eheim aquaball??

[sophie]

does anyone have any experience of the eheim aquaball filters?
I like mine a lot, but the (small) top filter chamber has a nasty
gloopy thing in it that obviously needs replacing. I think it must be a
specialist filter medium, but I really can't see that I need this.

Would anyone know if I can replace it with standard filter sponge? If I
could lay my hands on the manual I would at least know what it's
_supposed_ to be, which might help. I have a feeling it's supposed to
be something for biological filtration, but if it's going to need
replacing every few weeks I think I ought to be better off with
something that will do the mechanical filtration as well as giving
those nice bacteria a permanent home. Chucking them out every so often
must be counter-productive, surely?
--
sophie

[Marcus Fox]

"sophie" > wrote in message
...
>
> does anyone have any experience of the eheim aquaball filters?
> I like mine a lot, but the (small) top filter chamber has a nasty
> gloopy thing in it that obviously needs replacing. I think it must be a
> specialist filter medium, but I really can't see that I need this.

You sort of do. It's the fine filter pad that removes the smaller
particulates from the water after the larger sponge has done it's job. It
can get kind of goopy. Squeeze it out in tank water a few times until it's
less goopy. It will need replacing in time, you can buy spare parts for it
here.

http://www.aquatics-online.co.uk/listsections.asp?parent=12&seq=14&retp=8&rets=11

Do remember that this old sponge will contain a good portion of your filter
bacteria, so leave it in the filter box until the new sponge is colonised.

Marcus

[Michi Henning]

"sophie" > wrote in message
...
>
> does anyone have any experience of the eheim aquaball filters?

I use the 2210 as polishing filter (in addition to my 2128).

> I like mine a lot, but the (small) top filter chamber has a nasty
> gloopy thing in it that obviously needs replacing. I think it must be a
> specialist filter medium, but I really can't see that I need this.

This is simply a bit of fine filter floss that is shaped into a ring to fit
into the chamber beneath the power head.

> Would anyone know if I can replace it with standard filter sponge? If I
> could lay my hands on the manual I would at least know what it's
> _supposed_ to be, which might help. I have a feeling it's supposed to
> be something for biological filtration, but if it's going to need
> replacing every few weeks I think I ought to be better off with
> something that will do the mechanical filtration as well as giving
> those nice bacteria a permanent home. Chucking them out every so often
> must be counter-productive, surely?

The floss is just a polishing filter to trap small floating particles. The bio
filtration is done mainly by the sponges that fit into the main chambers.
You can rinse out the polishing filter under the tap to get rid of the mud
that accumulates there. (Or, if you are worried about killing filter bacteria,
wash it out with tank water. But I don't think you'd do any real harm to
the bacteria colony because the polishing filter makes up only a small
fraction of the total filter volume, especially on the larger 2210 and 2212
models.)

After rinsing five or six times, the polishing filter eventually falls apart.
Rather
than replacing it with the original Eheim part (for about US$ 0.80 each), you
can simply buy a pack of filter wool for a few cents and use that as a
polishing medium. Works just as well and is less hassle than hunting down
the special Eheim filter floss.

Cheers,

Michi.

--
Michi Henning Ph: +61 4 1118-2700
ZeroC, Inc. http://www.zeroc.com

[Marcus Fox]

"Marcus Fox" > wrote in
message ...
>
> "sophie" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > does anyone have any experience of the eheim aquaball filters?
> > I like mine a lot, but the (small) top filter chamber has a nasty
> > gloopy thing in it that obviously needs replacing. I think it must be a
> > specialist filter medium, but I really can't see that I need this.
>
> You sort of do. It's the fine filter pad that removes the smaller
> particulates from the water after the larger sponge has done it's job. It
> can get kind of goopy. Squeeze it out in tank water a few times until it's
> less goopy. It will need replacing in time, you can buy spare parts for it
> here.
>
>
http://www.aquatics-online.co.uk/listsections.asp?parent=12&seq=14&retp=8&rets=11
>
> Do remember that this old sponge will contain a good portion of your
filter
> bacteria, so leave it in the filter box until the new sponge is colonised.

They have SubstratPro, which Eheim says you use as a biofilter instead of
the fine filter floss. I guess this gets gunked up too, but washes better.
But don't wash it in tap water.

Marcus

[Michi Henning]

"Marcus Fox" > wrote in message
...
> > > does anyone have any experience of the eheim aquaball filters?
> > > I like mine a lot, but the (small) top filter chamber has a nasty
> > > gloopy thing in it that obviously needs replacing. I think it must be a
> > > specialist filter medium, but I really can't see that I need this.
> >.
>
> They have SubstratPro, which Eheim says you use as a biofilter instead of
> the fine filter floss. I guess this gets gunked up too, but washes better.
> But don't wash it in tap water.

I wouldn't put EhfiSubstrat into the top chamber of an Aquaball.
EhfiSubstrat is sintered glass with a large surface area, so it is
used as a biological medium because it provides lots of habitat
for bacteria. With the Aquaballs, the filter sponges in the main
chambers serve the same purpose. The small chamber at the
top is meant to accomodate polishing media for mechanical
filtration, not biological media.

Cheers,

Michi.

--
Michi Henning Ph: +61 4 1118-2700
ZeroC, Inc. http://www.zeroc.com

[JazzyB]

If you need questions answered from Eheim why not email or call them? I've
found their customer service excellent and had a great experience with them
when I was trying to replace a European motor for a North American one.
They did it for free. I didn't ask, etc., they offered. And also mailed it
to my address for no cost. I believe their details can be found at
www.eheim.com.

Good luck.

"sophie" > wrote in message
...
>
> does anyone have any experience of the eheim aquaball filters?
> I like mine a lot, but the (small) top filter chamber has a nasty
> gloopy thing in it that obviously needs replacing. I think it must be a
> specialist filter medium, but I really can't see that I need this.
>
> Would anyone know if I can replace it with standard filter sponge? If I
> could lay my hands on the manual I would at least know what it's
> _supposed_ to be, which might help. I have a feeling it's supposed to
> be something for biological filtration, but if it's going to need
> replacing every few weeks I think I ought to be better off with
> something that will do the mechanical filtration as well as giving
> those nice bacteria a permanent home. Chucking them out every so often
> must be counter-productive, surely?
> --
> sophie