# Eheim Classic / Media Questions



## zfarsh (Apr 7, 2011)

Hi all,

I have a Eheim 2217 which i have and want to setup for the first time for a 75g tank. May have a Aquaclear 110 as a back-up, maybe with mech media only. It will be a planted tank, with fancy goldfish. Will put a sponge as a prefilter to the Eheim (either at the inlet take, or as a seperate part that connect to the inlet, such as the filter max 3. Here are some basic questions:

1) The medias donot come with a net. This would be a concern for cleaning later for the bio and the ehfimech (tubes). Where can i buy some nice nets, what are my options

2) If i put a sponge as a pre-filter, wont the ehfimech (tubes that are the rough filter - 1st stage) become useless, and thus i should replace it with something else? In which case, what would you recommend?

3) I want to remove the carbon, and replace it with either purigen or fine filter floss, or maybe both actually, so the purigen first, then the filter floss as last stage. I hurd the purigen is good to keep the water clearer, just dont know if it is bad for plants. Any comments / suggestions?

4) How does one prime the canister?

5) How do i know when i need to clean the canister?

6) How does one clean the canister?

Thanks in advance


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## vrb th hrb (Feb 20, 2010)

hey, i was a canister noob myself a few months back.... now i'm also running a 2217 on my 75 gallon.

1) for a media net I starting using seaspora media bags that I bought from big als online. but not for the mech, only for the strat

2) my media is mech/blue sponge/strat/filter floss. works best for me as I have a bunch of big dirty plecos in my tank.

3) dont use carbon if you want to have a planted tank, fine filter floss is best for polishing water imo, dont need any expensive additives

4) get the water up to the ridge in the canister. press the top down until the intake and outtake just fill with water (kept a towel close by the first few times I did this) detach your intake and outtake hoses under water and fill them up and lock them off (like keeping liquid in a straw by holding your finger over the end) attach them to the matching quick release valves, plug in the filter and release the valves. pressure of the water in the hoses should prime the canister. 

5) the flow rate will decrease, with dirty fish (goldies and plecos) I's say shoot for cleaning the filter about once a month.

6) rinse in tank water the same you would with a canister


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## Marowana (Jul 28, 2009)

i dont use media bags, when i wash the media, i dig in the thru the lil brown balls, firmly push and hold the blue sponge, and pour those balls out into a strained. 

to prime i use a powerhead to push water into the intake or return.


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## zfarsh (Apr 7, 2011)

ok thanks guys. 

On the ehfi mech (the tubes as first stage filtration), the reason i am thinking it is irelevant is the following:

I want to put a Pre-Filter at the inlet water take inside the tank, before it reaches the cannister. If this is a sponge, then this would already take in all rougher material, which was the purpose of the ehfi mech. If not having the pre-filter, the ehfi-mech makes alot of sense to me (and woudl probably use when on vacation and not using a pre-filter), as it would hold the largers elements before getting to the blue sponge. Since it is slipery and not really a biological media (ie dont see a second use that it may inderectly contribute to), i was thinking of puting somethign else. What do you guys recommend on this matter?

I will check big al for bags, i am thinking this will help with cleaning stage. Any other options?


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## zfarsh (Apr 7, 2011)

Hey VRB, thanks so much for the tip on priming, it worked, and i didnt have to suck on the pipe like i read elsewhere!!! Wow, i am so happy the cannister is runing.


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