# Freshwater mechanical filtration



## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

Hi all!

I'm curious what methods some people use for mechanical filtration in a freshwater tank. I'm currently running an Eheim 2080, Eheim 2075 and an AC110 on my tank. The two Eheim canisters give me plenty of bio and the AC110 acts as my main poop remover, which I clean weekly. In an overstocked 180g african tank, there's quite a bit of waste produced. My problem is, the AC110 is too loud. When I shut that off, my tank is so quiet, that it blows me away. What does everyone use for poop removal from the water column? I'm debating adding something like a Fx5/6 to replace the AC110. I realize adding a Fx5/6 would be overkill and they aren't known for being the quietest of canisters, but they have pretty good flowrate and having more space for different media options is never a bad thing...


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

This is just my opinion, but I've used an AC110 on my 125 gallon with my big plecos, which are poop machines (I currently have 3 which are over a foot long) and now have an FX5 besides the XP3 and 2028 which were working with the AC110. Yes, the FX5 will be quieter, but it's still more than 2x as loud as my XP3 and 2028. And cleaning it is a bear compared to an AC100 which might take 5 minutes? I clean my FX5 every 3 weeks to once a month and it still takes me 30 minutes or more from disconnection to reconnection. IMO, it's not worth the expense, the slight gain in quietness, and the increased cleaning cycle time. Overall, you won't save any time. I'm surprised your 2080 is not getting the poop. The AC110 doesn't move as much water as the 2080 so theoretically the 2080 should be doing the brunt of the work.


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

Ya I know what you mean and part of me feels that the extra work in cleaning a third canister wouldn't be worth the peace and quiet I would gain by swapping out the AC110. I just can't believe how much quieter it is with that AC110 turned off. The 2080 is a beast but I found that after feedings, it just couldn't quite clean all the debris from the NLS pellets as fast as the AC110 does. Africans make one hell of a mess lol. I think I might need to play with the amount of bio that I have in the 2080 to get a better flow rate though. The 3 large baskets are all pretty full. One has a mixture of eheim ceramic rings and matrix rocks and the other 2 filled with matrix rock. I gave up trying to maintain on tray filled with filter floss and filled it with the matrix described previously. I'm wondering if I would get a better flow rate if I took some of the matrix out of each container or possibly swapped out one whole tray of matrix for something like bio balls?

Sorry some jumbled thoughts on how to tweak things lol


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Are you using the mechanical noodles (Ehfimech I think)? I find if you have a tray of those first it knocks out the big stuff and keeps the flow rate up. You got lots of bio with a 2080 already anyway, plus your 2075.


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

Ya I have the bottom tray about 2/3 ceramic noodles or whatever you call it and a bit of matrix. So the first tray the water hits is the noodles. It definitely helps to trap the bigger stuff.. I just think I might need to empty some of the matrix out of the other 2 trays or maybe swap one whole tray of matrix with something else.. The 2075 has mostly matrix as well but it also has a 25w Vecton 2 UV plumbed in-line with the outtake so the flow is a bit lower there as well. The idea was to have mostly all bio in the canisters and originally I was going to run 2x AC110's. I've removed one because it was too loud with 2. The single AC110 does a decent job polishing the water but it could be better. Weekly quick cleans is a lot less work than monthly big cleans lol these fish are messy.


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## Plumberboy (Jun 2, 2014)

I use just the stock Eheim Mech in both my Eheim's, which seems to work just fine. They do make a Mech Pro, but I have never tried it. I have a tendency to over feed, and that 2028 and 2075 clear my tank up pretty quick.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Yes, the idea of using the canisters for bio is a good one. Unfortunately with messy fish hardly anything you do that doesn't do huge turnover is going to take time to clear. I expect an hour after feeding time for my filters to catch up in my 125 even with 3 canisters, and a foam prefilter on an MJ400 to polish the water. The plecos like to throw their food all over the tank, especially the big boys.


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

just found an interesting article about the 2080 and how it loses flow because of a rubber piece inside the filter outtake.. For anyone that's curious, here it is in pictures...

this was my flow meter 2 days ago 








open it up and check the output connecter seal like so 








the red arrow should be where the blue arrow is 








take the old part out








and replace with the new 1 








see how it now fits tight against impeller housing








all back together








and full power restored









I think I'll check on this the next time I open up the 2080 to see if this might be my issue with flow


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Wow that's a great tip. Looks like a different replacement part too?


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## Dietmar (Dec 15, 2011)

Have you taken the impeller out of the AC110 lately and cleaned it? maybe some grit got in there.


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

tony1928 said:


> Wow that's a great tip. Looks like a different replacement part too?


Ya it does look different. That forum post that I copied over had more comments later on from other people, commenting about Eheim sending them a free replacement part when they called for the same issue... so I wonder if it's a known defect/design flaw?



Dietmar said:


> Have you taken the impeller out of the AC110 lately and cleaned it? maybe some grit got in there.


Ya I clean the impeller every week when I clean the AC110. I take the whole filter off, rinse everything out, scrub off anything that's building up on plastic parts.. I don't care if I lose the bio in the AC110. I have plenty of bio in the canisters that I have now. That being said, I probably should replace the impeller on the AC110. Lately it won't start back up if I turn off the power bar that it's plugged into and turn it back on (I like to turn off the filters, powerheads, etc. for 10 mins during feeding time). I have to take out the intake and give the impeller some help to start again. Once going, it's good until turned off and even then only some times has the problem. Sorry, I'm rambling now lol but the AC110 impeller could be getting worn out/old. I just thought I would ask what others do for mechanical/poop removal in tanks with messy fish before dumping more cash into the aquaclear...


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## angeles (Sep 20, 2013)

For anyone with an Eheim 2080, the Output Connector (model 7209268 or 7428830 depending on which document you read) seems to shrink over time.

I bought a used 2080 which luckily came with an extra output connector, this came in handy shortly after I brought the filter home.
It's been a year and there's already some shrinkage.

Maybe the new version (red) has been made with better materials.
The original (white?) which originally came with the filter and the replacement I had (black) both seem to shrink.
I'll be picking a couple replacements soon and I hope that it's a hard piece this time.


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

angeles said:


> For anyone with an Eheim 2080, the Output Connector (model 7209268 or 7428830 depending on which document you read) seems to shrink over time.
> 
> I bought a used 2080 which luckily came with an extra output connector, this came in handy shortly after I brought the filter home.
> It's been a year and there's already some shrinkage.
> ...


Good to know! Thanks for the info. Report back and let us know what you find with the new replacements. Are you ordering directly from Eheim or through another source? I might want to pick up a couple myself.


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## angeles (Sep 20, 2013)

I was going to order it from ebay (from the UK), haven't checked locally though.
We don't have many LFS's here in Victoria, but I should reach out to them first.

Checked the 2080 over the weekend and the output connector isn't as bad as I thought it was, certainly not as bad as the original white piece.
I'll grab another anyways and switch them up to see if there's any difference.


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

You can order directly from Eheim Parts - North America - Aquarium Filters and More.


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## angeles (Sep 20, 2013)

Thanks for the link, the price is a little higher than I'd like though.
Probably need to figure in tax and shipping too.

Here's where I was going to get it from. For the price of 1 at Eheim, I can probably get 2.

The Pond King - Eheim 7428830 Output Connector for Pro 3 2080-2180 Filter

I'm also grabbing a few other items for the filter.


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## Plumberboy (Jun 2, 2014)

When I needed Eheim parts, I first went to their website. Then started looking around. I needed parts for my discontinued 2028, and my 2075. Ended up at Big Als Pets.com, great selection of parts, and way cheaper than Eheim's site. Pays to shop around a bit. I'll check out the Pond King too.


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## Sidius (Mar 25, 2012)

Great info guys! It's nice to find ways to make this expensive hobby a little cheaper


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