Tips And Tricks For Eheim 2217?

[karawr]

Does anyone have any handy tricks for priming an eheim classic 2217?

Any thoughts on this filter?
I know mine right now are a little negative. Definitely got me really stressed out and questioning keeping fish all together!!! I also got a LOT of water on my floor (the whole contents of the canister itself, plus some) as I didn't understand the tubing. I'm used to Rena XPs and their simple priming and in-out tubing.


Do you have to have the outflow in a bucket, lower than the tank (while priming)? I found it wasn't sucking up water through the outflow until I accidentally dropped the hose then water started coming up.

Ugh, bad night.

 

[karawr]

And do I have to prime it every time I unplug? Because I would be unplugging it weekly, during water changes... and in the case of a power outage... yikes

Also is there any way to prime it with the canister full of water?

 

[Gaz_S]

When doing a simple water change aslong as you dont take the water lower than the outflow pipe you can just fill the tank up and swith the filter back on.

If your cleaning your filter media, turn all four taps off, to remove lid open the two taps left on the filter this will stop the suction holding the lid on (water will come out so have in bucket or sink)

When media clean put back in and fill the canister to the top with new water (keep taps open a while, helps remove trapped air) close tap after a bit and fill up to the top. Put lid on and connect the other two taps on open all taps and turn on.

Sorry about poor instructions in a rush!

 

[karawr]

I think I understand. I guess I'll just have to play around with it next time I gotta mess with it. I think a good rule of thumb would be always mess with this filter in a bucket or a sink, as you said!! Floor's still damp from last nights drowning.

 

[Gaz_S]

Just a quick one do you have four taps? 2 on each pipe?

 

[talisker]

i have one and have the double taps fitted and i've never spilt any water when cleaning out the filter, if you don't have the double taps i would invest in some as it makes life a whole lot easier

 

[karawr]

I'm assuming taps are those plastic valves on the tubing so you can turn the water flow in the tube on/off?

I've got four.

 

[Davo86]

IMO when setup correctly they are one of the best, most reliable filters available,

and they are very easy to prime once you know how, just set up one on my tank and it took me literally two seconds to get it to prime,

simply set everything in its final place, so all pipes connected, inlets and outlets in place and cannister in the cabinet,
then simply disconnect the taps on the pipe leading to the spray bar,
give the tap connected to the cannister a good strong suck,
this should start to pull the water down into the cannister,
keep one hand on the tap and with the other hand, your thumb partially over the tap opening (you will feel the air escaping and as the cannister gets near the tap you'll feel the level of air escaping drop, as soon as the water level reaches your thumb close the tap and re-connect the two taps.
tighten everything up and re-open the tap,
If your spray bar is under the waterline then more air will escape through here as water is pulled in,
plug in the filter and hopefully it should roar into life,
lastly hold the cannister diagonally and give it a little shake to make sure all of the air has been released from the filter.


to answer your questions, it will only need re-priming if the unit is emptied of water, (when your doing maintenance on the filter)
if it is completely full of water then it will just start working,

 

[karawr]

Okay that's good to hear. I'll give your instructions a go.

From the standpoint of filtration, what would you use on a 90g tank: Rena XP3 or Eheim 2217? I have both and I don't know which to put on the 90 and which for the 75. I was thinking Rena on the 90g just because it has a higher GPH rating and the 90 will be housing a turtle. But I do like the flow of the eheim (I find it's a much stronger current than the rena, and so pushes around all the turtle gunk much faster). Decisions, decisions.

 

[Davo86]

I originally had a 2217 and a XP4 on my 125G, the Rena lasted a few months before being sold on as I found it to be very poor in comparison to the Eheim, when it was supposed to have a much stronger flowrate and bigger capacity,

I would have the classic on the turtle tank, as you say the flowrate is much more reliable on the eheim and it doesn't clog up anywhere near as often as the rena

 

[karawr]

Okay, thanks for your input.