Eheim 2217 questions (canister newbie)

Night and day from hob.......if its not included you will need your mechanical, biological and chemical if u so choose........thats the usual order from bottom to top, wanna make sure you have replacement seals on hand from time to time they tear or wear out. That can be a mess.......then changing and cleaning is a bit more complicated too

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You may also consider double tap (quick)connectors with valves on eheim canisters. They make life much easier and less messy during wc and maintenance/cleaning. I have 1 or 2 eheim 2217s on 4 of my 5 tanks. If the filter youre buying already has quick connects, $90 is a great price. If not a new 2217 runs about $130 including media and quick connects.

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canisters are way better than HOB filters. the concept of filtration is the same from the aquaclear filters as far as stages of filtration. the 2217 i had was a bit more work than the canisters than i have now but the one i had was pretty well used. the quick disconnect valves that are discribed above are essential to cleaning the thing. otherwise you are gonna have a big mess on your hands. my personal favorite thing about canister filters is the ability to customize the media that you can put into it.

BuffaloPolypteridae said:

Yeah thats why i love aquaclears for HOB. Im pumped for this thing to be running, can you tell me if those are the quick connects? They do have levers for closing the valves so i can completely stop the water from both sides if need be. Is that what you mean by preventing a big mess? Also should the spray bar be above or below water? Pleaseee someone answer the questions by morning im installing it when i wake up haha dont wanna mess it up.

Any reccomendations on bio material? Is purigen all its cracked up to be?

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i don't not own that exact model canister but I do own Eheim canisters. Those pics you posted are quick disconnect valve. The purpose for them is to allow you to stop the water from siphoning out of your tank while you disconnect the valve to take the canister out for cleaning. If you did not have this disconnect valve you would need to yank the hose out of the canister thus making water squirt everywhere. Good times! LoL

The spray bar can be place above or below the water level. It's really up to you. If you place above the water level it would create surface agitation but will make water fall noise which can be annoying if you like your room quiet for reading. I don't use any spray bars because I don't like tubes sticking all over my tank.

As for bio media you can place almost any type of media. Keep in mind that certain media work better for different filtration system. For canister, I would recommend fluval bio max, Eheim coco puff balls, lava rocks, and pond matrix mix. I have personally used these and have had good results with them. Make sure you google for the placement of the sponges. This will keep your media cleaner and easier to service.

Btw, do you know how to prime or jump start a canister filter? You simply fill the canister up with water then fill the intake tube up with water. Fire that bad boy up. Check for leaks every 10-15 mins for the first hour. If no leaks then you are all set. I like HOB for mechanical filtration but for bio I prefer canister.

PS you can attach a porous sponge to the intake to use as a pre filter. This will extend your service schedule.

BuffaloPolypteridae said:

Yeah thats why i love aquaclears for HOB. Im pumped for this thing to be running, can you tell me if those are the quick connects? They do have levers for closing the valves so i can completely stop the water from both sides if need be. Is that what you mean by preventing a big mess? Also should the spray bar be above or below water? Pleaseee someone answer the questions by morning im installing it when i wake up haha dont wanna mess it up.

Any reccomendations on bio material? Is purigen all its cracked up to be?

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I have a few aquaclear filters and they are one of my favorite hob filters. As far as the quick disconnects, it will be two valves right next to each other that you disconnect from each other. That way when you remove the filter for cleaning, no water comes out of your hoses. They will create a siphon and basicly drain all the water out of your tank if there is no valve. I put my spray bars just beneath the surface with a section pointing down in the tank and two sections pointing towards the surface of the water. Just enough to create surface disturbance and keep the water oxigenated. As far as bio material, I like seachems matrix. It is very porous so there is tons of surface area for your bacteria to grow. Purigen in my opinion is totally worth it. It is an outstanding product that really does work. And you can recharge it so if you get two doses of it, you have one in your tank, and the other on standby. When the one in the tank is depleted just switch them out and recharge the dirty one.

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here is a pic of the new valves. they have them on ebay.