Will this layout be too much for my Eheim ?

[bill321]

Hello All,

I am still building my stand, so I have plenty of time to make changes, but I was looking for some input.

Will this be too much for my canister filter to push? I am not familiar with back-pressure or any other gotcha's that might creep up.....so I am looking for some pointers from the more experienced folks.

What I have so far:

- 33 Gallon tank 25x18x18 inches
- Eheim Pro3 G65(2170) rated at 250gph
- Hydor Eth 200w-5/8"
- Aquaticlife 24" T5HO 4-24w that I can turn on 2 at a time
- ADA AmazoniaII

Primo Co2 package from GLA is shipping

Still trying to decide how to get the CO2 dissolved into the water and I don't want an in-tank or in-line diffuser if I can help it. This will be my first true Planted Tank and I am looking to keep as much equipment out of the tank as I can.

Is this going to work or am I going to have to re-think my layout?

P.S. Why the heck doesn't Eheim make a nice dark grey tube ??

Thanks !

Bill321

 

[Gerryd]

Hi,

Do yourself a favor and do not use the 4 bulbs ever

I think you will find 1-2 T5 max will grow anything you want....

You can never overfilter IMO....

I think your config should work fine........

 

[dutchy]

+1 on what Gerry said about the light.

The setup: It will work, but don't be surprised if you get only a 100 to 125 gph of effective flow into your tank. 3 to 4x turnover just in filtration will be enough though. It's a good thing you're also using a powerhead.

regards,
dutchy

 

[shoggoth43]

Only remaining Caveat, when you go to maintain the filter you MAY have to invert the reactor to try and get any larger air pockets out. I have a similar setup in that I have some hose loops and restarting the Eheim after removing the filter for maintenance is sometimes a pain. Usually I just pop a couple of the latches on the filter and fill it that way. Eheim is one of the better in that with media in the filter flow is somewhere around 70% of the rating on the box compared to others where it's typically around 50%. Different models will likely vary in their %s.

-
S

 

[dutchy]

I had an Eheim 2071 before which was rated at 250 GPH. The real output after an AM1000 was 135 GPH at water surface level.

regards,
dutchy.

 

[Tug]

Pre-filter

 

[bill321]

Thanks for the feedback everybody!

It was mentioned by shoggoth43...."you MAY have to invert the reactor to try and get any larger air pockets out"

Will that be true with the newer Eheim input/output tubes? You can see in my photo the little removable caps that allow you to pour water directly into the tubing up at the top of the tank. I am not a physics guy....but I assumed that if I poured water down the tube connected to the spraybar that the water would have to fill up the reactor before it backed up to the top of the heater let alone the tubing back up to the spraybar(did I explain that correctly? )

But I don't know for sure... because I have never used a canister filter before... let alone had a loop like that. So that is why I am asking.

Thanks again for all the great input!

Bill321

 

[shoggoth43]

I've got the same tubes. There are just times when inverting the loop to break the airlock in the line makes all the difference. It's kind of a pain but not as bad as it could be.

-
S