Managing water circulation - Eheim Professional 2 or 3?

[grey_fox]

Hi all,

So far I have not owned any Eheim product before. I am thinking of upgrading my external filters to a Eheim Professional 3.

I have a few questions before I make this monetary commitment or investment.

Currently I have 2 x Jebao 918 canisters but feel that they're not good enough. Currently at 1,200l/hr, they seem to be more like 900l/hr filters, not because they're dirty but the flowrate seems poor.

Since with the govt. giving us money (PROGRESS) I have decided to impart some of it into getting a Eheim Pro III

1. For the Pro III, what would the suggested retail price tag?

2. Would 1 x Pro III be sufficient for my 5 x 2 x 2 tank?

3. Would it be better to get 2 x Pro II instead for my tank or just that one Pro III?

4. Is this suitable for planted tanks since it's tag line being "For large fishes & arowanas". Don't want to end up having my tank turn into some mini wave pool.

Appreciate any comments on this

[BFG]

Just my opinion only, there's no need to follow through if you disagree.

For myself, I rather have 2 canister filter instead of 1 ( but I have 3 2026! ). Reason being, I'm a bit lazy so my setup will be created as simple as possible to avoid the hobby being a hassle to maintain. If you have just a single filter, chances are something may go wrong and you have to take some time off from work or from your free time to look into the matter. Trust me, Murphy 's Law WILL catch up on you sooner or later. If you are really serious on this hobby and look at it as a long term activity, 3 canister filter is ideal. 2 of it will be use all the time until the time for maintenance, just switch around 1 filter for the other and put the 3rd one on backup or standby. There's no need to purchase brand new canister filter for Eheim if you are on a tight budget. Out of the 3 2026 that I have, 2 are 2nd hand ones.

Hope this helps!

[grey_fox]

Hi all,

I've just spoken to Benny from AQ, he gave me a delightful insight on the Pro III series.

I've also removed the price of the Pro III.

Thanks for the feedback and insight on the Pro series Benny! My mind is made up.

[benny]

BFG,

That's good advice! I have 2 X Eheim Pro II 2028 for my 5 ft planted tank too. No less cost effective and so far serving me well.

Cheers,

[grey_fox]

Just bought a Pro II 2028 from NA. Wanted to get 2 but last one left.

[vratenza]

good choice! So far my 2x2028 running well in my tank........ no worries about the strong current cos it's easily adjustable from the lever

the only thing about 2 sets of in and out is the current flow pattern....... i am still making adjustments cos currently i have 1 set of in and out on each side.... so the current tend to converge in the centre ... so the suspended particles tend to hand around the centre turbulence quite abit.......... so i am looking into a single direction current...... ie. all the "in" at 1 end and all the "out" the other.....may post some diagrams later for discussion

[grey_fox]

Yeah, planning to get another 2028 after a month of so once this new 2028 cycles properly, no rush yet. The Jebao has probably reached its life cycle (about 3 years odd old). The flowrate is pretty poor considering that it is supposed to be a 1,200L per hour filter and upon inspecting the Jebao that I removed, the media is clean, mulm is present but no sign of chucky or matted dirt.

As for the flowrate that I am currently using the following layout.

The rainbar on the left side is right at the bottom, facing the front of the tank. Input at the bottom left.

The output on the right is near the surface of the tank but angled to about 50 degrees. So far from what I see, the plants are all pearling like mad and it seems that surface dirt is blown off and into the inputs.

Previously I had both rainbars at the bottom and I noticed a mini whirlpool smack in the centre of the tank and yes you can see dead leaves spinning there.

So since with the new Eheim that I have, I've made some modifications, previously the plants on the left would pearl like crazy, now its on all ends, the CO2 distribution is in a way maximized and so far, the discus (knowing the prefer slower gentler waters) are not disturbed. Only the crazy ones, like my zebra & spotted danio would want to swim near the current of the output of the Eheim.

I've set the flowrate of the Eheim to maximum since its meant to distribute water and CO2 flow properly.

As for the other Jebao I have, as mentioned that will be removed with another 2028 and since I'm using an Internal reactor, the large bio balls in the reactor will slow down the rate of the flow.

I am thinking since this is the case, I might as well have one of the Jebaos to be hooked up to the Chiller, this would be a good pre-filter for the chiller I intend to use.

[hii]

I think the top right side output should be at the bottom right side to get a good water circulation. for a 5ft tank the top right side filter can't push the water to the other end i guess ... when it reach half way the water will start to circulate back to it original output...

I don't know how to explain...get some floting plant and you will know what i mean. I tried my 5ft with a lot arrange for 2 filteration....

[benny]

I've re-titled the thread to better reflect the content.

Take note that what's on the surface is not necessarily indicative of the water movement below the surface.

Aaron, if you like, think about using the U pipes provided differently. Call me for a clarification.

Cheers,

[grey_fox]

Hi Benny,

Thanks a bunch for the renaming of the subject.

Having the tube angled at 50 degrees downwards would suffice? Will give you a call for clarification on how I can further optimise the usage of the U pipes.