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Re: eheim question
Zach K wrote to Lazarus Miskowski:
"Since cleaning the impeller helped a little, I wonder if you also
cleaned your hoses?"
How silly of me to have mentioned the motor bearings (or "bushings",
these parts both bush and bear) and not mention the hoses. Cleaning
the hoses has more effect than most other factors. When calculating
the pump size to achieve a specific fluid flow through a given diameter
pipe, the surface is an essential factor in the calculation.
The aquarium pump/filter manufacturer's rated flow is usually at the
pump outlet with, essentially, no load. Eheim's web sites also give
the flow at the filter outlet (with brand new media and clean tubes).
The filter outlet rate is about 20% - 35% less than the pump only flow
rate. Let the tubes develop a few months of gunk on the interior
surfaces and the flow probably drops another 30% or so even if the
media doesn't clog.
Unless you bought a filter with a rated capacity that seems overboard,
for your application, you probably should run a brush through the tubes
every couple of months, whether the media needs rinsing/changing or
not. The translucent Eheim tubes allow visual assessment of the
interior build up. You can buy Eheim brush heads on long nylon cords
for this purpose. Or you can attach a short brush head to some
weed-whacker nylon cord if you're into DIY.
Scott H.
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