Life of Eheim Canister Filter Media

Rocketman

Rocketman

Detroit; proud of it.
Oct 24, 2002
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Detroit, MI
Real Name
Reid
Hey, how often should I replace the media on my Eheim Cansiter that I will be getting from Bigals soon? It will be an Eheim 2215 Classic. I was told to get Ehfisynth, Ehfisubstrat, Ehfifix, and Ehfimech, 2 inches of each. First, how often should I replace these? I know a lot of this depends on the fish, but I have no experience with canisters so I don't know if they plug up like the Power Filters I use now, or if there is some other way... Also, should I get 1 Liter or 5 Liters of the Ehfimech, (Ceramic Noodles.) The 1 Liter is $5.99 and the 5 Liters are $24.99, in american dollars. The shipping is already at the top of the chart, so that price will not increase any.
Thank you.
 
You shouldn't need anything at first. They come with media. My 2217's came with the media. I've had mine for 8 months and cleaned them twice. Depends on how many fish you have and the amount of debris. When you notice your water flow diminishing, then its time to clean.
 
Alright someone mentioned something about the filter coming with the media, but I don't believe mine does. It is listed on Big Al's as 'Eheim Filter 2215 Plus Kit' for $89.99 American. So, I don't assume there is any media in this filter, as it doesn't specify 'with media' like the other filters do. Which rings me to yet another question: what is a 'plus kit'? And I still have the question of whether or not I should order 1L or 5L of the Ceramic Noodles? Someone mentioned filling it all up with ceramic noodles, what gives?
 
I just realized something: I can get the Eheim 2215 Classic, rated 90 Gallons, for $89.99 and the media for an additional $46.46, to make a total of $136.45. Or I could buy the Eheim 2026 Professional II Filter with Media for $149.99, an extra $13.54. The shipping amount is already topped out so that is not an issue. Also note that the Eheim Professional has tons of other features, self-priming, flow valves, auto valve release... not to mention the media, which I assume they are suppling me with all the media I need.
 
I don't know anything about the 2215 CLassic, but I'd probably go for the 2026 Pro II just for the self priming aspect. Some of the older Eheims were a bit of a challenge to prime. I'm running 2 2028 Pro II's and they set and prime very easily.
 
The Eheim 2026 will be much easier to maintain and is a more durable design, although in the long run you will want to use just ceramic noodles and bioballs, as opposed to the proprietary stuff that Eheim sells which unfortunately loses much of its effectiveness after a relatively short period of time.

The Eheim canister "system" relies primarily on little nuggets of sintered glass which grind against each other and macerate the detritus so that theoretically it breaks down faster. Their polyfiber media is primarily intended on intercepting the little pieces of broken glass before they get back into your tank. And all of the above clog and lose much of their biofiltration capacity after 6 months or so (probably there's some variation in there based on the bioload of your tank and whether or not you use a prefilter to keep goop out of your filter, but I've never really experimented with it to know exactly).

Anyway, replacing this specialized media can cost you up to $100/year, which does nothing but enrich Eheim unnecessarily. RTR (a prime proponent of Eheim filtration on these boards, if not the actual high priest; I myself use Eheims and Fluvals interchangeably and am thus somewhat more, um, ecumenical in my approach) has, in previous posts, recommended Duplakascade bioballs and ceramic noodles as a better media combination, and one that never needs to be replaced, to boot.
 
Where the filter has baskets, I use 'em. But some of the older Eheims don't (for example the 2260, which is still my workhorse for larger tanks). When there are baskets, I simply remove them and dump buckets of tank water through them until they run clear; when there are no baskets, I manually remove the bioballs, rinse them in tank water separately, and then dump water over the noodles still in the filter until the remaining detritus runs out the bottom valve.
 
You only need to replace 1/3 of ehfisubstrat each 4-6 months or so, more like $12-$15 year. The other filter material is nearly permenant or inexpensive.
I like the idea of permenant substrate, but they still don't provide the bacterial colony density that ehfisubstrat provides.
The gravel nuggets (sintered glass) are not meant to grind together to break up deitrus, that what noodles are for.
I seperate my noodles from substrate with coarse pad or ehfifix.
As for 2 inches each, that should be adjusted to your needs but is a good place to start.
good luck
:)
 
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