setting up filtration

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new2natives

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Dec 1, 2007
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ohio
i am setting up a 180 freshwater tank this week
i plan on using 2 HOB filters, and a canister. its a eheim 2217, which is good upto like 110 gallons, and the HOB are 50g each, so i will have enough filtration

as far as the canister though, i have never used one, so i have some questions. it is used, and i got it from a coral farm, so it has been used in salt water.
do i need to do anything to prepare it for freshwater? do i need to get a new insert for it? and if not, how do you know when a canister is ready to be "cleaned" or changed?

** i havent even opened it up or anything, so i may be able to figure it out myself once i tear it apart :). i just thought i would ask people with more experience
 
IMO, i think you're a little light on your filtration. now i dont know what exactly the internals of the eheim are, but id say just give everything a good rinse/soak and you should be good to go...
 
ok, i just looked again ... yeah its a 2217, and the HOB are aquaclear 70 gallon filters ...
still too little filtration?
 
well, it truly depends on what your stocking it with. i have a 210g that ill be setting up tomorrow and it will have enough filtration for about 700g! I have a Del Rey wetdry rated for 240g, an FX5 rated for 400g, and 2 HOB rated for about 50g each.

You really cant have too much filtration. And if you plan on having some big fish in there, I think you might wanna consider throwing some more filtration on there, like a DIY wet/dry. You can make a 50g wet/dry for very cheap.
 
yeap.........for my 125....i have 4 cascads 300,and 2 cascads 1500 canister filters. so im cleaning 600gals a hour.
 
Alot depends on what you are stocking. Eheim actually rates their 2217 for a 159 gallon tank, and it is a very good biologial filter. You should place the intake mid level so it does not suck in to much food during feeding or particulate waste of the bottom.

Take your 2 AC70s and extend the tube down as far as you can, picking up as much particulate waste off the bottom as possible. This will give you decent mechanical filtration. Clean the sponges on a weekly or bi weekly basis(depending on how dirty they get) with hot tap water, making sure you remove as much waste as possible(this will also help reduce nitrates). Take care in rinsing the biomax with just tank water to preserve the beneficial bacteria.

With this setup, cleaning the HOBs on a weekly basis you will only need to clean the 2217 once every three months. As your fish grow you may want to upgrade the HOBs to AC110s and possibly add another 2217, which will be more filtration then needed for stock you should have in that tank.
 
You are a little light on the filtration. Its a good idea to get one size larger of a filter than it is rated for. Another canister or larger HOBs would be sufficient, I think. It really depends on how much bioload you have. I think sometimes people have more biofiltration than they need. Having a ton of extra isn't really going to help, as much as having more mechanical filtration. See how it goes, and if your tank is cloudy, or you have issues with ammonia/nitrite, get some more filtration.
 
thanks everyone for the input, my fish will be pretty small for about another year or so, then i will add filtration for sure, when i notice the current setup isnt keeping everything in check.

i opened it, and got it running (which was a little on the touchy side, but then again i have never used one before). all that is inside is a little circular grate, and what looks like lacerock, but from what im reading i would assume it is the piece they use for bacteria growth...
anyhow, i assume i need some sort of pad/filter for pulling out large particles? what else?

and as far as it being used for salt water? i just clean it and it should be fine?
 
so do you have any media for this? Is it lava rock your describing? If so, thats not too good. I would throw the traditional eheim media like ehfisubstrat or fluval biomax...
 
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