Eheim professional 2 cannister filter..

[mistah]

I was trying to find the freshwater forums, gone?? =]

Anyhoo, I've got a Eheim professional 2 cannister running on my 80 gallon. Been running for about 6-7 months. I still haven't cleaned out the unit. Some say clean it every 6 months, some say don't ever clean it. Just do your water changes.

I've noticed that it 'barely' picks up 'anything!' in the tank, especially the cr*p =] The water isn't clear (a bit cloudy).. and it barely sucks.

I checked the flow ball (on the filter) and the flow is good, the output is good. Yet, I don't think it's cleaning much.

I opened it today to take a look inside (the 1st time since I got it). And noticed that the foams / pads are bad looking.

And the filter media is somewhat clogged, etc.

What should I do? I'm afraid to change the PH in my water (drastically).. especially since he's got a nursery in there with baby fish.

Any help would be appreciated!

thanks.
jess.

[Dman]

From what very little I remember about FW, I believe you are supposed to change the particulate filter media at a rate of 1/3 per month, carbon 1/3 everyother month ad infiniti.
This line of thinking may be very outdated :D
Dman
:spin:

[ajx22]

The freshwater forums are still very much here...I have just moved them off the main page to allow for less confusion between the SW and FW forums.

Just scroll to the bottom of the forums main page and click on Away From the Ocean...you will see them.

:D

[Darkangel]

I do not know about the Ehiem's in particular but with the Fluval cannisters you do have to clean them out. Rinse the sponges out in tank water if you feel you must but I use tap water. I also think you can do away with the carbon. I do not believe it does any good what so ever. I have 50 plus tanks and I use no carbon in any of them. I believe it works great at removing STUFF from the water, but I think it becomes full very quickly. I believe unless you are changing it twice or at least once a week you are getting no benefit from it at all. In my opinion you would do better to put another sponge or filter media in that spot. It is what I do in my Fluvals. This is what works for me and you may or may not have the same results. I know many people with multiple tank set ups and I honestly know of none who use carbon. That is about all the maintenance you should need. I would do this monthly in a heavily stocked tank and by-monthly in lighter stocked tanks.

[clothahump]

I personally will not use tap water as you kill the bacteria in the medium and then have to recycle the filter.
Use tank water and gently squeeze out the worst of the crud and replace in canister.
I have got medium that is getting on for 10 years old in some of my filters, you do not need to keep buying new.

[Darkangel]

Do you mean you have carbon that is 10 years old? If you were replying to my advice the only media I said anything about changing is the carbon. If you were talking about the media ie: Ceramic noodles, then no they do not need to be changed. Many people say that tap water kills the good bacteria, but in my opinion it is irrelevant. There are more then enough bacteria left in the filter to recolinize the sponge in very short order. Different strokes for different folks. What works for me may not work for others. Also there is likely a very big difference in our tap waters. Half a world apart and all. I am also int cories like your profile says. Not as many as you, only about 20 types. Barbatus are my favorite though. Happy fish keeping all.

[StirCrazy]

I would take your biomedia out and clean it, I have heard some people take theres apart every 2 to 3 months and boil the ceramic till it is clean. If I am thinking right the Eheim has a bypass that will allow the water to go around the filter when it becomes two plugged up.. this alows your filter to keep cirulating the water while your filter is pluged.

I have the HOT magnum myself, running on my 37 gal tank and all I do is take it apart every month and clean the heck out of it (with tap water) change the carbon and put it back in. That tank has been running for almost two years and I now have lemmon tetra and black kaluha loache babies swimming around. all I use in my filter is carbon and a thin filter material that goes around the carbon basket.

if you have gravel and water in the tank you should have more than enuf backteria to repopulate the filter in short order.. if you have lots of plants it will be even better.

Steve

[clothahump]

Do you mean you have carbon that is 10 years old?
No I do not use carbon, I was referring to ceramic and granular media.

[mistah]

Hey guys/gals! Thanks for the replies..!

What I've done is added the fuval 404 to my eheim prof 2 on the same tank. Within 6 hours, the water became crystal clear! =]

So I believe that the eheim needs a good cleaning. Before I do so, I'll let the bacteria populate the fuval 404 1st, then remove the eheim to clean. All I'll do is replace the carbon with some gravel / eheim filter media, and replace the old sponges that are clogged.

Boy, it's nice to see my 80gal crystal clear!! =]

thanks again.

[clothahump]

replace the old sponges that are clogged.
No just give them a rinse in tank water and replace.

[mistah]

Hah. =] Okay..! I agree, and I am going to use aquarium water to rinse it.

thanks!