[rachel]

So, last night I installed a Rex Grigg style inline reactor on the outflow side of a Eheim 2217, in my 75G tank. Before I did this, I was dispursing pressurized CO2 by powerhead. I don't believe I was getting enough CO2 into the water this way and the suction cups on the powerhead were making me crazy.

I've got the Eheim 2217 running with a spray bar placed vertically in one corner. It seems the water doesn't spray out as much as it did before the reactor.

I see some water movement, but I just wonder if this is enough?
Should I have a small powerhead on the other side?
Or maybe add a HOB filter?
Will either cause me to loose CO2 and take me back to square one?

I know some have 2 canister filters, but I'd rather not go that route right now, if I can keep from it.

Please advise.
Thanks!

 

[Wö£fëñxXx]

I would add the power head until you can do better, larger filter etc.
2217 with a reactor on a 75g is as you see, not enough flow which will create more problems for you if you do not add the power head, especially if/when the tank becomes heavy planted.
I would avoid the use of a HOB filter.

 

[rachel]

Well, that just sucks. Here I was hoping this would be it and I can run over that powerhead with my car.
Ok, so with the Eheim 2217, what other filter would suffice? Would a 2213 work to supplement? I have already spent a fortune in the last year and haven't even got any cool plants or fish yet!

 

[EdTheEdge]

maybe you should turn your spraybar horizontally. the pressure coming out of the spraybar does not allow the water to flow perpendicular to the sparybar but at more of an angle. With the spraybar set vertically I bet you will find that most of the water is directed down towards the substrate.

Just a thought.....

 

[sayn3ver]

just use a powerhead....the new hydor korlia's are nice and have a wide flow pattern.

 

[DiabloCanine]

A picture of the setup would help. A 2217 is rated for a tank twice that size and should be sufficient with both a heater and reactor inline. Have you considered moving the return to the center of the tank and/or shortening the tubing?......DC

 

[mundizzle]

I have a 65 gallon tank and a 2217. the flow is plenty for me NOW, but only because i got rid of my inline CO2 reactor and spraybar and went with lily pipe outflow and the large Rhinox glass CO2 diffuser.

All the extra plumbing, twists and turns required by the reactor took away too much flow. this was only made worse by the spraybar, which split the reduced flow into separate streams.

the difference with the glassware is night and day.

i realize that getting glassware like this is expensive and therefore not an option for everyone. i got the lily pipes from Cal Aqua labs 13mm out/17 mm in (matches the 2217 in and outs) for about $110 and the rhinox on ebay for $30.

you could probably just get rid of the spray bar and use the stock green return pipe and get the same results.

 

[DiabloCanine]

I have a 65 gallon tank and a 2217. the flow is plenty for me NOW, but only because i got rid of my inline CO2 reactor and spraybar and went with lily pipe outflow and the large Rhinox glass CO2 diffuser.

All the extra plumbing, twists and turns required by the reactor took away too much flow. this was only made worse by the spraybar, which split the reduced flow into separate streams.

the difference with the glassware is night and day.

i realize that getting glassware like this is expensive and therefore not an option for everyone. i got the lily pipes from Cal Aqua labs 13mm out/17 mm in (matches the 2217 in and outs) for about $110 and the rhinox on ebay for $30.

you could probably just get rid of the spray bar and use the stock green return pipe and get the same results.

Wow, if that is the case, I would put the 2217 in the POS category and definitely go with a Fluval if using inline equipment. A 2217 is rated for up to 160 gallon tank has a pump output of 264 GPH and cannot drive a reactor on a 65 gallon tank, what a POS. Fluval 404 rated for up to 100 gallon tank has a pump output of 340 GPH is driving a reactor AND heater on a 46 gallon, still plenty of flow left. I know eheim wants more media dwell time but I would hope this is not typical performance of a 2217, my 2215s work well.......DC

 

[unirdna]

Naw, Diablo. Something is off. I'd be suspcious of a line bottleneck since the reactor had been installed. I own an ECCO 2236 and a 2217. The ECCO has enough power to push through a Hydro heater, reactor, and UVS and filter a 46g tank. My new 2217 moves twice as much water through the same plumbing system. Like I said, something isn't right. A properly installed reactor shoudn't slow flow that much.

 

[esarkipato]

I know this sounds stupid, but.....is there anything covering/restricting your intake since you noticed the reduced flow? I just had a shrimp-saving sponge get really clogged up and my flow went down dramatically.

 

[Wö£fëñxXx]

Eheims have a drawback that is not mentioned much, I have 5 of them and I am a bit disappointed in all of them, when they rate the flow on these things they do so with them empty, well thats great a bit misleading and deceptive, we don't use them empty.
The longer they run the weaker they get/flow is reduced.
I have 2213's, 2215's and then I purchased a 2126 for my 46g same thing happened, starts out fine, but as time goes and the tank grows full, flow is drastically reduced, leaving me with the option of having to add a power head, or prune hard and clean the pads.
Then you add UV filter, reactor, hydor... uhg
I want a better filter that will not decrease in flow rate.
I do however use glass pipes instead of the puke green intake and exhaust that comes with these.

A 2213 is rated for up to 66g tank, yeah right, not a planted tank, will work fine on a 10g planted etc.

I have a 2213 on 60cm/about 18g and it is not enough flow at times, the flow will gradually decline, very aggravating to say the least.

I am in the process of setting up a 120cm tank and was talking to Ianiwane the other day, he had a 2217 setup on his 120cm/ about 65g and said the same thing, he had to get a XP3 to run the tank, the 2217 could not keep up.

I am pondering on purchasing one of those ES1200 Superjets, ADA claims that it will not do as I am describing here, but that price is hard to swallow.

This has been my experience with the Eheims for several years, they seem like they would work fine with a "fish" only tank.

 

[kzr750r1]

Just makes me wonder if we could piece the same design together with a properly built lid for a 2.5 g bucket with some media baskets. Then the pump could be swapped out for a correct size to fit the tank, planted, with media.

I too like the Eheim filters but notice the same with the 2026 over time. As we have discussed on other posts.

But this brings up a question I've asked in a couple of other posts. How much media volume is sufficient our tanks per gallon? Regardless of the flow. As always there are several factors involved but from memory the 2026 and 2126 are 1.5L ish. What is the cap folks are comfortable with given that the plants act as part of the bio filter as well...

 

[fluff34567]

i have a 2028 on a 46 G bow front - i use the grey intake/spraypar and i have only a few plants in the tank and also think the flow rate is a bit poor - i have an inline UV, i need to put a reactor inline also but this is a concern... i do however have ann external pump siting here- but the flow is far too much for the reactor - the bubbles go straight out of the reactor.

How about an external pump connected to the filter tubing with a Y connection to increase the flow?

 

[unirdna]

Ahh. Just thought of something... I don't use bioballs in any of my reactors. That may be why my filters aren't slowed as much as other's seem to be.

 

[rachel]

Since my initial post, I shortened the hose that goes from the reactor to the spray bar and placed the spray bar horizontally. I did notice a slight increase in movement, but I'm still not very impressed.

I'm not using bio balls or anything in the reactor, so that can't be slowing it down. Could the reactor be too large? The PVC is 18 inches long by 1.5 inches.

I think I'm going to work on cutting the hoses even shorter and bundling everything together better. If it is bottlenecking, shortening the hoses should fix it, right?

If this doesn't work, then it's got to be the filter. Of which, I'm not going to be too pleased, because I haven't had it long!

How often do you guys clean your Eheims?

 

[DiabloCanine]

Since my initial post, I shortened the hose that goes from the reactor to the spray bar and placed the spray bar horizontally. I did notice a slight increase in movement, but I'm still not very impressed.

I'm not using bio balls or anything in the reactor, so that can't be slowing it down. Could the reactor be too large? The PVC is 18 inches long by 1.5 inches.

I think I'm going to work on cutting the hoses even shorter and bundling everything together better. If it is bottlenecking, shortening the hoses should fix it, right?

If this doesn't work, then it's got to be the filter. Of which, I'm not going to be too pleased, because I haven't had it long!

How often do you guys clean your Eheims?

IMO, your reactor is not too long. Can you post a pic showing the hose routing?......DC

 

[esarkipato]

I clean the filter once every couple months (but it's a filstar), but I notice a reduction in flow after about a month due to dirty media.

 

[original kuhli]

Check out the koralia pumps from Hydor. Might be a viable solution.