Cleaning Canister Filter

[Ansel_Tk1]

Hi - this is probably a REALLY silly question, but I just cant seem to get the info anywhere....

What is the proper procedure to clean my Eheim 2215?

Right now I have the Eheim subtrat layer, followed by a foam divider and then the little balls (that look like cocopuffs) and then another divider. I have a small layer of coral (to stop the ph spikes from my CO2 injection) and then a wad of floss on top (probably about 2 inches compacted with the cover on). This was the setup the fellow at the store suggested.

Any thoughts would be appreciated! Right now I am taking the whole thing into the bath and rinsing it all out with tap water....

Thanks!

 

[scorphonic]

Simply pour off the liquid in the filter, rinse it out using Aquarium water only...you can also wash out the media if you like but best to do this into the aquarium without ridding the tank of the good bacteria!!

I'm sure you'll get a better answer off someone else...but I think what I have said is the basic cleaning procedure!

 

[tmack]

Probably too late, but as Scorphonic said you really should do it in tank water. Chlorine in the tap water may kill all of your good bacteria & throw you into a mini-cycle. When I clean my Eheim Ecco I do it while doing a water change and rinse out the media in a bucket of tank water. I use a fairly fine screen collander that I confiscated from my wife to pour the granular media into for easily rinsing in the tank water without losing any of it. At times I do replace maybe 1/3 of the media with fresh media - you don't want to replace it all for the same reason as not using tap water - you don't want to lose all of that good bacteria buildup. For the filter pads & floss, I put a coarse filter pad on the bottom, my granular bio media in the middle, and a fine filter pad on the top, last layer. Those pads & floss can be rinsed in tap water also, or if they're deteriorating replaced with new ones.

 

[raptorrex]

im with tmack here! i clean the mechanical, or what i consider mechanical, course sponges with tap water. allowing me to really give them a good clean. the bio media is rinsed in the water from my canister. i then filter the water, and replace it in the filter, as tmack says avoiding the loss of the bacteria. and i do this, now as i have changed my cleaning method, about every four to six months. or if i see any restriction of the water flow. i do realise that i lose all the bacteria from the mechanical sponges, but i consider that giving them such a good clean, means you have to do the cleaning so much less often. thus allowing you bacteria very much more time to build up, which i feel is a good swap.