75 gallon Planted Office Tank Journal

Cleaning an Eheim Classic 2217

Picture Time:


Standard Water Change

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My ingenious way to keep the water change hose exactly where i want it. Otherwise it knocks over plants, sucks up plants, falls out of tank, looses suction when water falls too low, etc..

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Water from inside filter BEFORE opening the lid, this is what came out after I closed down both sets of double tap connectors, removed canister from inside cabinet, and then opened both valves over a 5 gallon bucket.

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The very top black pad is folded back so you can see what a white "fine" eheim filter pad looks like after 2 months in my tank. Nasty.


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Canister water after I squeezed out the white pad. By the way, the white pad was limp and a little "fishy" smelling. It had lost about half its thickness. The amount of nasty black debris caught in this pad and shown in this water amazes me.

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After rinsing this pad out, I dumped the water out and added a little clean tank water back to the empty 5-gal bucket. Water was clean before proceeding to next step, and it got nasty again quick.

Here is some standard bio filter media, it had alot of nasty water and debris mixed in amongst it. As it has only been two months, I did NOT replace any media except the white filter pad. I simply used tank water to rinse this and the ehfimech out.



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At this point, I started filling the tank back up with tap water, added prime, added dry fertz, and when water was high enough, turned back on filter #2, co2, heaters, etc.

When that was done, I put filter #1 back togeather, re-primed, and plugged it in. The flow is still not as strong as the new 2217, but it's better. I think I really need to break down all the tubing and clean as outlined in the preceeding post about how to clean filter tubes.

Boy, I think it was worth changing out. The filter was simply nasty. Maybe now with this cleaning and two filters going 24x7, my water will look "polished". Hope you enjoyed the pics.

:mwave:
 
I do the same thing with my water change hose when I am not using it to suck up dead leaves, etc. :D I did enjoy the pics!
 
moi-eater said:
I do the same thing with my water change hose when I am not using it to suck up dead leaves, etc. :D I did enjoy the pics!
Click to expand...

I figured some smart person before me had figured that one out. Thanks for checking out the pics. Is that a normal amount of crud I pulled out of water?

Water is looking much better with 2 filters, one of them being dedicated to polishing. But I still have major algae issues, so there is more to do, more to read, more to test, more to try. Fun, fun.
 
Well, normal for my well stocked, well fed, not so well planted tanks. I don't have an Eheim but I rinse my fine pads out in running tap water, I'm cheap. I usually only replace media that's falling apart.
 
fishorama said:
Well, normal for my well stocked, well fed, not so well planted tanks. I don't have an Eheim but I rinse my fine pads out in running tap water, I'm cheap. I usually only replace media that's falling apart.
Click to expand...

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to clean the filter. With double tap connectors, it was a snap to break out of the system. I used a bucket and a long high walled tray to pour the contents out. I thought I was going to have problems with the different media getting mixed togeather, but the big blue Eheim course filter pad nicely seperates the media. The white pad that tuned a dark brown maybe could have been rinsed out well and used again, but it was really deflated and sad looking so I tossed in a new one. But other than that, I reused my media too. Based on the crud you saw in the pics, I think I may clean my filters more than normal (say every 2 months), at least until I become bored with the maintenace. Right now, it's still fun! :evil_lol:

Thanks for reading.
 
I'm yet another lurker :) Been reading on and off, then finished the last 20+ pages in a marathon afternoon.

What happened to the poor placeholder sword? I have a 40 long that it would go in perfectly! Just offering a home for unloved plants :)

"Time for cleaning after only 2 months?" Can I take this as it hasn't been cleaned yet? Just a thought, but you've been aquascaping, RE-aquascaping, planting, planting again, then planting more. You've broken free more stuff then a filter normally sees in the course of 2 months.

Our FX5 on the big tank gets cleaned every 2-3 months depending on activity, but when we're changing the tank around it gets cleaned much more frequently. I also use a couple powerheads with polishing pads/floss to pick up fine particles in the water after I've made a mess then pull them out when it's looking better. It helps keep the big filter from loading up.

Keep the pics coming!! After blowing through the last month of your time in a couple hours of my time, I can see the plants growing from one pic to the next. Do you have a photobucket account with all of them? I'd love to slideshow them.

:cheers: Keep up the good work, congrats on the great looking tank! :cheers:
...and have you decided on a tank for the boss yet?
 
FTS Day 40

I haven't done a Full Tank Shot in many days, here you go.

Left Side:

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Center:

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Right Side:

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Tank Depth Shot:

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Full:


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Tank still looks nothing like what I expected, oh well. I dont think it looks very good, but people around me say it does, so maybe I am too picky. Somebody be honest, is this thing a complete mess or does it look like a nice planted tank? It doesnt really look like anything I have seen before, so it feels like I am off the mark in some way.

:turtle:
 
The tank looks GREAT. i am the least most patient person in the world so here is some advice i wouldnt take myself, "it takes time" but so far your tank is a master piece.
 
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