MousePotato

I have an Eheim 2217 that came with my new aquarium. I have never used anything but HOB filters before and the whole thing is a bit of a mystery to me. I believe it uses carbon pads somewhere and I am about to medicate my tank. Could someone advise me or give me the link to a good site explaining how I go about removing the carbon?

Thanks!

Shawnie

first off, shut off all the valves to the filter..somewhere in the back of it or on the top are the valves...set the canister on towel thats sitting on a garbage bag..open the top and take out the layers laying them opposite so when you put back in, you will have them stacked correctly..almost a reverse order..probably 3 or 4 pads down is your carbon..you wont miss it..goodluck!

clinton1621

Exactly right, although you probably want to unplug it as well... even with the valves closed they will sometimes blow a bit of water out when you open them

Shawnie

even unplugged they blow,,hence the garbage bag n towel

MousePotato

Thanks, guys. After three days of 50% water changes, my nitrates are back to normal, so I guess this is the next step!

MousePotato

Holy Moley! How do you get this top off?!? We released all the clips, but it won't come up! HELP!!

MousePotato

Nevermind. Got it. Must release air pressure first. Do I take out the activated charcoal bags, too?

Tavel

you take out the charcoal bags too. You could probably just never use charcoal again, I was reluctant to switch but it's been 6 months and my tanks are healthier than ever. I recomend it.

Also, tips for maintenancing the canister filter.
1. Shut it off
2. Close the ball valves and disconnect the unions
3. Put the canister on the rim of the tank and open the bottom valve to release pressure (water will come out so put the hose over the tank water)
4. open the top valve to relieve the vacuum and drain the canister.
5. Close only the bottom valve to stop any residual leakage. Keeping the top valve open will allow you to remove the lid more easily by breaking the vacuum.
6. Put it on the floor and maintenance as normal, there's no more water except what clings to the media.

I like to pour the bacteria substrate into a bucket of tank water. It cleans off the gunk without killing the bacteria.

MousePotato

Thanks, Tavel. It took a bit of work, but we managed to figure it out. One last question - when we hooked it back up it spewed some gunk back into the tank. Is that normal or did we mess up?

clinton1621

Thats normal, its just waste/bacteria that became loose when you did all the maintenance

MousePotato

Thank you, clinton1621. I dosed the tank for the first time last night. Hopefully, the white stuff will clear out and my fishies will be healthy. This is a good cautionary tale about quarantining! I am sooooo glad I didn't add the fish I already had right away. For now, they are still in too small of a tank, but at least they are healthy!