efly2

I just purchased a 75g tank that came with a 2215 canister filter. All the media has been dumped out. He said he had it set up for a saltwater tank and i want to use it for a planted freshwater tank with dwarf cichlids. This is my first time with a canister filter and i was wondering if anyone could please share with me the layers of media that i need to put in it. There is so much out there and i easily get confused.

Thanks in advance!

prairielilly

You're going to love this filter I have a 2213 on my FW planted 20g, my best decision ever.

The recommended sequence of Eheim media is: on the bottom put Ehfimech (looks like ceramic noodles, they're for mechanical filtration), followed by a coarse blue sponge, followed by Ehfisubstrat (biological media - I think it might be called 'substrat pro'), followed by a carbon pad (if using) topped by a fine filter pad. These should all be available wherever Eheim filters are sold.

Eheim (of course) recommends only using Eheim media, but that's kind of pricey. Once you invest in the mechanical and biomedia you should never need to replace them. I bought generic carbon pad and fine filter media and cut those to shape, and then replace them once a month, which is also when I rinse out the other media in tank water. This is working very well.

This link is for the Classic page on the Eheim website, will give you some pictures to illustrate what I'm saying. There's also a link on the left sidebar for downloading the manual, which also may be helpful.

efly2

Thanks, this definately clears up some of the confusion! can you add other media if you want to, like buffers and such?

prairielilly

The only trouble I'd see with that is that in this model, there's no screens/trays in between each layer of media. While this IMO enhances the filtration ability (nothing to reduce/block water flow), it also means that if you want to use loose stuff you have no way of it not mixing around with other layers and making a mess. Stuff that comes in a sheet works way better than loose stuff, which is how I've seen most buffering media sold. There is generic sheet media you can buy that reduces phosphate, ammonia, etc. there's possilby also something in sheet form that could be used as a buffering agent.

I haven't had mine very long though, some members here have been using them for years - maybe they've come up with some workaround?

Pente85Camino

Only a month late!!! Hopefully you are still following this thread.

I have just bought the 2236 (80g), yesterday so what I have to say has not been given a length of time to be proven.

I bought a roll of 1"x10"x84" poly filter floss (comes in a bag) for $3-$4 and cut it to size. It is not a stiff as the Eheim Synth, Fine Filter Pads so it will not reduce the flow (as much, maybe). Then follow the instructions for that media type (rinsing, etc) and place on top of the filter floss. Lock everything back and you should be set.

I don't know about any adverse affects of using that type of media or using the extra filter floss for that matter, so be sure to monitor performance for a couple of weeks.