The Professional External Filter series from Hydor is a class of next generation canister filters. The rectangular footprint of the Professional External Filter and tight fitting baskets is a hallmark of Japanese style canister filters on which they are based. The highlights of the Professional External Filter is that Hydor took the Japanese design, improved on the efficiency of the internal motor and added soundproofing features to make the canisters really, really quiet.
What makes Hydor’s new high end canisters really attractive is not just its sharp angular lines and minimalist design, but also its price and feature set. Unlike those super expensive German canisters (looking at you Eheim), the External Professional Filter line is lower cost and comes preloaded with all the media needed, ceramic rings and filter pads but not carbon . Who wants to spend another $100 on filter media for a canister? Not us.
Hydor is making the Professional External Filter in five sizes, from the $90 Professional 150 with two media trays bathed in 190 gallons of water per hour to the jumbo Professional 600 with 345gph and 5 media trays for just $166. Those flowrates are with the media inside and absolutely no bypass allowed. Hydor has begun to ship the canisters to distributors and they will start showing up on store shelves soon
