Eheim 2215 for a 65g?

[Cookie_discus]

I am planning to upgrade to a 65 gallon so do I need to upgrade my filter also? i am wondering if the Eheim 2215 canister can handle a 65 gallon bare bottom with four to five discus? I going to add a hydor powerhead just to increase more flow.

[Bill63SG]

Upgrade from what?Discus are not big on more flow,so I wouldn't bother with the power head.Personally I'd just run a couple of sponges.Is this a grow-out?

[Cookie_discus]

No they all adult. I always think that my 2215 is so weak.

[Bill63SG]

Well someone else will have to chime in on using a canister but at the moment one of my tanks is a 65 tall and Im just using 2 sponges.

[Loosir]

Yes a 2215 will be fine with only 5 fish. The most important thing to keep the ammonia and nitrite in check is to clean any food or feces at the bottom of the canister where the water first comes in. If you keep that clean then you're fine.

[Tshethar]

Well, I'm trying to avoid real work here for a minute and am taking a break... I don't know much about discus but have a few thoughts from related experience and from what I've been told:

Personally, I like Eheim canisters (such as the one you have) for providing stability to a biological filter. When I had a 29gal Tanganyikan cichlid tank in my office running only on a sponge filter and an HOB, I had fish losses twice after doing a large water change that included squeezing the sponge, which I presume was followed by an ammonia and/or nitrite spike. I thought I was okay as I had left one of the filters alone (a Penguin bio-wheel), which I thought would take up the biological slack in a tank that didn't seem heavily stocked to me, but I learned the hard way. Ever since I put a 2213 on that tank, I've never had another problem, and no longer worry about losing my nitrifying bacteria when I do maintenance. The only potential downside to canisters with discus seems to be the danger of leaving them too long to collect detritus without cleaning them; with that in mind, a prefilter sponge on the intake helps a lot and would be recommended.

Second point is that while you can't have too much biological filtration, you can have too much flow. Instead of a powerhead, you might be better off with an airstone or two with or without a sponge filter to supplement your 2215, or maybe an HOB. Kenny (sponsor here) told me that it's fine to have as much extra vertical flow as you like, but excess horizontal flow will stress discus. There are surely ways of orienting powerheads, spraybars, etc. so that you get vertical rather than horizontal flow, but if the main goal is surface agitation/gas exchange and adequate circulation to distribute heat evenly, then you probably don't need to do too much. Airstone is probably easiest.

So, it probably comes down to your personal preference and budget. Personally, I like having redundancy, so having a second Eheim is never a bad thing (with prefilters). That said, an airstone with or without a sponge should be fine. The main thing seems to be to keep up with your water changes whatever you might use to supplement. And from what people on here recommend, get at least 5-6 fish.

[jim LI]

I use 2 - 2217s on my 72 gallon bow front. I use a return nozzle rather that the spray bar you get. I also use eheim pre-filters on both intake tubes http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511KTyutWrL.jpg. i have these on for 2 years without any issues.

[pitdogg2]

Second point is that while you can't have too much biological filtration, you can have too much flow. Instead of a powerhead, you might be better off with an airstone or two with or without a sponge filter to supplement your 2215, or maybe an HOB. Kenny (sponsor here) told me that it's fine to have as much extra vertical flow as you like, but excess horizontal flow will stress discus. There are surely ways of orienting powerheads, spraybars, etc. so that you get vertical rather than horizontal flow, but if the main goal is surface agitation/gas exchange and adequate circulation to distribute heat evenly, then you probably don't need to do too much. Airstone is probably easiest.


I'm going to go against this somewhat:

I have two 75's both with 1 magnum 350 and 1 XP3 both output across the top I also have a Korilla water pump that is 850gph going across the length with the Magnum350. My 6+ Discus have thrived in these tanks. So this conservatively would be 1000gph water movement. Have you ever seen the water movement on you tube videos of Discus in the wild......it is definitely not vertical in any way.

[Discus3anatic]

One thing to note is canister Filters dont have very good suction power.. i often see debris floating by my 2217 even when my 2217 is clean as a whistle tubes included. Sure it sucks stuff up but only if they litterally get next to the inlet. So i learned canisters really are only good for bio filtration.. If you want good mechanical get yourself a good internal filter or a good hang on back filter.

Anyone who disagrees with me is clueless just an fyi as this has been proven over n over again.

as for a 2215 for a 65, yes thats plenty.. I use a 2217 for my 120g, but i use it in conjunction with my 2 internal 40g filters.


As for discus not liking flow... I disagree, maybe crazy hurricane flow, but i find my discus often swim into the flow of my spray bar which is mounted verticly (meaning top to the bottom of my tank so flow isnt just on the surface) and spray against the front BOW of my bow corner tank they are in.. I also have two internals as i mentioned with spray bars and they dont mind the circular flow in my tank at all. I have pretty serious flow in my tank, i could record a video and toss in crushed flaked food and youd see how fast it flies around my tank.. and my discus love the flow. The middle of my tank is calm and quiet and if they want calm and quiet they move there.. but 80% of the time they swim against the current and love it.

See my pic, i have bubble in the back corner, my spray bar blowing against the front bow on the left, then i have a spraybar on the internal filter on the right blowing on the surface against the glass at an angle which blows flow to the otherside of the tank in a circular motion. And my other internal filter has the spray bar off but its pointing against the glass at an angle following the circular flow in the tank.. So there are strong currents in the tank, this way food and particles in the water litterally get blown into my filters and i have to clean the internal filters and sponge on my canister inlet every 2 days. works great for me. I wish the internals were smaller but thats okay im used to it. You can see 4-5 of my discus in the front swimming against the current

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