Cleaning of EHEIM Spray Bar

**allblacks** · 14th Jan 2013, 11:57

Happy New Year !
May I please ask how do those of you who use EHEIM 2211 or similar models in the classic series do cleaning of the crud in the spray bar ? I have been cracking my head but no results

Thanks in advance for the advice!

**li_gangyi** · 14th Jan 2013, 12:27

If the spray bar has a removable plug on the other end, you should be able to shove a bottle brush in and clean everything out.

**allblacks** · 14th Jan 2013, 12:36

My spray bar is quite fine so the bottle brush does not work unfortunately.

**Shadow** · 14th Jan 2013, 12:39

Brush come with many different sizes, you can get thinner brush from c328 or other fish shop

**doppelbanddwarf** · 14th Jan 2013, 12:58

Yes I'm using the 2211. You just need a slimmer brush thats all. Most LFSes should have those you can pull through. Hardware stores will have brushes that are thin enough but might have to adjust a bit to clean the whole spraybar,

**allblacks** · 14th Jan 2013, 22:47

Thanks for the advice, Shadow and doppelbanddwarf. I will go check out Seaview sometime this week to see if they have got some slimmer brushes.
I got one last time with pull through capabilities but it seemed to be stuck always when I try to use it to clean my spray bar.

Perhaps the bristles are damaged and it is time to get a new one.

Thank you !

**ralliart12** · 14th Jan 2013, 23:47

Daiso have some pretty slim pipe cleaners which you can try as well.

**allblacks** · 16th Jan 2013, 21:15

Originally Posted by ralliart12

Daiso have some pretty slim pipe cleaners which you can try as well.

Ok that is good advice... Thanks ralliart. Will keep a lookout when I hop over to Daiso.

**stormhawk** · 20th Jan 2013, 01:42

Do what I do, I stuff a piece of filter wool into the tube and poke it through with a satay stick. Works like a charm.

**allblacks** · 20th Jan 2013, 06:50

Great advice and received with thanks to all who offered solutions for me

Stormhawk - cool idea !

**ralliart12** · 20th Jan 2013, 13:51

Originally Posted by stormhawk

Do what I do, I stuff a piece of filter wool into the tube and poke it through with a satay stick. Works like a charm.

Actually I have got a related-question: even if I have access to one of those pipe-, hose-cleaners, what happens if the length of the hose is way longer then the length of my entire hose cleaner?

**Mystikboy** · 20th Jan 2013, 15:54

Connect a few using nylon string and stuff them one after another into the pipe

**Bieffe** · 20th Jan 2013, 15:58

Stuff cotton wool and blast with water.

**allblacks** · 20th Jan 2013, 18:05

I used to have the same issue with hose longer than the cleaners.
Then, I found that if reduced the length , the filter does not need to work so hard to pump the water.
Most importantly, the new length is more manageable
- meaning I push in one end to clean half of hose, the other end to clean the other half of the hose.
- For difficult to remove crud, I remove them via a quick blast of tap water (making sure the tap does not have visible soap stains).
I then rinse the hose with used tank water that I want to throw out just in case there are soap residue on my hose.

**allblacks** · 20th Jan 2013, 18:08

I try to do full maintenance of the filtration system every 1.5-2months as I found that it is easier to remove the crud off the hoses and pipes.
When I first bought the eheim filter, I did not do it until 8months later and boy it was really tough to remove the gunk.