OASE Indoor Aquatics Biomaster Thermo 250

This is my first external canister-type aquarium filter and I'm very happy with my purchase. Going from a 10 gallon tank with various hanging filters (Tetra, Fluval, Marineland) to a larger (50? gallon) tank with a red-eared slider was a big difference for me. Turtles are very very messy, so I knew I had to make the change when putting him into a bigger tank. I was nervous at first but now that I've had this for several months, I am comfortable with disassembly for routine cleaning. About 3 months into use, it started getting louder and louder. After ruling out air in the lines, I figured it had to be the impeller, but getting to it requires removing a housing that was impossible for me. Cleaning the impeller is part of routine maintenance so I knew it was not only possible but necessary- I just couldn't get to it. My hubby had to use the provided tool along with a little man-handling. Now that it's been removed once, I am able to to do it myself from now on, but it was just that first-time I couldn't untighten its cover. Again, I'm very happy with my purchase as it is quite easy to clean (now that my husband has loosened all the fittings) and it keeps the water super clear. It doesn't leak, is completely silent (when maintained properly), and is pretty straightforward to setup and maintain. The only criticism I have is that there's no indicator for the heater - there's no light that it's on and working, and even if there was a light you wouldn't be able to see it since it's internal. So your only indication of a burned out heater would be cold water. This hasn't happened yet but is something I think about.

This is the second Oase Biomaster thermo filter I have purchased. They are very well made and provide a large media capacity to fill with your choice of media. The internal pre-filter is a fantastic feature - super easy to remove and clean without disrupting the whole filter. Intake and outflow allow for adjustability with the flow to help fine tune your tank. They are extremely quite with no real noticeable noise. The internal heater is another feature that sets this filter apart from the others. I've used many other brands and some of them are great, but none of them have the features the Oase do or are as easy to use.

Buen filtro es el segundo que compro, pero el flujo reduce considerablemente, no pretenda mover 4-5 veces el volumen del acuario, fue diseñado para filtración qué debe ser hasta 4 veces el litraje del acuario, considere el más potente mientras le permita el bolsillo pemro también su gasto de luz. Y mas ruido entre mas potente...!!!

Al año dejo de funcionar correctamente. Gotea por la parte de la tapa.

I LOVE IT! I've been using two of these Thermo 250's on my freshwater 55 gal, for 3 weeks+ now. The Thermo 250 cost a lil more than most canister filters, but has 2 great features that make it worth the extra price. 1: It comes with a built in heater which is great, because that's less clutter in your aquarium. 2: It has a pre-filter on the intake that can be pulled out and cleaned separately, so you don't have to always clean the whole canister, and you can keep that good bacteria growing in the main filter trays. 3: It comes with 4 trays to add media too. 4: It's super quiet, my 60 gal rated air pump is louder then both of my 250Ts combined, and the air pump really quiet. I have not had to do any maintenance in my first month of running and the water flow is still very strong in my heavily fish stocked/planted aquarium. I have to be honest though; I'm only using the coarse circular intake filter pads that came with it, because I upgraded just about everything else. I also added jardli glass water intake and glass water outtake for that kool less clutter look. This is because I did some serious research on the net and good ol youtube. After a long search on all types of aquarium filters ie.. hang on back, canister, sponge, under gravel and sup, I came across this Thermo 250 Canister from Oase. Now just about all if not every youtube video on it was from a none english speaking country. Then I seen this random video that said "pimpmyfilter". I clicked on it and some British guy named the "pondguru" was giving a demonstration on how to make the Thermo 600 model more efficient. After watching that video I was completely hooked/sold on his way of making the Thermo Canister filter more efficient. I didn't do the drilling though, cause it doesn't seem to be needed, the water flow is still very strong. With that being said I can't give an honest opinion on how good the filter media is that came with it like the meduim and fine pads and the ceramic balls. Because, I pimped out both of my Thermo 250s from start. I am using the original black fine pads for the prefilter, because they work the best for trapping muck and not letting it through to the main filter. No matter what type of filter you get whether it's this one or another model or brand, I highly highly recommend that you go on YouTube and type "pimpmy(filter name here)filter" ie pimpmyoasethermofilter, pimpmyfluvalfilter, pimpmywhateverfilter. I promise you that that will be the most helpful thing you ever did when it comes to searching for and aquarium filter. No-one on the internet that I've seen is doing anything remotely close to what that guy does to aquarium fliters. He didn't pay me or ask me to promote his channel. He'll probably never know that I'm promoting his work. I'm just giving him mad props because he deserves it. Watch and see, and I bet you'll come back looking for this review to say that it really helped you.