# Cleaned the Eheim 2217!!



## Protues55 (Dec 26, 2013)

I have had the Eheim 2217 cannister filter for about a year on my 55 and it has been as great, if not better, than everyone here said it would be. I put off cleaning it for the longest time, as it looked to be a big hassle, but I finally did it today. I cleaned the impeller, the assembly around it, all the media (in tank water, in big Tupperware containers), replaced the white pad, and even did all the hoses, spray-bar and both out/intake tubes with a long bottle brush. Put it all back together, did a quick suck on the output tube, filled the canister, plugged it in, and it all worked perfectly!! For anyone else having anxiety over this task, or is putting off the purchase of this extraordinary filter, I am attaching a video that was extremely helpful to me. It shows how to prime, and has a section on cleaning the 2215/2217 completely--especially the delicate impeller and housing. 

Priming Eheim 2217 Filter - Page 2


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

I clean mine about yearly as well, sometimes every six months if I feel froggy.


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## chenowethpm (Jan 8, 2014)

I loBe my eheim Classic canisters. I clean mine every six months as well. I was also a it apprehensive about it the first time too. It's a breeze though.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Mine are the 2222 model, which is the old Pro. The baskets are separate so cleaning is actually easier for me. However I am lazy/ low stocked.


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## AFishNamedCP (Oct 7, 2012)

How long did it take you doing a complete cleaning? It took me about 2 hours with a water change and everything for a 45 gallon setup. The actual cleaning the filter went fast, but the removing and cleaning tubes and putting everything back together takes time. 

For priming, I wonder when you put the intake back into the aquarium and mount it on the suction cups, if you can just submerge the other side of the intake line in the tank to fill it completely with water. then close the valve and then connect it to the double connect to the filter. Then once screwed back on open up the valves , will it be primed? no sucking or buckets. The key is to keep the mounted side intake under water line to hold siphon.

I'm going to try it next time.

I've only done this full cleaning once. It seemed like a daunting task, but really once you understand the parts and pieces, I think I can get my time down from 2ish hours.


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## Protues55 (Dec 26, 2013)

Two hours is about right. If you don't clean the long fat tubes, you can just open the valves and the filter will refill easily. Or, just a quick tug on the outtake tube before attaching the spray bar; leave the end tip off till done.


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## Fadil13 (Jan 15, 2014)

Wow six months? - I could never wait that long - I clean in a one month schedule cycling through all my filters, sometimes I'll let it go two months, but all my tanks have at least 3 filters or more so 3 filters on the tank means each filter is clean ever three months: 1 Eheim 2215 and AC 110 on the 75g, 125g has a Eheim 2075, AC110 and Eheim 2215, (there's on 1 10" fish in those two tanks) other 125g overstock Cichlid tank has 2 AC110, Hydro Pro 600, and a Eheim 2215. My 300g 75g sump, 2 sponge filters in sump (these are Big Oscars and Plecos serious bio-load) - It's never been hard cleaning Eheims for me... Not even the sump is hard to clean since all my media is in three DIY trays. My tanks never look clean enough when I go longer than a 2 months not cleaning the filter.. I have reef sand in most of my tanks, and big fish always shifting through the sand makes the water cloudy..


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