# Best media to run in Eheim 2213



## Tihsho (Oct 10, 2007)

Just got my first Eheim and lets just say I like it so far and it's not even filled with water or running. The product seems simple and I like how it's ready to run out of the box, save the plastic wrapping the canister housing and the plastic wrapping the media canister and needing to measure/cut the hose... Ok, well not exactly ready to run.

My question is the following, I see the media canister is filled with mainly Eheim's Substrat Pro, Ceramic Rings, and a coarse/fine pad. Should I swap any of the biomedia out for something with more surface area such as bioballs? Or add Purigen? I've always added stuff/pulled stuff out of Fluval's but I'm not sure I even need to on this filter.

This canister will be run on a new nano tank that will be starting from scratch.


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## sohankpatel (Jul 10, 2015)

I like using purigen personally, it lasts longer and works better on planted tanks than carbon. Speaking of purigen, when was the last time i regenerated mine.....?


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## Tihsho (Oct 10, 2007)

I forgot to mention it had a carbon pad. I didn't even notice it at a first glance! That will be coming out for sure. 
@sohankpatel I don't ever use carbon in any tanks I've run in the past 10 years... Wait, I lie, I use it when I'm pulling meds out of QT tanks in on a powerhead filter and dump it less than 24 hours later. I think I should be able to fit two Purigen pillows where the carbon pad is coming out.


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## alphabeta (Jul 14, 2014)

use at it is. once established it will have enough room for bacteria. it is a great product. 
for a nano tank that would be ok.


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## al4n (Nov 18, 2008)

Agree with alpha, use as is. Perfectly fine. Bioballs are still rated? I think Marinepure is the new thing i dunno

Sent from my SM-N910G using Tapatalk


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## Tihsho (Oct 10, 2007)

Well I plan on replacing the carbon pad with something else because I don't want to have to crack open the canister the first week to remove a phosphate source. Any recommendations on what to replace it with? I'm thinking two Purigen pillows, but could be convinced into something else.


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## Powerclown (Aug 17, 2014)

Here is what I use in my 2213
From bottom to top:

1. Ceramic rings

2. Coarse pad

3.medium pad , self cut 

4.substrate plus

5.filter floss 

6.50 micron pad,self cut

7. Two bags of purigen


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## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

Powerclown has the correct placement order down that I would also do. That is assuming the water flows through the bottom first (have the water flow through the ceramic rings first, then follow the rest of the placement order).
You could potentially put 1. coarse pad, 2. medium pad, 3. ceramic rings and then the rest, either way will work, both have possible benefits between these two placements, but not 100% sure which is a bit more effective, but both are great.

Yes you will need to cut and remove plastic bags from the media, unless it is a nylon or cloth mesh, then you can leave that intact since water can flow through it.

Bioballs is on the low end of surface area for biomedia. Eheim Substrat pro is one of the best biomedia (large amount of surface area for beneficial bacteria). Just stick with the provided media. But if you have extra room, add in the bioballs.


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

I keep about two inches of substrat pro in bottom of my two ehiem 2217'S, then four coarse pad's,then fine ,self cut pad on top.
I ordered extra coarse pad's for both filter's, and swap out clean ones ,for dirty ones once a month.


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## alphabeta (Jul 14, 2014)

just do not use the carbon pad. why do you want to have something in place of it? 
Also, for fine filter you can use Morning Glory High Loft Batting, 81" x 96" - Walmart.com which is way cheaper than buying originals. just cut to the size of your pad.


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## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

+1 ^

Get the batting/sheet roll, since I hear the puffs tend to cause lots of little strands to end up floating throughout your tank.
Just make sure the ones you get are 100% polyester and don't have a fire retardant on them (bad for fish health, if fire retardant isn't mentioned on the bag, it probably is safe).


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## Tihsho (Oct 10, 2007)

alphabeta said:


> just do not use the carbon pad. why do you want to have something in place of it?


I see open space in canister filters as wasted space. Might just be how my engineer mind works, or my undiagnosed autism. 



alphabeta said:


> Also, for fine filter you can use Morning Glory High Loft Batting, 81" x 96" - Walmart.com which is way cheaper than buying originals. just cut to the size of your pad.





WaterLife said:


> +1 ^
> 
> Get the batting/sheet roll, since I hear the puffs tend to cause lots of little strands to end up floating throughout your tank.
> Just make sure the ones you get are 100% polyester and don't have a fire retardant on them (bad for fish health, if fire retardant isn't mentioned on the bag, it probably is safe).


I've used stuff like this before on old setups and it works well. I've got a bulk roll of filter media I've been trying to get through for years (one coarse blue side and a fine white side) that I'm going to use up first for mechanical filtration. 

Anyone have prefilter recommendations? I plan on running lily pipes with the OEM hoses (unless there is a reason to use other hoses I don't know of) and would like a prefilter to keep shrimplets from getting pulled into the canister and starting their own colony.


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## rebelbuck1993 (Sep 3, 2014)

Powerclown said:


> Here is what I use in my 2213
> From bottom to top:
> 
> 1. Ceramic rings
> ...


+1
i have been doing my 75gal this way along with a sponge filter and it stays nice and healthy, however i just got over hair fuzz on some plants when i introduced some dwarf baby tears in the tank last month, :frown2:







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## spiderguardnano (Aug 8, 2015)

My setup bottom to the top 

Matrix 
Blue foam 
Ada bio rio 
Filter floss
Purigen


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

My setup in each 2217 bottom to top:

Coarse sponge
Medium sponge
Fine sponge
Quilt batting (works just as good as 'filter floss')
EHEIM Substrat Pro (fills like 60% of the canister)


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## alphabeta (Jul 14, 2014)

@Tihsho 
that open space is fine. water will not run that crazy to pull it up or sideways. my Eheim 2213 with all original media has that space too. 
had the same question at some point in time, but ya, the engineers probably thought about that too.


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## Tihsho (Oct 10, 2007)

spiderguardnano said:


> My setup bottom to the top
> 
> Matrix
> Blue foam
> ...


You run Matrix Carbon? Any reason? I've only used it in reef setups with a reactor.



alphabeta said:


> @Tihsho
> that open space is fine. water will not run that crazy to pull it up or sideways. my Eheim 2213 with all original media has that space too.
> had the same question at some point in time, but ya, the engineers probably thought about that too.


I'm not worried about stuff shifting due to the flow of water adding pressure. I'm more so thinking, "It's an open space that could be used for something. What useful thing can go in?"

Right now that 'thing' looks to be Purigen


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## alphabeta (Jul 14, 2014)

i see. well, too many things there, tell me, that you may loose in the flow, probably not significantly. unless you want that. then also more things to clean and maintain. give it up  and move on.


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## Tihsho (Oct 10, 2007)

Reduction on flow would be nice as well. Never thought of that honestly. The 2213 is going on a 6.5 gallon tank so I'd have to throttle the output via the ball valves anyways. So if the swapped media does it too, then I'm not complaining. Having something to clean like that isn't a big deal, because I cycle Purigen pillows. While 2 are in, I have 2 waiting. When dirty ones come out, the new ones go in and the old ones get a rinse and a recharge.


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## alphabeta (Jul 14, 2014)

The 2213 is going on a 6.5 gallon tank - a little bit overkill  i think. you will have to slow it down.


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## Tihsho (Oct 10, 2007)

Agreed it is overkill @alphabeta, but doesn't mean I can't optimize the space in the canister.


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## spiderguardnano (Aug 8, 2015)

Seachem Seachem Matrix Bio-Media Aquarium Filter Bio Media


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## Tihsho (Oct 10, 2007)

Is this any better than the stuff that comes with the Eheim? I'm still unfamiliar with their bilogical media and forgot that Seachem had their own.


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## EdTheEdge (Jan 25, 2007)

I run all my Eheims with 100% Ehfimech.


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## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

If I am not mistaken, Ehfimech is ment for mechanical filtration (hence mech) and SubstratPro is the biological media.
As far as surface area on which biomedia is best, SubstratPro is one of the better biomedias. Seachem Matrix claims to have more surface area, but I personally don't think it does. Or if it does, I think the pores clog up much easier and therefore reduce the amount of surface area for aerobic bacteria.

BioHome is supposed to be better than both.
MarinePure is supposed to be just as great it seems, but is expensive.

But there is also moving bed/fluidized filters that utilize other biomedia such as K1 kaldness (there are a few others that are improved version of k1, but can't remember the names). These types of filters I think should produce the best biological filtration since they provide lots of oxygen to young, hungry/efficient aerobic bacteria.

Other than that though, different filter setups such as wet/dry sumps, because of the method used (wet/dry), also provides very efficient biological filtration.

But if it were me, I'd gladly use the Eheim SubstratPro media that came with it. I overstock *highly* and get by fine with Matrix, so if you don't really overstock much, SubstratPro and other biomedias should suffice.


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## Tihsho (Oct 10, 2007)

I have a fluidized bed filter somewhere in my pile of stuff. I honestly think it might be overkill... Plus knowing me, I would replace al the sand with loose Purigen...


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## chillip (Aug 7, 2012)

Powerclown said:


> Here is what I use in my 2213
> From bottom to top:
> 
> 1. Ceramic rings
> ...


I have everything from a stock Eheim filter and just bought the purigen and 50 micron pad. I also plan to buy the polyester batting roll from walmart. 

Where and what material do you use for a medium pad?

How often do you maintain your filter and what do you toss out (filter floss, medium filter, 50 micron filter?) and what can you keep (coarse filter, ceramic rings, substrate pro, purigen?)


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