Cleaning a canister filter properly

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neurotik

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I have an Eheim Ecco 2236 canister filter running on my new 55 gallon community tank, and I was just wondering what the most effective way to clean the filter would be without too much risk of removing the beneficial bacteria and putting my tank into a mini cycle, and also how often should such maintenance be performed on a filter like this?

My filter has a fine filter pad (white filter pad) on the top of the first media basket, the rest of the first basket as well as the other middle baskets are filled with Eheim's SUBSTRATpro filter media (little bio balls), and then there is a coarse foam pad (blue pad) at the bottom of the last filter basket.

I read through the information that came with the filter, and they recommend cleaning it and replacing stuff every 3-6 months, but I figured I'd ask some of you the best way to go about cleaning it and what I should and should not be replacing each time I clean it so that I don't cause any re-cycling problems for my tank.

Thanks in advance!
 
the bio balls really dont need to be cleaned. the filter pads do. when doing water changes just pull out the pads and squeeze them to get all the dirt out. i would do it at least monthly depending on your tank. i only replace sponges when they fall apart. they want you to buy new media thats where they make money. i have gone years with out having to replace media.
 
I have the Eheim 2026 Pro II.
When I want to clean mine, I actually replace the white media, wash out the blue, but not too much, and rinse off the bio balls, just not that much.
Sounds like a real ghetto way of doing it, but check my pics of my tank and you will see there is a method to my madness. I check my levels once a week and inspect the water for any abnormalities.
That 3-6 month thing, I DON'T FOLLOW. That is all dependent on how many fish you have, and whatever else is going on in the tank.
 
I hate to revive this slightly old thread of mine, but I plan on cleaning out my 2236 for the first time today and I just wanted to follow up with a few more quick questions if you guys didn't mind.

djrusselljoseph, you said with your Eheim you replace the white filter pad each time you clean yours, so here's my question: When I opened my filter up earlier to check everything out, I noticed that all three trays of my bio balls appear completely clean, almost the same as when they first came out of the box -- is this normal? I was under the impression that there would be some of that brown, gunky stuff covering the biological media since that's where the bacteria is supposed to be living at, but maybe I'm wrong? The reason I'm asking is because my fine white filter pad at the top of my canister is completely saturated with that brown, gunky stuff, so is that where most of my bacteria is at then, rather than on my bio balls for some reason?

I just don't want to replace the white pad or wash it out and then end up sending my tank through a mini cycle because I removed most of my bacteria or something. Any better explanation to all of this would be really helpful as I'd like to get my filter cleaned out later this evening hopefully. Thanks! :)
 
What order do you run each stage of filtration?

In my opinion, there would be more than enough beneficial bacteria trapped even if you partially rinsed off the bio-balls and the blue sponge sections.
 
I didn't see it mentioned here so I'll go ahead and say it:

When you're rinsing out your medium, use a pail full of the water from your tank, otherwise you'll kill off the biomedia in the filter.
 
I didn't see it mentioned here so I'll go ahead and say it:

When you're rinsing out your medium, use a pail full of the water from your tank, otherwise you'll kill off the biomedia in the filter.
Yes, I'm aware that it is best to use water from the tank when rinsing any filter media off. Thanks for the reminder though :)

What order do you run each stage of filtration?

In my opinion, there would be more than enough beneficial bacteria trapped even if you partially rinsed off the bio-balls and the blue sponge sections.
Starting from the top, here is how it is currently set up (I just went by the book as it was my first canister):

Tray 1: fine filter pad (white pad) on top / rest of the tray filled with bio balls
Tray 2: filled entirely with bio balls
Tray 3: filled top half of tray with bio balls / bottom half with coarse pad (blue)

As I said, the bio balls appear very clean still, no brown gunky stuff on them at all yet; however, the top white filter pad is saturated with brown gunk, so I'd assume that's where most of my bacteria is for some reason? That's why I am hesitant to change that filter pad out or clean it so soon, even though it is so saturated with gunk.

The tank has only been established for a little under two months, and I've been told that I need to wait a couple more months for the filter's bio balls to get a strong enough colony of bacteria on them to have the brown gunk, and then it would be safe to rinse off/replace the white filter pad on top.

Does this sound right?
 
Well yeah, that makes sense.
The water flow from tank enters intake on filter, it will hit the white pad first and traps any type of solid, as it passes down in the cannister you should see less and less of it.
I will check mine when I get home in a couple of hours. I am due, I usually check it when I do a partial water change (which I did this week).

My take is this. Keep up on partial water changes twice a month, you should be fine where bacteria is concerned. Bacteria will multiply provided you don't totally cleanse every single completely. You still have bacteria sitting at the bottom of your tank in your substrate.
 
So would it be safe to at least gently rinse off the white filter pad on top with some of my tank water at this early on without risk of removing too much of my bacteria? I really think that it's disrupting quite a bit of the water flow coming out of my filter, as it seems much weaker than it used to be ~month ago or so. I don't mind waiting if I have to, as I have an XP2 that I just set up on the tank last week to help out with extra filtration, so the weaker flow coming from my 2236 shouldn't cause any problems if I need to wait before rinsing the white pad, but I want to make sure I get it rinsed off a bit as soon as it's safe to, if that makes sense.
 
Even if you completely replace the white pad, you will be fine for bacteria. Just the fact that it is slowly your water flow tells me it should be changed. I would be more worried if you told me that you did a MAJOR (50%) water change replaced the white pad and totally cleaned off the bio-balls and the blue pad.
See my point? The bacteria that is trapped within that white section isn't going to make or break your bacteria concentration.
 
Okay. I guess I was just under the impression that brown gunk = lots of bacteria, and no brown gunk = no bacteria, and since the only place I see any brown gunk at all in my filter is on the top white pad, rather than on the bio balls where I thought it was supposed to be at, that changing the entire white pad would mean byebye bacteria.

Apparently that's wrong though, hehe.
 
I like to take my canister outside and use a waterhose with a spray nozzle on it. I spray out the foam with high pressure water until it runs clear, lightly rinse bio media, rinse out the canister thoroughly then put it all back together, fill it up with water and take it back inside. been doing it that way for 4 years, once every couple months.
 
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