To the Eheim folks

[akagochi]

I have an Eheim 2215 canister filter. I love it, and it works like a
swiss time piece.
Question: How often do you clean your Eheim?
The last time I did was October 29th of this year. As I understand Eheims can be changed every 90 days or so. Right now I have a 55 gal, planted community over stocked with about 50 fish. I also run an Aqueon 30 which I monitor weekly.

Thank you for your feedback.

 

[Fishguy2727]

I know Eheim claims they can go longer, but any filter should be cleaned every month. Filters do two main things: 1-house bacteria that consume ammonia and nitrite and 2-collect particulates for the aquarist to remove from the system. The problem is number 2. A filter can be amazing and trap all sorts of debris, but it is actually still in the system in the water column. If the aquarist doesn't remove this debris then it rots. The debris breaks down to nitrate and phosphate and lowers water quality. I have seen tanks with neglected canisters go from 40ppm to 10ppm just be cleaning the canister. They become nitrate factories if not maintained frequently enough.

I know Eheim claims their filters can go longer, but I have never seen anything that explains how they magically fix this problem.