Hey everyone,
As you can see from my signature, I run an Eheim 2213 along with my 85lbs of live rock, 4"
SB, a skimmer on steroids, and a 20g sump with a refugium. *I suppose a lot of you are wondering
WHY?
Well, I keep a big bio-load. *Right now I have around 20 corals and 10 fish in a 58 gallon tank. *I've had many of these critters close to 2 years, so they aren't little either. *I have to empty my skimmer's collection cup every day because about 1 cup to 1.5 cup of really nasty skimmate collects in there every day. *Which is where my Eheim comes in.
My Eheim is not packed like a normal canister filter. *It has no pads, or sponges, or paper, or floss, or anything like that. *That stuff just collect detritus and become a nitrate supplier, rather than a nitrate eliminator.
I pack my Eheim with ceramic media on the bottom, sintered glass in the middle, and coarse (6mm) aragonite on the top, so that it acts more as a mechanically driven biological filter, than a mechanical filter. Here's a schematic to help you visualize what I'm talking about
:
It is true that the microscopic pores in the sintered glass and the coarse aragonite get full of detritus over a period of 2 to 3 months, and then the law of diminishing returns begins to take effect. *So, what I do at that point is take the media out, and carefully wash it in tank water (during a water change), so that I lose as little bacteia as possible. *Yes, I lose some, but over the course of a week or so, it is back up to full filtration again.
I just thought I'd share this technique with you. *Some of you may have problems with nitrates. *This will help reduce your nitrates significantly, but you do have to keep the filter clean. *It is not just plug and play --- you have to monitor you nitrate levels frequently, and when you see them beginning to rise, it is probably time to wash the filter media (and do a partial water change).
I hope this has helped someone. *Peace to all of you. *
Edit: *I just thought of something that I should have mentioned. *The 2213 has a spray bar for tank return. *This helps facilitate gas exchange tremendously. *If you are considering getting a filter withouth a spray bar return, be sure and order one for it. *You won't see as good results without the spray bar gas exchange.
