I have one of these filters and I really like it. I really didn't like the media and infiltration they sent with the filter! I did change the media in all of the trays. On the bottom tray I used ceramic Fluval Pre-Filter Media. I packed it full but it doesn't restrict your flow at all. It's a very nice media which I use on every single one of my tanks. On the second tray I used a mixture of BrightWater Aquarium Filter Media rings made out of ceramic which also have little holes running all the way through them other than the main ring hole in the middle, BrightWater Aquarium Filter Media balls which are extremely porous, aquarium media made by Boxtech I think and Aquarium Porous Bio Balls all packed inside media bags. The third, fourth, and fifth trays I just made my own filter pads starting with the most porous pad working up to the last tray with very tight woven pads. I cut several small holes in the pad just so I didn't obstruct flow. You can purchase large quantities of all this material at Walmart for under $10 each and you'll get like 30' x 2' x 1-3" thick depending on what you want. The top tray I used the 3 inch thick and put down two levels of pads. the other trays I packed completely full of what I'm using for pads with each tray having tighter filtration. It's kind of like the stuffing inside a pillow! The other two trays with the pads I completely filled them up because they were porous enough to allow flow but plenty tight enough for great filtration. I'm using this on a 75 gallon discus tank with 10 discus and some cleaner fishes and Tetras. I've only had to clean my take every two weeks because the water parameters remain extremely consistent and I wouldn't even need to clean it that often. The water is crystal clear and actually as far as the water goes it is my best tank and I have many. I breed discus which takes exceptional control of your water parameters or they will die. You don't need dead extremely expensive discus on your hands! I'm going to go to similar media and filtration one by one on the rest of my tanks just to make sure my parameters will stay consistent with every filter I'm using. I hope this makes sense for you but it probably doesn't! For some reason sometimes I have trouble explaining things! LOL.
Good video. That’s a lot of mechanical media lol. I can’t believe they ship that unit like that.. such a great design but poorly setup for both filtering and maintenance. If I may make some suggestions? Remove the top corse prefilter pad and place the fine pad in its place. Add a prefilter to the intake strainer instead in a 20-30ppi sponge. Take the mech pro and put it in a ziplock and save for something not sure what. Take the mech media and pour some into the bottom of the canister in the empty space below the bottom tray. As much as you can fit and still easily get the bottom tray to properly seat all the way down. In the bottom tray that’s now empty throw in some poly fill with a Purigen bag. Next place the substrate pro. You now have 2 trays left to place additional real media of choice. If you want good cheap then fill with fluval biomax, if you want top of the line go for matrix or biohome. Then the top fine filter pad tray you can use for chemicals media of choice, I’d opt for a blended carbon zeolight if on a heavily stocked tank, or chemipure blue which really is same thing but not. Or just throw in one last fine pad. Could even leave empty and just use for carbon after medicating the tank if need ever arises.. This will provide you the very best filtration possible and easiest maintenance possible. All you will ever need to do is clean the prefilter sponge weekly and swap the fine pad in the old prefilter location monthly. At best maybe break down the rest once every 6 months. I setup my fx6 in similar fashion. Allowing for a fine pad up top when you first open the filter is ideal as nothing is really going to get by it and it’s super quick and easy to change. Any time you have a top down possibility always try to find a way to use the fine pad or poly in this manner.. you’ll have cleaner water with less nitrate accumulation cause you are removing a lot of crude before it gets down into the other media which requires a lot more cleaning which in turn means you’ll do it much less often. I actually replace my fx6 weekly cause it on a 125g cichlid tank that’s way overstocked.. everything under it looks brand new still after a year of service and it really helps keep nutrients down in the tank and extends my water change needs by double what it used to be.
So you mean dump both trays of the black spiral looking stuff? Then take the media above the black trays and put a few in the bottom? then what do I do with the rest of it? I got some poly fill for the mech tray
Thanks for the video. It looks like it has relatively easy maintenance compared to some of the others I have looked at. How does it compare in terms of noise? I am looking for one that is really quiet.
Mine is very quiet. The only other canister filter I have owned is one of the Fluval models and I would say this is quieter. I have mine in a closed stand and you cant hear it at all until you open the stand door. And even then it is just a subtle hum of the motor. MX is very easy as the trays slide right out. I did do as one of the other poster on this video said and replaced the sprialy little black media with poly fill. Ill give an update in a week or so and see if it made any difference.
So the eheim the water flows from the bottom up? Ie bottom tray of plastic mech stops the big crap then the weird shaped ceral looking stuff gets the left over middle size crap..then the small ish stuff flows n gets eaten by the bacteria thats hanging out on the pro substrate then the water flows through the fine filter floss then out of the blue prefilter?? Cause the othher way round seems abit nuts
Yeah pretty much exactly the way you described it except for one slight difference. When the water first enters the filter, it pools in a tray at the very top where the coarse filter pad is. Then the tray will eventually overflow and gravity will pull the water down a tube along the side to the bottom and then start filtering from the bottom up. Thats why you can flip the switch and have the incoming water bypass the blue pre filter if it started to become clogged over time and you didnt have time to change it right away. That way it doesnt slow down your flow as much. At least that is Eheim's Theory!
StuProductions awesome thanks for the reply.. ive got the 250 which only has a couple baskets but just read another chaps post about the bottom having the large unused space so will fill that when i change the substrate
mkm I'm very impressed. Its actually been about 3 months of use and I have not cleaned it once yet (by choice not neglect!) As I wanted to see if I could get it clogged. I have a medium sized piranha in the tank and he is a messy eater and a heavy pooper lol. Water is still Crystal clear and no reduction in flow output. And piranha need a good current so if I saw it slowing down I'd clean it
mkm my only complaint so far, if you could call it that, is I wish they included another output method along with the spray bar. Its a nice spray bar but is not very flexible in how it can be positioned in the tank. I wish they included like a nozzle adapter you could swap out. I ended up making my own from some spare filter parts I had around.
They do have another output method in their modular installation set 2 with many accessories to play around, just that you have to get them separately.
Hi. I have had 3 canister filters in my days. A sun sun. A fluval 406 and this one. Out of the 3, this one is by far the quietest so far. All I can hear is if you put your hear right up to it you can barely hear a faint hummmm of the motor.
I have to disagree with StuProductions, I had a Hydor 350 which was incredible loud, so I looked on the internet for a quiet alternative and got the Eheim Pro 4+ 600 based on reviews on the net, this is just as loud or even louder than the Hydor, it does however have the option to slow the flow which helps a little. But the hum from this is very noticeable if you have it in your bedroom. My conclusion, albeit from only testing two filters, is that there aren't any completely quiet canister filters, which is disappointing because people online were saying both the Hydor and Eheim were silent, believe me they are not. If you plan to have it in your living room then it's fine, but if you're sensitive to sound while sleeping, particulary humming then stay away.
@@echoes1891 If your brand new canister filter is "incredibly loud" you either got a defective unit or you have something set up wrong. I picked up a second one of these about 7 months after this video and its just as silent on the full flow setting.
@@FalcoINC They were both correctly set up, the motor makes a low frequency hum that is very noticeable at night when everything else is silent. Though I will try to find some solution, I've heard the SunSun filters are silent so I might try that at one point.
As a hobbyist for many many years i was super happy with the 2217 canister filter, I bought the "professional 4 " canister and I am SO DISAPPOINTED with it!!!!! way over designed and complicated !!! DID NOT DO THE JOB !!! returned it and bought the 2217 again. stay away from this filter !
Over all it has held up well. Id say my one complaint is what Fish R Relaxing said. The two trays of the mech media are not the best media for a filter that takes in water from the bottom. I am looking to do what Fish R Relaxing said in his comment. Replace one of them with a poly fill bag. Other than that, it has been very easy to clean and maintain and I have seen ZERO leakage from the filter or the tubes. Something I cant say for my previous Fluval 306 filter.
Care to elaborate? Its in the same price range as a fluval 406 and other high end, name brand filters with similar GPH ratings. Its built very well and I have had it for almost 4 years and its never once failed me or leaked or slowed up on power. Its also the quietest canister filter I have at the moment between my FX6, fluval 405 and 406, SunSun and Hydor filters.
