Help With Setting Up My Eheim 2260

[neff11h4l]

I am setting up a 240g that will have several large plecos. I need some advice with setting up my Eheim 2260. What do you think will be the best setup for the 2260 for large plecos? I seen this post from awhile back. Do you think this would be good for the large beasts?

Bottom layer= Ehfi Mech (hollow cylinders), about 2 to 3 inches thick. This product traps the larger particles so I do not put it in a media bag.

2nd layer= Ehfi Fix (green Easter grass), about 2 to 3 inches thick. I don't care for the Ehfi Fix so I use a coarse foam, 2" thick, that is 10 PPI (Pores Per Inch) called Poret. I cut it to fit the canister.

3rd layer= Another piece of Poret foam, 2" thick, that is 20 PPI, cut to fit the canister.

4th layer= Approximately a 1" thick layer of Poly-fil brand traditional batting OR Soft n Crafty brand Premium Densified Batting OR filter floss.

5th layer= Ehfi Substrat Pro OR Ehfi Substrat OR Seachem Pond Matrix Or mini bio-balls. I put the bio media into a large media bag to make it easier to remove when doing filter maintenance.

There are so many different ways to set up the 2260 filter. Just remember that the coarse mechanical layer is the First layer in the bottom of the filter. The 2nd/3rd layers should be a medium mechanical layer. The final layer should be your bio media.

 

[deeda]

It sounds good to me and is almost exactly how I've set mine up on a couple of the media choices.

Are you planning on any other fish besides the Plecos?

 

[neff11h4l]

Maybe a couple synodontis and a few small fronts.

 

[Mr Pleco]

I prefer the thinner poret foam in layers in my 2260 1/2" then I use pillow batting on top . Tried the thicker foam I found it harder to clean .. IMO... my L330's and Xanto produce a lot of waste .. GL

 

[neff11h4l]

So you agree with everything but the 2inch thick foam?

 

[Mr Pleco]

So you agree with everything but the 2inch thick foam?

Sure it looks good , I use my Eheim strictly as a mech filter to polish water . So I have a bag of purigen on top layer above poly fill where you have bio media.. (my bio filter is in sump ,with an attached reactor .. filled reactor with Eheim pro substrat.effective 110-150 GPH )... thats the great thing about this Eheim filter is the flexibility . you try it if it doesn't give you results you wanted you change it up.. I use Eheim classic filters on all my tanks now..

 

[neff11h4l]

Do you like purigen better then carbon?
So my setup would look like this..

Bottom layer= Ehfi Mech (hollow cylinders), about 2 to 3 inches thick. This product traps the larger particles so I do not put it in a media bag.

2nd layer= Ehfi Fix (green Easter grass), about 2 to 3 inches thick. I don't care for the Ehfi Fix so I use a coarse foam, 1/2" thick, that is 10 PPI (Pores Per Inch) called Poret. I cut it to fit the canister.

3rd layer= Another piece of Poret foam, 1/2" thick, that is 20 PPI, cut to fit the canister.

4th layer= Approximately a 1" thick layer of Poly-fil brand traditional batting OR Soft n Crafty brand Premium Densified Batting OR filter floss.

5th layer= Ehfi Substrat Pro OR Ehfi Substrat OR Seachem Pond Matrix Or mini bio-balls. I put the bio media into a large media bag to make it easier to remove when doing filter maintenance.

6th layer= Bag Of purigen

Also do you use the large 2260 Eheim bag? for layers 2-5?

 

[Mr Pleco]

Do you like purigen better then carbon?
Also do you use the large 2260 Eheim bag? for layers 2-5?

Prefer purigen its rechargeable an you can get a visual clue when exhausted.

Used the Eheim bag when filter was new .. havent used it in a while...ended up using smaller bags with approx 1lb of media per bag. made rinsing and cleaning easier.

 

[neff11h4l]

So you think i should put the batting on top of the purigen instead of using it as the 4th layer?

 

[deeda]

The Eheim mesh bag is supposed to be used for hard bio-media that will NOT fit through the mesh holes. It is a large bag because Eheim recommends using 15L of bio-media in this model filter.

However, you can also use smaller size lingerie mesh bags (used in washing machines) with zippers to hold smaller amounts of bio-media instead if you want to keep them separate from each other.

I haven't had any problems cleaning the 2" thick Poret foam pads I made, in the winter I use the laundry or utility tub to slap the foam against the tub walls to dislodge the dirt and crud plus I added a hose sprayer to the faucet to be able to spray water to flush the Poret. In the summer this can be done outside using the same method against the ground and spraying with a garden hose and nozzle. You do NOT want to squeeze the Poret foam to remove dirt and debris to preserve the foam structure. Minor squeezing is fine in my experience.

I don't use Purigen or carbon in my filters but I'm sure it will work as long as either media is placed in the cleanest flow of water which will be last before you insert the top lattice screen. If you use Purigen, you MUST use the Seachem media bag for Purigen since it is very fine and will escape most other media bags.