# Eheim 2026 Maintenance Schedule?



## oldking (Jun 25, 2008)

Hello everybody,

Quick question - is there a schedule or anything for when to perform maintenance on an eheim 2026. How frequently am I supposed to wash/change the sponge, medium, etc. If there is no rough schedule, how do I know when to perform the maintenance?

Thank you!

P.S. - does anybody recommend the optional carbon layer?


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Welcome to the forum!! Hope we can answer all your questions and see photos of your tanks.

I usually open up the canister for the 1st time after 2 months to see how much gunk has accumulated. Another way to tell is when the output pressure is reduced. A lot depends on the size of your tank, how many fish, how often & what you feed your fish.

When it is time to clean the filter, just rinse the 'hard' media in a pail of clean fish tank water. The coarse blue media pad is rinsed in dechlorinated water & the fine white pad is usually replaced though sometimes I rinse mine out if it's still white looking.

I only use the optional carbon when removing medications from the tank.


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## 748johnd (Jun 30, 2007)

I have a 2028 and I clean it once every 6 months. I prepare 3 5-gallon buckets with dechlorinated water a couple of days ahead and use one bucket each to rinse each of the 3 trays of hard media. I found that using one bucket for all 3 trays wasn't enough. The water was pretty dirty by the time I rinsed the last tray of media. I just rinse the blue coarse sponge real well in plain tap water and replace the fine white pad. I always check to see if the output pressure is reduced when I do my weekly water changes. In addition to the 2028 I also have 2 HOB filters on the tank so that may be why I can get away with cleaning it at 6-month intervals.


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## oldking (Jun 25, 2008)

When do you actually replace the "hard media" (and what percentage) ... or is rinsing enough.

Thanks for the help


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## 748johnd (Jun 30, 2007)

Eheim recommends replacing one-third of the hard media, but I just keep reusing all of it. Rinsing is enough. The hard media is very expensive. Eventually I will replace it, but not in the foreseeable future. By the way, I never use carbon unless I need to remove a medication, and then I put it in my HOB filters.


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## lotsofish (Feb 28, 2008)

If you are wondering about the carbon, if you do use it, it should be replaced once a month. Much easier to put carbon in an HOB filter in addition so you won't need to clean or open the Eheim for months.


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## justshoe (Mar 13, 2008)

I would think that with periodic rinsing that hard media replacement would never be needed? I cannot see what would happen to it. Just a surface for bacteria to grow on. But i do mine about every 3 months or so same as the others. rinsing hard media in bucket of tank water and then the blue pad in tap water. i just replace my white pad with some filter floss when it gets to gunky.


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## gherlevi (Dec 16, 2004)

Regarding the hard media for bio, from what I've read, the only risk is that the porous surface becomes clogged over time.

I've also read that you can "grind" the media against itself to clear open porous openings or reveal new surface. I certainly don't plan on replacing mine any time soon!!!


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## Fishgal (Sep 18, 2002)

I agree on that last comment about the porous media becomming clogged. I have had my 2026 running for many years and I don't think I've ever replaced the hard media. I do rinse it in tank water about once a month (about every other water change) and replace the blue coarse pad and fine white pad as needed (more often on the white than the blue).

Anyway, lately it seems that despite all my great tank maintenance and super healthy mbunas, the tank just doesn't look so good between water changes. After only 2 weeks or so, it starts to look less pristine. I need to check my nitrates but I suspect it might finally be time to replace that hard media. That's pretty much the only thing in the tank that hasn't been changed out on some sort of a regular basis. The sponges in my HOB filters get changed from time to time, as does the cartridge on my powerhead prefilter. No new fish in ages, same water change schedule... it's gotta be something that has built up too much gunk.


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