Hello everyone,



This is my first post (of many I am sure) and I just registered yesterday. I have a few questions that hopefully some of you won't mind helping me with. I was able to pick up a great deal when I was watching craigslist in myu area. I picked up a 65g aquarium with lights and stand and eheim 2215 canister filter plus a few extras for only 75.00. The stand is not that great but I have a woodshop so am going to build my own anyway.



My questions are more regarding the eheim at this point. I have received many opinions from the LFS abnd through the big als online customer service. The questions I have been asking are regarding what needs to be done with regards to replacing filter sections of the internals of the canister filter. Here are my questions.



1) Should I replace the ehfisubstrat and ehfimech or just rinse or boil it etc. to have it ready to start a new cycle once we set up our tank? I have been told to not replace it, boil it down and dry it, replace all of it a nd replace some of it. I am trying to get this setup cost effectively so don't really want to spend money where I don't have to.



2) What should I do to clean up some of the water scales that are on some of the areas on the back area of the glass around where the heater was and other filter lines etc. I also have some hard water buildup on the black upper frame of the aquarium. I have used vinegar to clean the eheim lines and it has worked out well but am not sure what to do to rinse it out now. Is water just suitable to use after you clean with vinegar to rinse areas of glass or equipment ,parts? How much rinsing is appropriate?



I am also wondering about what the best way to cycle our tank will be and how long it should tank for a 65 gallon tank. Any thoughts on this is really well taken as well.



I would really appreciate the help to get me started in this hobby.



Thank you so much for your help.



I look forward to reading what you have to say.

Welcome to the fourm! You got a good deal and now it's time to take advantage of your situation and the many knowledgable foks here. Me being the least of those.

I can only tell you what I'd do. I'd replace the filter media for the cannister filter. There are no good bacteria still alive in any of it and I'd want to start with fresh media. I'd skip the carbon stuff, it is worn out in a week or two anyway and you don't want to have to back into the filter any sooner than you have to. I'd just clean the filter with tap water after you've de-scaled it, including any hoses.

I'd clean the tank with only tap water and vinegar and rinse it comletely. I bought some new sponge/scrubby things for ONLY my tanks and keep them seperate from anything around the sink. (no soap) I use those with some vinegar to get hard scale from tank surfaces, then rinse the heck out of everything. I turn the tank on its side and hose it out completely and I mean completely. Be careful not to break it or put too much strain on any one side. Get some help to move and lift evenly.

Read rtbob's link on cycling. It takes as long as it takes and is somewhat dependent on temprature, pH and how careful you are. My 55 took about 20 days using ammonia and testing every day. If you don't have a test kit, buy one. (Note: read up on the current issue with API test kits) Even after the cycle was complete, I did not dump a dozen big Cichlids in there, but just a few at a time. Don't overstock although it is tempting, just about everyone pays a price if we do and most especially, our fishy friends.

What kind of aquarium do you want? Planted? Community? Species? What kind of light do you have? Do you have a good heater?

Good luck and keep us posted.

__________________
60g tall, all artificial plants, Rainbow tank; 55g for African Cichlids. 20g long for fry; 20g hex, 2 black Angels at my desk; 10g planted, with 50 Molly fry; 10 gal, 2x 13w cfl lightning, planted; 2g hex for "Buddy the Betta"; Wanting a 200g +, MTS getting bad.

Hi Restart,

Thank you very much for your comments. To answer a couple of your questions.

I am not planning on a planted tank right now because I am so new. I am thinking of a community with some decorations etc.

I just bought a Marineland Visi-Therm 250w online and am waiting for it to arrive. Will this be enough or too much?

I have a double tube fluorescent light fixture that came with a white bulb and a bulb that is blue when it is turned on. What does the blue bulb do? I also have a few extras that are white lights.

Thanks again,

I cant help much with the hard water stains as I have never had to deal with those. Just be carefull in your choice of scrubbing material...it is entirely possible to scratch the glass! Dedicated "fish-only" cleaning tools are very wise to have.

But I can voice an opinion on the used media. I also bought a second hand Ehiem, and I did quite a bit of research on what to do. The general consensus was to toss all the soft fluffy stuff (pads) and buy new. They are not that pricey. (Forget the carbon pads, unless you are removing medications.)

But the ehfisubstrat and ehfimech are expensive. If you can afford to replace it, more power to you. But if not, boil it for 20 minutes, or soak it in hot water and a good dose of chlorine overnight. I went the chlorine route. Then I rinsed it all several times and added a large dose of dechlorinator to the final batch of rinse water. I use Prime. (I used just enough water to cover the media by an inch or so, for this last soak in Prime.) I let that sit overnight, and stirred it all thoroughly to be sure the Prime got into all the nooks and crannies. Then I poured out the water, and dumped it all onto some big towels out on my porch. I let it dry in the sun for a couple of days, stirring and rearranging it all so it dried really well.

In my case, I eventually did have to buy more ehfisubstrat (the round balls) but only because the filter did not come with enough. The ehfimech is the white, noodle-like stuff, and I had plenty of that.

Do a search on fishless cycling with pure ammonia. Much easier, on you and the fish!

Thanks for your input Glassbird!

This was some great info you have provided. Just curious though, Why did you decide to go the chlorine route when you could have simply just boiled it for a while like you suggested?

Did you also replace the Coarse blue pad that separates the ehfi mech and ehfisubstrat?

On that note Glassbird, I would like to hear your experiences with the eheim canister filter. Have you had any problems? How often are you maintaining and changing the white pads? Which eheim do you have? Any info on this filter would be fantastic.

Thanks again,

Funny that you asked about why I went with chlorine instead of boiling...I really agonized over that decision! Finally, I decided to go with the chlorine, and use the hottest water possible out of our tap, which was sort of the best of both worlds. Sort of! (Somehow that seemed safer than adding chlorine to water, and then boiling that.) I apparently forgot to mention the very hot tap water in my previous post.

I threw out all the softer filter material that came with my used Eheim. I did keep one, but only to use as a pattern so that I could cut out the right shape from the blue/white cut-your-own filter media available at my local fish store. Much less expensive than the official store-bought version. I am starting to wonder if the store-bought versions last longer, however. I clean the filter about once a month, and have been removing the oldest and/or nastiest pad each time and putting a new one in. I move the older ones down, and put the new one on the top, so it gets the water flow last. They definetly get the job done, but they get old and flat fairly quickly.

I am wondering if buying a few of the coarse store-bought versions and using them on the bottom level will extend the life of the cut-your-own pads. They are fairly fine, relatively speaking, and may be catching more crud than they can handle.

My eheim is the 2028 Pro 2. I bought it from a guy in a parking lot, and he swore it did not leak. Ha ha ha! Leaked like a sun of a gun. But that forced me to learn how to replace and lube all the gaskets, which is good stuff to know. Even with the cost of the parts, I came out ahead in terms of cost. And all that learning didn't cost a thing!