Eheim 2215,

[dlaney3]

I have a ehiem 2215 canister filter in a 55 gal. tank with 1 paroon shark. I constantly get a build up of some kind of film inside the flexible tubing for the filter. Is that normal and how can I get rid of it besides cleaning the filter tubes every 2 weeks. They said that the filter should be maintenance free for 3- 6 months. Any ideas?:HP

[AquariumPro]

The film build-up is simply nitrifying bacteria that will coat the inside of all aquarium surfaces. You do not typically need to do anything about it. Occasionally, when you re-start the filter, some of this material will slough off and blow into the aquarium. It will dissapear quickly when that happens.

Eheim's recommendations for maintenance on their filter are based on German methods of aquarium-keeping. They do things a lot differently than we do here in the US and Canada. They keep far fewer fish in their aquariums, and in freshwater tanks like yours, they would be heavily-planted. They tend to do more of a natural "balanced aquarium. In contrast, American hobbyists tend to over-crowd tanks, use plastic plants, etc...

For example, no German hobbyist would ever dream of keeping a Paroon ("Shark") Catfish in a 75 gallon tank. That fish, Pangasius sanitswongi, also called the Giant Catfish grows very quickly, has been known to grow up to 100" in length, and will rapidly outgrow many tanks, would be kept in at least a 250 to 500 gallon aquarium. In smaller tanks, they can injure themsleves by hitting the glass when startled.

Given the fish you have, if you can tell me what media you are using in your Eheim, I can give you a schedule for media changes.

[dlaney3]

First off, my shark has grown from 3 in. to about 7, and he does like to run into the glass when startled. He has been in there for about 9 months and doesnt seem to be growing too much, or at least really slow now, compared to when I first got him. I bought my 2215 off this site and just kept the standard media that it comes with. I dont know off hand what it includes but it can be found on this site or eheim's website. Any help you can give is greatly appreciated. Another thing, why does the pressure on the outtake seem to drop over time, I would guess the media is dirty?

[dlaney3]

i was wondering if you were going to get back to me on this issue?

[AquariumPro]

Hi:

Sorry, we are a large custom aquarium design company (see The Aquarium Professionals Group Web Site (http://www.aquariumprofessionals.com)) and we can only get on the forums every other day or so when we aren't working in the field.

You should change the carbon pad every month, and rinse the white fiber pad. Every two to three months, you should change the white pad, and rinse all of the other media in the filter.

The pressure becomes reduced when the media clogs.

That Paroon shark will grow slowly, but it will grow. A very cool fish in spite of its monstruous size!

[dlaney3]

thanks for getting back to me. I'll do just that...