Next working day delivery with Royal Mail Tracked 24
The Best Aquarium External Filters for 2025
What are the best Aquarium External Filters for 2025?
In this regular annual feature, we detail the best selling and most reliable aquarium products from the previous year to inform your purchases for 2025.
Here we detail which aquarium external filters proved the most popular and most reliable, based on our own 2024 data.
We calculate our list based on a simple formula of volume of sales divided by the total number of complaints, warranty faults and returns during 2024. The highest scoring top-5 are listed below.
Below is a list of the recommended best aquarium external filters for 2025:
1. Aqua One Ocellaris Aquarium Filter with UV 1400 - the best aquarium external filter based on 2024 sales and reliability data. *New entry*
2. Fluval FX4 external filter - the second best aquarium external filter based on 2024 sales and reliability data. *Last year's #1*
3. Eheim Ecco Pro External Filter 200 - a highly recommended filter for small to medium fish tanks. *New entry*
4. Superfish Hang On Filter 100 - a great external hang-on filter for fish tank rims. *Last year: 5th*
5. Fluval FX6 external filter- a highly recommended external filter based on 2024 sales and reliability data. *New entry*
About this list of Best External Filters for 2025
External Filters are used as aquarium filtration systems which sit on the outside of the fish tank, either freestanding, hanging on the rim or placed out of view in a cabinet. They differ from internal aquarium filters in such that they do not take up any space in side your fish tank, freeing up room for extra aquascaping or a more realistic habitat.
This year's first place: Aqua One Occelaris filter.
Above are listed the top 5 best aquarium external filters for 2025, based on Real Aquatics 2024 sales and reliability data from Real Aquatics outlets on eBay, Amazon and official websites.
The list above consists of both external and hang-on filters only, and does not include variations such as internal filters and sponge filters - these are featured in separate lists.
To browse our range of external filters please click here.
To browse our full range of aquarium filters including all variations please click here.
Photo credit(s): Insert: Canva Pro Licence; Main: Close up of a mechanism and part of a modern, big aquarium filter Roxart Agency Shutterstock.
