# Pre filter maintenance



## jameson_uk (29 Mar 2017)

I have an eheim 2217 with the eheim prefilter and I am just wondering what people's thoughts are on maintaining the pre filter.

I have been swilling the two sponges in tap water at each weekly water change but I am noticing that the sponges seem to be getting dirtier much more quickly.  I seem to recall someone saying you shouldn't squish the sponges only rinse them, is this right (without squishing they seem to hold a lot of waste).

Should I be looking at replacing the sponges when they get like this?

Can I rinse them under the tap?  I realise this will kill off any helpful bacteria but as this is there for mechanical filtration then this shouldn't matter too much?

Part of this is probably the arrival of a new born which means I am not quite as on top of removing dead leaves as I should be and also the roots of my frogbit seem to be holding a load of organic waste.

Thoughts on the best way to keep the pre filter efficient?


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## zozo (29 Mar 2017)

It likely depends on the quality of the sponges..  I experiencd sponges getting shaggy and loosing volume with in a few months while squishing them every filter clean. I discussed it on another forum and people said "First time i hear this!" "I'm already squishing my sponges for 10 years and never had a problem." Well what can one say, beter sponge, lak of judgement to see when a spong is wearing off? Who knows i don't.. Beter safe then sorry is a good starting point.. On the other hand where do you buy them? I can buy for € 30 sponge material and still have enough for the comming ten years squishing them to damnation.. 

For the rest it depends on your tapwater.. Does it contain chloride etc. then it might be beter to clean them in tank water during a water change. Where i live we have in comparisson gold comming from the tap, our water company doesn't add chemicals and can put it straight into the tank.. Anyway if the tap water is ok, you do not need to worry about washing out bacterial population.. What's left in there will repopulate the filter soon enough.. And if you have a desent planted tank, most beneficial bacteria live in the tanks substrate, than a filter just plays a secondary role in biofiltering..

And since it's a prefilter taking the mechanical part, there must a secondary filter containing the biomedia. In such case it actualy shoudn't mater how often you clean the prefilter and if you kill anything in it.


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## dw1305 (29 Mar 2017)

Hi all, 





jameson_uk said:


> Can I rinse them under the tap? I realise this will kill off any helpful bacteria but as this is there for mechanical filtration then this shouldn't matter too much?


No they are fine to swill under the tap.





zozo said:


> I experiencd sponges getting shaggy and loosing volume with in a few months while squishing them every filter clean


The filter sponges from the Eheim pre-filter haven't lasted very well for me.

cheers Darrel


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## jameson_uk (29 Mar 2017)

dw1305 said:


> The filter sponges from the Eheim pre-filter haven't lasted very well for me.



When do you know they are done?  They don't seem to have shrunk too much but seem to get gunked up a lot quicker than they used to.


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## Henry (29 Mar 2017)

Get them under a tap and squeeze them repeatedly until the water runs clear; the media inside the filter will deal with the ammonia etc. You're aiming to remove particulate before it gets to your canister filter media (thus reducing maintenance etc.), not facilitating the whole filter process in that one sponge.

An older sponge, if anything will catch less suspended waste than a newer one, so either your maintenance regime has slackened, or you haven't been removing the set-in waste from the pre-filter effectively.

I tend to find my pre-filters last around 6 months or so, with twice monthly cleaning (ideally they want doing weekly, but I'm buzy/lazy).


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## jameson_uk (29 Mar 2017)

Henry said:


> An older sponge, if anything will catch less suspended waste than a newer one, so either your maintenance regime has slackened, or you haven't been removing the set-in waste from the pre-filter effectively.


Probably a bit of both...  I think the residual detritus has been building up but also I haven't been keeping up with removing dead leaves etc.



> I tend to find my pre-filters last around 6 months or so, with twice monthly cleaning (ideally they want doing weekly, but I'm buzy/lazy).


Ummm just checked and the pre filter went in the beginning of July so it has been eight months with several rescapes.

Think I will replace the sponges over the weekend


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## zozo (29 Mar 2017)

dw1305 said:


> The filter sponges from the Eheim pre-filter haven't lasted very well for me.



Those that came with the SunSun prefilter i use are also done rather quickly.. Falling completely apart after a year of use.. Almost looking like they are made out of bio degradeable synthetics and rotting away in the filter.. But i can buy different P's at the local pond hardware supplier 50x50x4cm mats for big pond filters, about € 15 each, don't have a brand. With a 13 cm filter diameter could cut 16 sponges out of one mat. And last longer too..


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## Daveslaney (29 Mar 2017)

Do the pre filters reduce the filter flow much?
Was thinking of getting one of the APS ones for my ex 1200 to make cleaning easier but dont really want to loose much flow rate.


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## zozo (29 Mar 2017)

Daveslaney said:


> Do the pre filters reduce the filter flow much?


Sure it will, these are things to consider when choosing the pump capacity.. But any media extra will reduce flow gradualy more while it also cloggs in time.

Experienced a moving sand bed filter as last stage as biological media reduses the least flow if sized correctly. Then you could toss out all the biomedia from the cannister.. There is nothing around with more surface mass than a moving sand bed. 

But as said this needs to be sized correctly or else you need to reduce flow not to spil sand into the tank.. And thats the tricky part.

Is a choice to think about.. Invest in a new stronger filter pushing the prefilter or a correct sized sand bed filter behind the cannister..


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## Daveslaney (30 Mar 2017)

Thanks Marcel.


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## sciencefiction (30 Mar 2017)

Probably the fastest way to answer that is to compare it to sponges one uses to wash the dishes...They need replacing depending on quality and usage.. The longer version is below..

I had an Eheim pre-filter before, used to get very dirty way too fast and blocked the flow to the intake visually within a week. My shrimp loved living in it but it had to go... I don't know if the quality of sponges inside the pre-filter was bad or just the fancy design with the plastics clipped together....I am not sure but it just didn't work out for me....I ended up removing it and replaced with what I always use, blocks of rectangular shape cut sponges on the intakes....Mine are medium density, sold in blocks at the fish shop.

As for washing sponges, squeezing/squishing them while washing will do some damage in some years time...Pre-filters shouldn't be your biological filtration anyway so wash them the way you find best. They need to be clean...and then replace when needed. I still have two roughly 4 years old pre-filter sponges in use. I still squeeze them when washing them to get the gunk out. They're a bit softer and feel kind of loose, compared to the newer ones  but they do the job just fine...Having said that, washing sponges under very fast water without squeezing but rather shaking them and turning them around cleans them better in my opinion but the water needs to be sort of pressurised to do the job well. Tap water is perfectly fine. If you're relying on a pre-filter for additional biological filtration, then you don't have enough filtration to start with.....


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## jameson_uk (2 Apr 2017)

I went to change the sponges today but when I checked, they were still the same size as the new ones and they are still quite solid.

I gave them a good rinse under the tap which got them much cleaner than they were and I guess my concern about using tap water was if they took on lots of tap water this would then take the chlorine into the filter itself.

In what state should I replace the sponges?


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## sciencefiction (4 Apr 2017)

The sponges will get sort of softer in time and if you want you can replace them then although its not essential. 
I always wash mine under running tap. I haven't noticed any issues with chlorine. I shake them well before putting them back so there's not much water on them.  Having said that, I also wash my filter media under the tap but I always have 2-3 filters on one tank and do one at a time. Again, I haven't had issues. But if you're afraid, use tank water. Its trial and error and it depends on the level of chlorine in your tap too. If I were you, I'd wash the pre-filters sponges under tap and I wouldn't worry one bit.


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## Progen (21 Apr 2017)

If you're talking about cleaning foam filter media, just use a showerhead especially if yours is connected to a pump. Make sure the heater's off though. Overkill to use hot water.

Spray from center to ends or from one end to the other but you'll still need to come back to the end you're holding to flush that last bit. Only light squeezing or none needed.


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## Ovidiu (13 May 2017)

I use 2 eheim prefilters in my 65 gal planted and i swaped the original sponges with filter wool that i just change every week. Water crystal clear and much more mechanical performance with the filter wool. Cheers


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