaking issue, I've never had one leak before and I'd be really surprised if it did. You can cut down the intake length on the Fluval if you need it to be shorter and they can take any normal 5/8" I.D. hose that you choose to use if you want to replace it. I replaced the hose on my 106 because, yes, they're very ugly and clear tubing looks great if you're using lily pipes like I do. When I got the G3 I decided to keep its hosing because even though the grey hosing is still a little ugly, the hose it came with is way easier to work with than any flexible hose I've used before.

I've got 3 2213's and a 2013 ( the 2213's predecessor) . Having read , on 'user reviews' on vendor sites before of the Eheim's being ' cheapened' , figured I'd check this statement out . So I went down into the basement and disconnected the 2013 ( Made in West Germany on the top cover) and the newest 2213 , bought from Big Al's in the last year , made who knows where ; and measured the thickness of the canister plastic in several places on both . It's the same . Wattage is the same , o-rings and canisters are the same . The only difference I can see is the 2013 is rated 390 l./hr. and the 2213 ,440 . Essentially they're the same .

Priming is much ado about nothing .... you should only have to prime a Classic once . Start with an empty canister , open the intake double taps , open the output double taps and separate them . Give a quick suck on the output hose coming from the canister to get a siphon started , you should see water coming down the intake tube and into the canister . Reconnect the output double tap . Wait until bubbles stop coming out of the spray bar and then start the filter . Done .
Next time , turn off all the taps , turn off the filter , split the double taps remove filter body , do whatever cleaning you want , reconnect everything,
let the canister refill ( the intake tap will maintain the siphon when shut off )
and start it up .

Never had an Eheim leak. Got one running continuously at least 10 years
couple more at least 5 . They just work .

Parts are all over that auction site , ThatPetPlace , the Dr's. , Big Al's, and my lfs's . Never needed the warranty .

Can't say anything about Fluval , never had one . Eheim media ( the balls and tubes ) are reusable ... probably infinitely . If you use the blue coarse pad , it'll eventually need replacing , maybe every 4 or 6 cleanings . The white pads will last maybe 2 cleanings . I clean the filters maybe every 6 months . I keep the ceramic media in mesh bags and just remove the bags and rinse them in tank water , replace them and I'm done . I don't use either filter pad . The 2215's don't have media baskets , the stuff just pours into the canisters so mesh bags are real helpful when cleaning . It takes me maybe 15 min/filter for the whole cleaning . I've got 6 running (3 2213 , 2 2215 , 1 2013 ) so figure 2 hours twice a year for cleaning . The only thing to be careful with is to be sure the canister seal is in position .
Eheim Classic setups are easy , there's a bunch of YouTube videos out there that will help .

Just out of curoisity , what do you have in your tank that creates that much mess ? Goldfish , big cichlids , a turtle? My 4 20L's are pretty well planted and have maybe a dozen or 18 1 1/2-2" fish , killies or emperor tetras . Heavy waste gets siphoned off the bottom every month or 6 weeks . Usually there's not much . Eheims , and I guess Fluval , Filstar , and other canister filters are primarily biological filters with lots of ceramic media for bacterial colonization,
and are only secondarily particulate filters . There's a lot of room inside a 2215 canister for media , it's around 6" dia. and 11" high , probably more than most HOB's .

Never tried Matrix .Don't know anything about it .

Maybe in your case bigger/another HOB might be the answer . I don't know ... it just seems you've got a whole lot of water in motion already .