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So after 15 years of loyal service my Fluval 203 bit the dust, well not really only the O-ring broke, I bought it secondhand from a LFS so its been in operation for 20+ years. I couldn't find a replacement O-ring and was getting worried about the tank so I splurged and bought an Eheim Classic 350 (with the spone kit) and an Eheim Pro 3e 2075 this is my first Eheim purchase. Just examined everything and the Classic is self explanatory but there are a few things about the Pro 3e that just don't seem to make sense.
The 'pre-filter' is at the top. Its easy to see how it works, water exits the inlet tube under the coarse blue filter mat and must pass through it to be sucked down the side of the canister to the bottom. But it seems like unnecessary complication when the blue filter mat could simply be the first layer on the bottom to begin with. I thought that the 'pre-filter' was an added stage of filtration but it seems as though Eheim have just moved the coarse filter pad from the bottom to the top to call it a new feature.
The first basket (on the bottom) has Eheim Mech Pro media (little black plastic tubes) it is supposed to be for mechanical filtration but I just don't see how they could catch dirt particles since the plastic is smooth. If its the ridges allong the tubes that catch dirt it would get clogged pretty quickly. How does it work, is this better than sponge-like (or other) media? Or should I replace it with something else? I tried to google Mech Pro but all the promotional literature says is what it does, not how it does it.
The next basket is filled with Eheim Bio-Mech Pro for mechanical and biological filtration, this kind of combination media might be a good idea in smaller filters with limited space but isn't the mechanical filtration simply going to clog the bacterial pores with dirt limiting the water flow over the beneficial bacteria? I know BB grow on sponges & filter pads as well but these pores are much smaller.
Then the 3rd basket has small balls of Eheim Substrat Pro for biological filtration covered by a fine filter mat to remove fine particles and 'polish' the water. I always thought that fine particle filtration should be before biological filtration. Shouldn't it go coarse, medium, then fine followed by biological media? This is driving me crazy, is my understanding of filtration all wrong? I simply have to know!!
The 'pre-filter' is at the top. Its easy to see how it works, water exits the inlet tube under the coarse blue filter mat and must pass through it to be sucked down the side of the canister to the bottom. But it seems like unnecessary complication when the blue filter mat could simply be the first layer on the bottom to begin with. I thought that the 'pre-filter' was an added stage of filtration but it seems as though Eheim have just moved the coarse filter pad from the bottom to the top to call it a new feature.
The first basket (on the bottom) has Eheim Mech Pro media (little black plastic tubes) it is supposed to be for mechanical filtration but I just don't see how they could catch dirt particles since the plastic is smooth. If its the ridges allong the tubes that catch dirt it would get clogged pretty quickly. How does it work, is this better than sponge-like (or other) media? Or should I replace it with something else? I tried to google Mech Pro but all the promotional literature says is what it does, not how it does it.
The next basket is filled with Eheim Bio-Mech Pro for mechanical and biological filtration, this kind of combination media might be a good idea in smaller filters with limited space but isn't the mechanical filtration simply going to clog the bacterial pores with dirt limiting the water flow over the beneficial bacteria? I know BB grow on sponges & filter pads as well but these pores are much smaller.
Then the 3rd basket has small balls of Eheim Substrat Pro for biological filtration covered by a fine filter mat to remove fine particles and 'polish' the water. I always thought that fine particle filtration should be before biological filtration. Shouldn't it go coarse, medium, then fine followed by biological media? This is driving me crazy, is my understanding of filtration all wrong? I simply have to know!!