# Eheim Efisubstrate Question



## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

How often do most of you clean and replace this stuff?
I believe your suppose to do partial changes so you don't kill all of the biologica filtration. 

Questions are:
How often cleaned/rinsed?
How often replaced?
Can you have too much biological filtration?


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## Navarro (Feb 12, 2004)

I use only this media in all my Eheim filters and I have never changed! The only thing I do is to use a media bag so it can be taken out easily.
Every 2 to 3 months I service the filters doing the following.
step I 2 buckets filled 2/3 with aquarium water
step II Disconnect the filter empty all the water remove head pump
step III clean the impeller shaft etc.
step IV discard the old ehfisynth
step V remove the bag and rinse it in one of the buckets (clean water and repeat once or twice)
step VI in the other bucket I rinse the blue sponge ( if you are using one)
step VII put the filter together add new ehfisynth and prime it.
Best regards,
Luis Navarro


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

Navarro thanks for the maintenance tips, that does help. I guess your not using any of the glass/rock media (EHFISUBSTRAT, EHFILAV)?

Also do you rinse the blue sponge in only aquarium or non-chlorinated water?


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I do exactly the same as Luis too, and it works great. I'm sure they tell you to change out 1/3 of it so you'll have to keep buying more, but with a good rinsing, it will last almost indefinitely. 

As for rinsing the blue sponge, I think you could do it either way. Some even take it outside and blast it with water, then rinse it in dechlorinated water. Those I do replace every few times since they do tend to get clogged over time.

I use the Ehfisubstrat, as well as the Ehfisubstrat Pro and you can just rinse them the way you do the other media and reuse it.


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

Jans, do you rinse all the the ehifsubstrat media in each cleaning. If yes, are you using only aquarium water so as not to destroy biological filtration.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Yes I do, but that's only because I run 2 filters on the tank so I don't worry about wiping the bacterial colony in just that one filter. I probably wouldn't do that on a newer tank if it isn't real well established, though.

I'd definitely rinse it in tank water if you're in doubt at all.


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## Navarro (Feb 12, 2004)

Yes ,I do use ehfisubstrate is this what I place in the media bag for easy cleaning, by just transporting the media bag to rinse it with aquarium water without even opening the bag.
Luis


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

O.K. great. Thanks for the tips.


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

Where did you find large enough media bags? That would be a great help but all I can find locally is very small ones.


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## Navarro (Feb 12, 2004)

EHEIM sells them.
Luis


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## RJSimoneaux (Jan 2, 2006)

My Ehfisubstrat Pro seems to have Black Algae growing on it. Not sure what it is but I feel it has to be clogging the media. Has anyone cleaned this other than just rinsing it? If so what have you had sucess with?

Ray


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