Help With Eheim 2234

[This Old Spouse]

Has anybody else had issues with the 2234? I haven't had this one very long, and I got it used. I had it going for a while in my 20g along with an HOB made for a 40g, and I just cleaned the 2234 last week because the flow had been reduced. Once I cleaned it the flow improved dramatically, and now this week it's visibly reduced again. Is this common?

 

[This Old Spouse]

Bump ... anyone? I think this is a fairly widely used filter, but I'm pretty new into canister filters so could really use some advice. I got this filter used because the woman who had it didn't know how to use it correctly and broke off the little tab on the side that is used to seal it. I bought it for $20 from her (it was barely used) and then spent about $8 for replacement pins. Put those on and the whole thing works like a charm, but as mentioned the flow is diminishing even after I cleaned it (in old tank water, of course). No ideas out there?

 

[Blubble37]

Hi, it could be that it works TOO well... My internals clog up really quickly because they remove 99% of everything that goes through so you may find that it is removing a lot of waste from the tank and blocking up a lot as well.

How dirty is it now?

I would also clean out all the tubes and trays ETC to get rid of any blockage and also clean the impeller

Also - what media do you have in there?

 

[KISSfn]

+1 Blubble37. Had mine for 9 months. It can go at least a month between cleanings. As long as the intake tube has good suction you should be okay. The output never really blasts due to all the media the water passes through.

 

[Tolak]

Remove the impeller, clean that along with the rest of the top part with a good blast from a hose. The channels inside the top tend to clog.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Thanks everybody!

Next question ... is there a way to clean the hoses completely? I can get almost all of it, except for about a 6-inch section in the middle where my brush doesn't reach.

 

[Tolak]

A length of string a foot longer than the tubing, a small scrap of rag & a small nail for weight. Tie the rag to one end, the nail to the other, feed the nail through, pull the rag through.

 

[Blubble37]

+1 tolak

 

[raptorrex]

+1 Blubble37. Had mine for 9 months. It can go at least a month between cleanings. As long as the intake tube has good suction you should be okay. The output never really blasts due to all the media the water passes through.

you have to clean a 2234 every month?
there is something very wrong there.

@ op can you give me the media lay out you have in your filter (same goes for KISSfn)

 

[This Old Spouse]

I wondered about that myself. Isn't that the big motivation behind getting a canister filter, is not having to clean it as often as a HOB??

I think it's two layers of a round ceramic type media, then a sponge on top.

 

[raptorrex]

I wondered about that myself. Isn't that the big motivation behind getting a canister filter, is not having to clean it as often as a HOB??

I think it's two layers of a round ceramic type media, then a sponge on top.

you would usually have ceramic tubes, in the base, topped of with a course blue sponge. then layers of the Round (bio) media, topped off with a fine white pad.
I think you may be clogging because you have no real; mechanical media in there.
cleaning intervals, providing you dont over feed, are between 3 and 9 months.

 

[KISSfn]

+1 Blubble37. Had mine for 9 months. It can go at least a month between cleanings. As long as the intake tube has good suction you should be okay. The output never really blasts due to all the media the water passes through.

you have to clean a 2234 every month?
there is something very wrong there.

@ op can you give me the media lay out you have in your filter (same goes for KISSfn)

I did not say it had to be cleaned every month. My fish love swimming against the current of my Koralia and my filter output tubes. When the flow of the output tubes drop off ( no set time ) I clean the filters so my fish can have the current they love. Nothing wrong with having good circulation. And with black sand it's necessary to keep it looking clean. Bottom basket has Eheim Substrat Pro. Next basket has the same plus a white polishing pad and a thin layer of floss. Coarse blue sponge on top. Water is crystal clear.

 

[This Old Spouse]

All right. Armed with this info I'm going to wait until the cory quit spawning, then take that filter all apart. I do have some extra bulk floss so I'll add it. It will be interesting to see if this will cure the problem!

 

[raptorrex]

All right. Armed with this info I'm going to wait until the cory quit spawning, then take that filter all apart. I do have some extra bulk floss so I'll add it. It will be interesting to see if this will cure the problem!

in my view, floss is not what you need (this will just make the filter clog more quickly.). you need mechanical filtration. this would go at the bottom of the filter. if you use Eheim media, something like EFHi mech, topped off with the blue sponge for the filter. then your bio media. or, a series of course sponges, topped off with a slightly finer one. again below your bio media.
take a look at the Eheim site. check how the media is, recommended, to be placed..

 

[raptorrex]

+1 Blubble37. Had mine for 9 months. It can go at least a month between cleanings. As long as the intake tube has good suction you should be okay. The output never really blasts due to all the media the water passes through.

you have to clean a 2234 every month?
there is something very wrong there.

@ op can you give me the media lay out you have in your filter (same goes for KISSfn)

I did not say it had to be cleaned every month. My fish love swimming against the current of my Koralia and my filter output tubes. When the flow of the output tubes drop off ( no set time ) I clean the filters so my fish can have the current they love. Nothing wrong with having good circulation. And with black sand it's necessary to keep it looking clean. Bottom basket has Eheim Substrat Pro. Next basket has the same plus a white polishing pad and a thin layer of floss. Coarse blue sponge on top. Water is crystal clear.

go check how the media should be placed, in your filter. this set-up hasn't the remotest chance of working.
monthly cleans decimate your bio colony. and totally defeat the point of a cannister. you are running it as an enormous internal. quite counter productive.

a cannister that is even, remotely, set up right. will take several months to show any flow decrease. and if you dont over feed, will go, upwards, of six months between cleans.