Ok guys i need your input, i have a juwel vision 450 housing central american cichlids and my frt, who is not especially messy but the fish are. I removed the juwel filter box as it was useless with these fish and i have an eheim 2217 classic running, i want to get another eheim external but i don't know which, minimum would be another 2217, what media would you use? Would you go for a bigger filter?
the water is constantly messy and even with the juwel filter running too it just wasn't clearing.
help me!

Hi George

Right, i have never owned a 2217, i have Eheim Pro 2's (2026 and 2028's), thats not meant to sound posh, it just came out that way, lol

These are links to the best deals i can see around for Eheim's with suitable specs for you set-up ( i used Charterhouse Aquatics for 2028 and it came with free delivery and media)

http://www.thelivingseas.uk.com/p/47...heim-2028.html

http://www.charterhouse-aquatics.co....dia-p-190.html

http://www.thelivingseas.uk.com/p/47...heim-2250.html

As for media, i prefer the Eheim Ehfi-Fine for mechanical and Substat Pro for biological. Usually in my 2028's (which has 3 trays) i will have the Ehfi Fine in the bottom tray and Substrat Pro in the middle and top trays, sometimes i use filter wool at the top, but am still experimenting with using this as it annoys me that it can clog the filter up quicker when it's there.

http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?...mode=show&st=0

http://www.aquatics-direct.co.uk/ran...?categoryID=91

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Thanks lex, you happy with the pro's? thinking of a 2028 now, i just want clear bloody water, arghhhh

von, are you using floss/wool ?

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WHO'S YA DADDY

hmmm, i am happy overall, glad i have Eheim and they have served me well.

only thing i would say... the flow isn't as high as i would like it and i supplement with either powerheads or internals (but then again i stock quite heavily), but then again flow can be influenced by maintenance, media and placement of pipes. I can't say its a problem, i just find i need to supplement to ensure enough surface agitation / oxygen supply

I've done enough reading about on net and forums to know Eheim is a safe bet though!

Von, you might want to consider the TetraTec 1200, i've just heard so many good things about it, i think it goes for £70 on-line and although i am glad i have Eheim, to be honest, right now, for £140 i'd take x2 Tetra Tec 1200 over x1 2028, but you dont need two filters to you!

I thought i got my 2028 for £100 from Charterhouse but its now £140, this damn Alzheimers

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forgot to mention, if you can spend the extra £££ (and its not too much) you might want to consider this

http://www.seachem.com/products/prod...s/Purigen.html

i have started using it and so far seems promising (peeps on forums swear by it, but i am reserving judgement)

telboy has a good point about filter wool, but i have found this to have its own pro's and con's whereby others have had nothing but good feedback about it

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Thanks guy's, i do use filter wool, not a great amount, should i increase you think?
i'm happy with the o2 concentration, just the cloudy water, i'll look into teh tetra tec and read some reviews but i am leaning towards a 2028

I think maybe a 2028 with the two intakes might be better

ok, now i'm being a pain, what about an fx5?

I personally with the messy fish opt for a 2250 it is a big bucket filter designed for tanks up to about 220 imp gallons.

Media wise I would fill it with ehfi substrat. Once this filter is managing the bioload remove all the media from the 2217 and put it in the 2250 and then fill the 2217 with sponges and filter wool.

What you will end up with is the 2250 doing the biological action which will only need cleaning about once a month and then the 2217 with all the mechanical filtration as this is the smaller filter it will be easier to manage the cleaning on this filter and you will probably only need to clean this filter every couple of weeks.

I works well for me on my heavily stocked 100 gallon tank. Water is normally crystal clear except for when I feed them then all hell breaks lose.

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Alan

Thweeerp!