cleaning classic eheim

[amv123]

i have an eheim 2217, but my question is when cleaning, should i completely clean the media and empty the canister all the way? Or should i just change some or all of the foam in there? what do you guys do when you clean your canisters?

 

[deeda]

I empty my 2217 all the way. I rinse the mechanical media and blue pads in well water (no chlorine) and rinse the bio media in a 5 gallon pail of fish tank water. I replace the white, fine pad every time (it's always gunked up). I clean the impeller & impeller well cavity.

I like to empty the filter completely because I usually find fry in the bottom. It also allows me to get the sand substrate that inevitably gets sucked in. I also lube the head o-ring before reassembly.

HTH, Dee

 

[amv123]

thanks

 

[Sab_Fan]

the above is all good advice, although I'll admit I don't exactly follow it . . .

personally, I don't use the ceramic rings and bio-media anymore - - I use plants to keep my water parameters in line - - but when I did, I rinsed the ceramic rings in regular water, and I rinsed the bio-media in tank water

the blue pads I rinse in tap water and re-use pretty much until I decide they are unusable . . . but you absolutely must change the white fine-filter pad, as that gets filthy . . .

and definitely clean the impeller, but be very careful with the impeller shaft as these can break