Eheim 2080 - HELP - particles in the water...floaters

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4D3

4D3

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jan 21, 2013
984
47
61
United Kingdom
Hi,

I have the following equipment:

2080 inline with 36w UV
2217 inline with 2 x 2.5l Prefilters loaded with mech pro, the 2217 is itself packed ONLY with eheim blue sponges and 1 eheim white pad on the top, leading to a 2.5l Purigen reactor.

I have 3 inlets to work with..... on the left 1 from the Pro 3 and the one from the classic, on the right, the second pro 3 inlet.

I have good water quality, but the mechanical is really lacking in the Pro 3...given the equipment i have, and no i cant buy more, what is the best way to pack them with media and inlet arrangement to polish my water?

I was thinking about cutting the inlet from the classic in half so the strainer in half way up the tank...but i really think this is a filter packing issue...

Any advice would be great!

thanks
 
There's a thread on here somewhere about improving the mech performance of the 2080. Unfortunately, I can't remember what the title is or who the original author was (d'oh!).

From memory, what that guy did was wrap the outsides of each media tray with filter matting and secured it somehow (cable ties or something?). Anyway, the idea was that there's a fair amount of water that makes it up the sides of the trays in the 2080 and thus doesn't go through the media, allowing particles to go straight back into the tank. With the filter matting filling the gap, the water/particles is forced to go through the media baskets and so more of the floating crap gets filtered out.

Don't know that that would solve your issue completely, but it could help.
 
Quoting my reply to you in your other thread...

Rayne said:
Is it enough mechanical filtration? I would say you are sorely lacking in that deptartment.

A little perspective for you.... I have an Eheim 2080 on a 75G tank and an Eheim 2217 on a 38G tank. Those tank sizes are about perfect for those filters IMO. For your tank I would sell both those filters and get at least one Eheim 2262, maybe two.
Click to expand...

You say your tank is heavily stocked and a 180G tank. The Eheim 2080 is rated at 450gph (which wont be the actual world flow rate), add in the head loss, the UV head loss, and then divide that number by two since it has two inlets. I'd estimate it would be around 100-150GPH per inlet. Thats not going to suck up anything in the water column.

The Eheim 2217 has an advertised flow rate of 260 GPH, which again is not real world, then add head loss AND your pre-filters AND your purigen reactor (which needs a very slow flow rate to not blow the purigen out of the reactor) and again you have absolutely neutered the flow capacity of the canister. Again it wont be strong enough to suck any suspended particles out of the water.

I have real world experience with both those filters and warned you about their lack of mechanical sucking power. Now are you really surprised?
 
Like other have said, need alot higher flow rate.

Most people shoot for atleast 10x turnover rate per hour.

I have an 1800 gph sump and Fx5 just on my 125.

Short term fix would be trying out a powerhead and point it to your intake. Long term fix is get 2262 or Fx5.
 
Rayne said:
I have real world experience with both those filters and warned you about their lack of mechanical sucking power. Now are you really surprised?
Click to expand...
I am absolutely shocked to be honest! I had the classic on a 300l tank on its own with no UV or reactor or prefilter and it was the cleanest water I have ever had! i just assumed that tripling the turnover and only doubling the water volume would be ok!@!

INstead of having the 2080 inlets at opposite ends of the tank do you think putting both of the inlets at the same end you help it out?

Another question...is the UV worth running if i have plecos in there cleaning the glass anyway? I might also try taking the prefilters off...

Lastly, would you have the inlets and outlets at the same end of the tank, or inlets at 1 side and outlets at the other?

Owens said:
Like other have said, need alot higher flow rate.

Most people shoot for atleast 10x turnover rate per hour.

I have an 1800 gph sump and Fx5 just on my 125.

Short term fix would be trying out a powerhead and point it to your intake. Long term fix is get 2262 or Fx5.
Click to expand...
I put a 2000lph powerhead in and it seems to have halved the problem in about 25mins!
 
I would probably try and reduce as much headloss on both of the canisters as you can. Shorten up the hose runs, remove the reactor, UV and prefilters. It probably would help to place all the intakes in one corner, and all the returns at the opposite end pointing towards the intakes. You want to get a flow going through the tank so the floaters and detridus will naturally accumulate near the intakes. This may take some trial and error with the placement of the returns and your powerhead since the decorations in your tank will obstruct this flow.

It sucks to not use the UV and reactor since you have them though. So another option could be to turn the 2080 into strictly mechanical. Again reduce the head loss as much as you can, shorten up the hose runs on it and pack it with mech-media. Then use the 2217 packed with your bio-media and use it to run the UV and purigen reactor. The lower flowrate of the 2217 would be ideal for all three of those uses. Definitely still place all the intakes in the same vicinity still with the returns/powerhead on the opposite end.
 
4D3 said:
I am absolutely shocked to be honest! I had the classic on a 300l tank on its own with no UV or reactor or prefilter and it was the cleanest water I have ever had! i just assumed that tripling the turnover and only doubling the water volume would be ok!@!

INstead of having the 2080 inlets at opposite ends of the tank do you think putting both of the inlets at the same end you help it out?

Another question...is the UV worth running if i have plecos in there cleaning the glass anyway? I might also try taking the prefilters off...

Lastly, would you have the inlets and outlets at the same end of the tank, or inlets at 1 side and outlets at the other?

I put a 2000lph powerhead in and it seems to have halved the problem in about 25mins!
Click to expand...

Yeah, its amazing how much powerheads help mechanical filtration.

My 125 is more clear with a 1200 gph powerhead + sump than Fx5 + sump, mechanical wise.
 
Rayne said:
I would probably try and reduce as much headloss on both of the canisters as you can. Shorten up the hose runs, remove the reactor, UV and prefilters. It probably would help to place all the intakes in one corner, and all the returns at the opposite end pointing towards the intakes.
Click to expand...

Would it be better to have the longer hoses on the suction side or the pressure side? the 2080 does not fit under my stand so it is on the left hand side

Check these pics (Not the best but i hope you get what im driving at:

Current setup:

Tank Now.png

Proposed setup:

Tank New.png

Rayne said:
You want to get a flow going through the tank so the floaters and detridus will naturally accumulate near the intakes. This may take some trial and error with the placement of the returns and your powerhead since the decorations in your tank will obstruct this flow.
Click to expand...
how essential are decorations for cichlids? i have driftwood and stone caves in there at the moment, I have been thinging about taking out the driftwood and just having the rocks


Rayne said:
So another option could be to turn the 2080 into strictly mechanical. Again reduce the head loss as much as you can, shorten up the hose runs on it and pack it with mech-media
Click to expand...

like Eheim Mech Pro and Bio Mech with a tray of sponges/filter floss? also the UV is WAY to big to fit the 12/16 hose from the 2217, I could only just get the 2080 hoses onto it!

Can I run a 2080 without the trays? I was thinking i could cut a perspex sheet to size and drill it with a load of slots then put that in the bottom instead of the baskets?

or do the mod from here and keep the baskets:

http://i1026.photobucket.com/albums/y322/HarleyKWF/MFK/Eheim%202080/IMG_0174.jpg

http://i1026.photobucket.com/albums/y322/HarleyKWF/MFK/Eheim 2080/IMG_0173.jpg


Rayne said:
Then use the 2217 packed with your bio-media and use it to run the UV and purigen reactor. The lower flowrate of the 2217 would be ideal for all three of those uses. Definitely still place all the intakes in the same vicinity still with the returns/powerhead on the opposite end.
Click to expand...
I would still need some mechanical in here to stop the biomedia getting bunged up wouldnt i? Maybe leave the prefilter with the Mech pro, then the 2217 with a single blue sponge on the bottom, load it with Matrix and a single white eheim pad on the top, then lead that to the reactor?

this is my reactor on the current setup as you can see there is a good gap between the top of the purigen and the foam pad to stop it coming out the top of the reactor:

2217 and Reactor.JPG


THanks for your help!

Tank New.png

Tank Now.png

2217 and Reactor.JPG
 
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