Eheim canister not making sense to me. Please help!

[ForeverUpgrading]

Anyone know the flow direction in the Eheim 1200XL?

Based on the manual -

(1) Mechanical filter media is at the bottom of the canister

(2) Filter foam/Prefilter is at the top of the canister

(3) Bio media is sandwiched in the middle

So is water flowing top to bottom? Prefilter --> Bio --> Mech
If so, shouldn't mech be after prefilter? Such that water is mechanically filtered by filter pad and mech media before hitting the bio media.

Or is water flowing bottom to top? Mech --> Bio --> Prefilter
If so, the prefilter is, well, not a PRE-filter, is it?

I'm so confused. Could someone look at the manual and check if I'm reading it completely wrong?

PDF Manual here: https://www.eheim.com/resources/prod...XLT_manual.pdf

[vinz]

Yes it's correct. Water goes through the prefilter first, then down the sides of the media basket to the bottom, then up through the basket.

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[vinz]

Something like this: https://goo.gl/images/Mptqwg

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[vinz]

This is for the professional: https://goo.gl/images/i6uLF2

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[ForeverUpgrading]

This is for the professional: https://goo.gl/images/i6uLF2

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Thank you. Makes perfect sense now. That's a good piece of engineering.

[BFG]

Oops , posted wrongly .

[ForeverUpgrading]

That's a good piece of engineering.

Spent 30 minutes last night trying to prime the filter and get water flowing. Tried so many things...pushed the priming button until I think I need to go buy a new thumb. Even sucked on the outflow to get water moving. What a pain in the backside.

I take my praise back. Simultaneously good and bad engineering. Oof!

[genki89]

1st and foremost, is the canister filled with water to the brim before u close the lid?

2nd when u turn on, is the motor running?

3rd are all the pipes connected and all the valve (double tab) open?

4th are u using ehiem inlet and outlet pipes? If you are not using, some of the inlet and outlet pipes could be the prob why you are not able to get water to flow into/out your canister.

5th are all the pipes straight with no bending? Those bend i meant by sharp corner that literally bend you pipes into v shape.

6th is your canister placed below your tank? If it is not, it will not work as canister filter depend much on gravity pull and push effect.

Lastly, check all the pipes, inlet outlet, which include your canister for any foreign object.

If all the above mention are correct and your canister still doesn’t work, most probably u need to get a replacement


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[ForeverUpgrading]

Thank you very much for the detailed breakdown. The canister works quite well, just sometimes priming is difficult. I haven't figured out what the pattern is. Regarding your 6 points...

1) Not to the brim. The top tray is partly filled. Is that the issue?

4) Lily pipes. Very minor buildup as cleaned regularly.

Yes to all the rest.

Thanks again for taking the time to analyse.

[genki89]

Glad that my pointers help.

And yes, whether the media is filled up to the brim or not doesnt matter. The water need to be filled up to the brim to remove as much air inside the canister as possible.

Lesser air in the canister means lesser water needs to be primed into the canister before it will function normal.

Not sure which model u are talking about (i believe its pro 2), i would recommend filling the pipes with water once the pipes are connected to the canister.

Reason is the same, lesser air in both canister (going in) and pipes (going in), the lesser priming are needed.


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