Eheim's in series

[ILLUSN]

G'day Everyone I've had good results in the past using 2 2213 eheims in series 1 for mechanical and one for biological on a standard 4ft tank, has anyone ever done this with 2 2217's? if so how did you go about connecting the smaller output pipe (12/16mm i think) to the larger intake pipe( 16/22mm) if no one has done this can anyone suggest a way that this could be done?

[ILLUSN]

for anyone who's been watching this post I found the answer from a Grey haired guy at an LFS, EHEIM make a reduce junction 16-22 > 12-16 part number 4004980. he said in the "old days" before good baffled sumps for fish shops EHEIM sold "blank canisters" with no moters for hook up in series. these were driven by EHEIM hobby pumps on the OUTLET ONLY of the final canister, he said if you preasurised the inlet the tops would fly off. the advantage was 1 for mechanical course filtration which was cleaned regularly, 1 for fine mechanical and absorbtive/chemical and a biological that was "never cleaned ???" he said he ran rows of tanks like this them moved on to sumps in the late 80's.

[Merrilyn]

That's a great piece of history Illusn.

:P

[Xtreme]

That is how Pentair Aquatics do there filter systems. You hook up several filter components (in lieu of canisters) and have one pump controlling the flow.

You can still do this with the larger 2250 & 2260 Classic filters as the pumps on those are removable and interchangable.

[ILLUSN]

Well the impeller on the 2017 has finally crapped itself so it's time for another slave canister, pity i cant get parts anymore.

Well learning from the previous 2015 I've made a few changes to the series canister hook up.

[ILLUSN]

to hook up a 2017 to a 2217 in the propper configuration of water flow from bottom to top you'll need a few bits and pices.

a reducing connecter from 16/22mm to 12/16mm. you can use a genuine part for about $10 EH4003980 or bunnings 13/16mm connecter for $1.70. if you use the bunnings part you'll need to heat your hoses to get them on and make sure the cuts are square so they dont leak, even better would be to put on 10-16mm hose clamp($.65).

the bend from the out put of the slave canister to the input of the biocanister is also a problem, you can use a 12mm eheim elbow EH4014050 or hose sleave bend EH4014300 about $7 ea or again a bunning 13mm elbow $0.70, again you'll have to be carefull with your hose.

a double tap also helps alot when your cleaning, which being entirly mech and chemical you should be doing atleast once every 2 weeks.

[ILLUSN]

The slave canister will be for mech filtration only, leaving the powered canister for biofiltration only, combined this gives approx 6L of mech and a full 6L of bio with puts in the same ballpark as a fluval FX5 only with with MUCH LESS FLOW.

for this project 500ml of sintered glass substarte (Aquaone advanced) was added, later when this tank becomes my wild discus tank this will be replaced with 500ml of peat for that "blackwater effect"

[ILLUSN]

the rest of the canister was filled with white wool (3 pads in total) and the impeller removed. It is important to make sure that the prefilter is not powered, as if it were it would preasurise the input of the 2nd canister, this could result in damage to the second moter and complete failure of the seal (the filter head would fly off). the sealing ring was lubriated with a bit of vaseline and hoses connected. i used doubletaps cause I had them lying around and it makes cleaning ALOT LESS messy.

[ILLUSN]

This is setup on my 300L quarentine tank (120cmx60cmx40cm).

The system was flowtested with a vertical height of 90cm from the top of the filter head using 1m of hose. The 2217 in standard configuration of white wool, EFHI substrate, Blue pad, Efhi mech (from top to bottom) flowed at 649.18L/hour. With the prefilter attached the same canister (once all air was purged) flowed at 582.35L/hour. The total flow reduction was 10.3%.

Flow rate was calculated as the time taken to fill a 12L bucket to the 11L mark. Raw data is "normal" 2217 61 seconds "prefiltered" 2217 68 seconds

Once the mech media is removed from the powered canister the system will be flowtested again.

THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL I"D WASTE A GOOD EHEIM AS A PREFILTER! however, in such a case where you cant get parts and you have an old eheim, fluval 3 series or sacem lying around doing nothing, for a 10% reduction if flow you can double your filtration capacity, and extend the benifts of your existing biological filter.

Comments, Questions and Criticisium as always welcome

Jothy

[TW]

Hi Jothy

Following on from http://www.discusforums.com/forum/vi...360&highlight= where you linked me to this thread.

THERE IS NO WAY IN **** I"D WASTE A GOOD EHEIM AS A PREFILTER!

You don't recommend this then? Or is it just that you wouldn't especially buy a brand new eheim filter with this intention in mind?

So, if I do this, my flow reduces, but I do extend the benifts of my existing biological filter ???
Does that mean that I have increased the filtering capacity by doing this ???

ATM, I am trying to juggle around some filters, so my 79G is sufficiently filtered, but without having a filter at each end. My other tanks mostly do have an eheim at each end, but on this one I'm part way through installing a 3D backgrounds & it would kill the look to have filter pipes at the oppposite end (as well as where I originally planned for them to be).

I'd really would like to see this tank well or over filtered, as I will be going slightly over recommended stocking level of 1 adult discus per 10G (given there will be 8 in 79G).

I hoped that by doing this, I'd be increasing my filtration capacity, but without the jumble of extra pipes? Would this plan achieve my goal?

About the reduction of flow & the effects on my UV. I had thought a slight decrease in flow would be better for the UV kill rate, rather than the other way around? Up to a point, the slower the flow, the longer the exposure & the higher the kill rate - right ??? I know there are other factors involved too.

The manufacturer of my UV said: "as a rule they recommend turning a fresh water tank over no less than one time an hour & that turning it over more frequently is great." From the rates you quote, Jothy, I should still easily be turning over at least 1.5 x tank volume in an hour.

So I think I am ok with the 2 cannisters in sequence in regard to not stuffing up UV performance - or am I missing something important here? I can be easily confused with this UV stuff LOL

Does it make any difference if the bigger capacity cannister is the first in the sequence, as long as it is only the 2nd cannister that is powered up?

You recommend taking out the impellor in the 1st cannister - not just making sure you don't plug it in?