desertrefugee

Folks, I am at my wit's end. I've tried everything this newbie can try.

I've had a new, out-of-the-box Eheim 2215 cannister running for about a week now. I just saw a shot on the net of a working Eheim cannister filter with water spraying halfway across the tank from the spraybar!

Mine barely dribbles out of each hole. I thought that was the way it was supposed to work. I believe it to be fully primed and it runs almost completely silently except for a slight hum. There are no kinks in the line. The cannister is under the tank in the cabinet. Nothing out of the ordinary.

How do you get this thing to flow as it should? I'm stumped.

Did I get a dud?

aquarist48

Hello Desertrefugee. I don't have one these types of filters but is there any kind of flow control that you can adjust? Too, this will bump you up for more responses. Also, if you'll go to the left hand side of this screen and click on Fish Forum Home, scroll down to "reviews" filter/filtration and see if anything is listed there about it.
Have a good day today!
Ken

desertrefugee

Thanks. I've reviewed posts (searched) on several forums and haven't yet hit paydirt. So, I tried posting a direct question.

I definitely have a problem with this filter...(or operator error).

Just need to find out what it is. If I do, I'll post here for closure - and future reference. Meanwhile, if anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears.

Thanks!

desertrefugee

You know, it just occurred to me (during an engineering department meeting no less) that I might be to blame here.

I took this new Eheim 2215 straight out of the box, hooked it up, primed it and turned it on. I did not open the canister at all.

Do they come from the factory with the media contained in plastic bags

If so, this just might explain my lack of flow.

(and would demonstrate no small ignorance on my part).

Fizzle

Come to find out, the dude at the local fish store was wrong in saying that you just take it out of the box and hook it up. I unfortunately did the same thing until I realized you had to open up the cannister and take out the bags first! LOL newbie mistakes. Be sure to rinse the media first! Good luck with the Eheim. Mine works great now.

desertrefugee

Yup.

Both the "bio-balls" and the "pasta-shells" were in plastic bags!

Sheesh. What an idiot I am!

(In my defense, the Eheim instructions are completely worthless).

Now there's TOO much flow. I had to put the spray bar under water. If anything, I'm over filtered now. The Eheim 2215 and a Fluval #4 Plus in tank.

Now to let it truly percolate in preparation for livestock...

Thanks!

ccb04

Well, in your other thread I did tell ya' that Eheim's stated flow rates are with the canister full of media ... just not still wrapped in plastic, lol.

Glad to hear you got things sorted out. BTW, I've heard that several times regarding Eheim's instruction (or lack thereof) manual.

aquarist48

Yeah!!!! Glad to hear you got the problem solved.
Keep us posted.
Ken

Fizzle

Not sure if you have the same problem as me. If you put it below surface level, then you get all these micro-bubbles. I turned the outtake on the outflow hole down just a bit and it's better. spray bar is exactly at surface level. I'm not sure if it's the bubble wall I have in the back of my tank that is causing these microbubbles to occur when the spray bar sprays water and pushes those bubbles out.

desertrefugee

Thanks everyone for all the support. (And for not rubbing it in).

I have tried several online forums, but this is "The One".

I'll have this tank fully running in a month or so. For now, I've just begun to see ammonia (~.5ppm according to API Master last night).

I'm going nuts trying to decide how to stock it.

Absolutely nuts. Cichlids, Community, Angels, Schools, Species...?