Cleaning my Eheim Canister Filter

I usually just fully clean the mech media in tap water rinse all the bio media in tank water and replace the fine filter pad.

Ive only serviced it once in the past year and it really didnt need it at that.
 
I've had mine for five months. Before that I ran a HOB for six years.

I'm not used to all the tubes and the risk of water all over the place.
 
Mine didn't come with a bag. Maybe I'll see if I can buy one. I was going to rinse everything in tank water.

You should not have the media in a bag! It should be loose. It goes, from bottom up, noodles - course blue sponge - substrate - white pad. The black carbon pad should only be used for a short period on a brand new tank or to remove medicine.

The white pad will look very dirty but it can be rinsed. I use clean dechlorinated water to rinse in. Either that or tank water is OK, just not your tapwater!

When I prime it I leave the water in the intake hose and empty the hose going back to the tank. Hook everything back up. Open the taps on the outgoing hose, then the incoming one that still has water in it. The flow will start automatically. When water is through the whole system you can plug it back in.
 
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no bag - the way to go, just use an old ice-cream bucket for each of the media types

just rinse pads in tank water, they should last a year or two (white one), longer for the thick one

media removal should just be once or twice per year with a simplified "backwashing" in between - procedure is as above, but you gently turn the bottom pipe down and open the valve so that water will drain out - just pour some treated (or not too dirty tank) water into the top and agitate a little as it drains - repeat a couple of times - will get the "big chunks" out and improve flow

once the pads are a bit compressed and there's zero tension between the spacer and the pump assembly, add a nylon pot scrubber or three to the bottom of the can before putting the ceramic tubes back in - mechanical filtration tends to be more efficient if the media is not free to get tossed around inside the can

I just rinsed and repacked my 2215 last night - it *really* needed it, HUGE improvement in flow - I'm hoping that's what I was missing in my BBA battle
 
Thank you! I feel better about this now. :grinyes:
 
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