Filtration change - thoughts

Becca

Becca

Members
I'm running an eheim ecco pro (the one rated for up to 80 gals) on my 55. It has a prefilter because the substrate in the tank is PFS and the fish (Guianacara) like to sift sand a bit.

In the past, when using eheims, I have never had to open a filter more than once every 6 months because of reduced flow and the tank I had to do that on was full of dirty piranhas.

I've never felt the flow on the ecco pro was that strong and I find that I get a lot of silt in this tank, although it's not heavily planted and it is generally underpopulated. The filter flow loses strength every 8-12 weeks and never does a great job of removing particles from the water. If I add in a fine filtration pad, it clogs every week or two.

I've been thinking about putting two large sponge filters in this tank (rated for 125 gallons each) and calling it quits with the Eheim Ecco. I feel like they do as good of a job of trapping particulates, are easier to clean, cost less to run, and could be hidden behind slate.

Thoughts?
 
Localzoo

Localzoo

Board of Directors
Are you getting a lot of movement from the output causing the intake to pick up everything and clog. Try aiming to the surface or parallel to the surface....don't know just a guess.
Maybe switch media in the filter more expanded clay or bio balls, less sponge or filter floss.

My guesses


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mchambers

mchambers

Former CCA member
Becca,

I feel the same way about the Eheim Eccos. I really like my Eheim Classics and other Eheim filters, but the Eccos just aren't as good. The flow is not great and they don't seem to do as good a job keeping the tank clean. Because the flow is not great, I don't think they do as good job oxygenating the water. In fact, I think Eheim recommends that you only use certain types of outputs with the Eccos.

On top of that, I think the Eccos are little more fragile than the other Eheim filters. The only filter I've ever broken was an Ecco.

I don't know if I would use two large sponge filters, but I'm sure that Matt Quinn would approve. I'd be tempted to find a better canister filter.
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
Add an air-driven box filter (for water polishing / mechanical filtration) to your sponges and you're good-to-go :)

Matt



mchambers said:
Becca,

I feel the same way about the Eheim Eccos. I really like my Eheim Classics and other Eheim filters, but the Eccos just aren't as good. The flow is not great and they don't seem to do as good a job keeping the tank clean. Because the flow is not great, I don't think they do as good job oxygenating the water. In fact, I think Eheim recommends that you only use certain types of outputs with the Eccos.

On top of that, I think the Eccos are little more fragile than the other Eheim filters. The only filter I've ever broken was an Ecco.

I don't know if I would use two large sponge filters, but I'm sure that Matt Quinn would approve. I'd be tempted to find a better canister filter.
Click to expand...
 
Becca

Becca

Members
mchambers said:
Becca,

I feel the same way about the Eheim Eccos. I really like my Eheim Classics and other Eheim filters, but the Eccos just aren't as good. The flow is not great and they don't seem to do as good a job keeping the tank clean. Because the flow is not great, I don't think they do as good job oxygenating the water. In fact, I think Eheim recommends that you only use certain types of outputs with the Eccos.

On top of that, I think the Eccos are little more fragile than the other Eheim filters. The only filter I've ever broken was an Ecco.

I don't know if I would use two large sponge filters, but I'm sure that Matt Quinn would approve. I'd be tempted to find a better canister filter.
Click to expand...


I'm glad it's not all in my head. This is actually why I added a hydor powerhead/wavemaker. I do have the output pointed right at the surface, and it wasn't enough oxygenation, so I added the powerhead.

The sponges might not be ideal for a show tank, but I have them, and I have a 4 outlet air pump. What I don't have is an extra $100 or so for a new canister filter.
 
mchambers

mchambers

Former CCA member
Understood about the $100. If you do find 5 twenties on the sidewalk, I really like the Cobalt EXT canister.

I've got an Ecco 2234 (rated for 60 gallons) on a 30 gallon tank and an Eheim Classic 2213 on another 30 gallon tank, and I think the 2213 does a better job, or at least as good a job.
 
Becca

Becca

Members
mchambers said:
Understood about the $100. If you do find 5 twenties on the sidewalk, I really like the Cobalt EXT canister.

I've got an Ecco 2234 (rated for 60 gallons) on a 30 gallon tank and an Eheim Classic 2213 on another 30 gallon tank, and I think the 2213 does a better job, or at least as good a job.
Click to expand...

Matt - doesn't the Cobalt only do up to 55 gallons?

That one was on my list to check out someday.
 
mchambers

mchambers

Former CCA member
I understand completely. I think it would be okay on a 55, but the flow rate is 210 gph, which some would say is low for a 55. (People who use sponge filters should stay out of this discussion, however.)

So far, I haven't seen any decrease in the flow. I cleaned it once after about three months, but it didn't really need it.
 
Forester

Forester

Members
Personally I'm either go big or go home with filters. I run AC 110s on my 33gs and an FX5 on my 75g. But if you don't want to go out and buy a new one then going Matt Quinn's approach and keeping the canister would be what is do.

Just my 3 cents ;-)


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spazmattik

spazmattik

Members
I do like the aquaclears for the ease of maintenence but they have to be cleaned more often than canisters. I still think its worth it. The cobalt canister filter does look awesome though...

What about diy moving bed filters? Anyone have thoughts on those/using them?
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
If you'e gonna DIY, just do a dump filter (sump on top of the tank)

I've got one running a heavily stocked 55g grow out...fed by a ~250 gph quick filter (like 8W of electricity).

Matt

spazmattik said:
I do like the aquaclears for the ease of maintenence but they have to be cleaned more often than canisters. I still think its worth it. The cobalt canister filter does look awesome though...

What about diy moving bed filters? Anyone have thoughts on those/using them?
Click to expand...
 
Becca

Becca

Members
This is my "show" tank, so I'm not looking to put stuff on top of it. I also don't have space for HOBs... I love AquaClears but the bigguns leave enough space for my kid to get behind the tank which is a no-go in my house.

Honestly, sponges and boxes are OK with me. The other thing is that I have fish spawning regularly in this tank, so I don't want it running like a river, but it needs better air exchange.
 
chriscoli

chriscoli

Administrator
Probably not what you're wanting to do, but I've got my Cobalt EXT combined with a mattenfilter. He EXT intake is behind the foam wall and then it returns back to the tank. The inline pump on that filter uses only 6.5W.
 
chriscoli

chriscoli

Administrator
uh, this is probably where you all cringe....100 gal.

2 corner mattenfilters. powerhead behind one, the Cobalt EXT on the other. line from the Alita airpump (for the other tanks) in the room goes right into the powerhead "venturi" port so it sprays a lot of bubbles.

Actually now that I think about it, I did recently put powerheads back on both and moved the Cobalt EXT back to drawing directly from the tank. Two reasons for this: 1. the draw was enough that it started to clog the mattenfilter and caused it to collapse back into the corner (I used a 30 ppm pore size....will replace with 20 ppm at some point). 2. I have some wood-eating plecos in there and wanted to directly pull some of the debris into the filter to get it out of the tank.

Here's part of why I love these Cobalt canisters though. They are super lightweight, so less pain on the hands and back reaching under the tank to pull out an awkward piece of equipment. And because the power cord is on the inline pump and not attached to the canister part itself....also makes it easy to unclip and move. These have to be the EASIEST canisters to clean, which means that I'm more likely to actually clean them!
 
neut

neut

Members
mchambers said:
Becca,

I feel the same way about the Eheim Eccos. I really like my Eheim Classics and other Eheim filters, but the Eccos just aren't as good. The flow is not great and they don't seem to do as good a job keeping the tank clean. Because the flow is not great, I don't think they do as good job oxygenating the water. In fact, I think Eheim recommends that you only use certain types of outputs with the Eccos.

On top of that, I think the Eccos are little more fragile than the other Eheim filters. The only filter I've ever broken was an Ecco.
Click to expand...
+1

I'm a fan of the classics; they live up to their reputation ime, quiet, durable, simple. Haven't actually used the Eccos, exactly because I typically hear they're sort of a poor man's Eheim, not that they're bad filters for what they are, but basically an entry level Eheim and realistically more of a small tank filter.

Unless you get into the really big Eheims, they're engineering in general is not so much based on big filter flow.

As far as filtration in general, it's definitely one of those things that there's a lot of ways to do it, everyone has their preference. So, from my point of view I'd wait for a deal on a used 2215, or even better a 2217 would be a sweet setup for that tank. But everyone has their own theories and preferences for filtration.
 
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