I won an eBay auction last night for a 3 week old Ehiem 2215 canister filter. I paid $55 for the thing with local pickup and I got a receipt, so I can even claim the warrranty. Overall a pretty sweet deal.
I washed all the media out and set it up on my 44 gallon pentagon tank. As I was connecting it all up, I noticed the original owner had cut the tubing and the intake tube was too short. i could not find any place near me that sold Eheim tubing by the foot, and I didn't want to buy 10 feet for $20.00. So I went to Home Depot and bought 10 feet of 1/2" ID - 5/8" OD tubing for $4.49 and cut to length.
The questions I have are:
I washed all the media out and set it up on my 44 gallon pentagon tank. As I was connecting it all up, I noticed the original owner had cut the tubing and the intake tube was too short. i could not find any place near me that sold Eheim tubing by the foot, and I didn't want to buy 10 feet for $20.00. So I went to Home Depot and bought 10 feet of 1/2" ID - 5/8" OD tubing for $4.49 and cut to length.
The questions I have are:
- The 1/2" tubing seems ever so slightly looser than the standard Eheim 12/16mm tubing. There's a lock nut on the disconnect value, but the connection to the intake tube is just friction fit. Should I be concerned about it coming loose? Should I clamp it or zip tie it?
- The thing is running in the tank with an Aquaclear 70 that I plan to remove at some point. How long should I leave the two running side by side before I can assume that there's enough nitrifying bacteria in the canister to handle the bioload?
- Any benefits to lubing the impeller with some Vaseline, silicone grease, or teflon lubricant?