how low can you go?

[hp10BII]

I'm moving some tanks around and I'd like to stack a couple of tanks together. The bottom tank would be about 5.5" off the ground. The top of the same tank is about 21" high, so overall height is about 26.5" from the top of the tank to the ground. I would like to use an eheim classic 2217 canister on this tank but I'm not sure if there would be enough gravity for the canister to filter properly.

If there's not enough gravity, I'll have to use a couple of AC110's instead but my first choice would be a 2217 and AC110 combo.

[tony1928]

I have an eheim canister and a tank that's both sitting on a counter top. I can tell you that when its very difficult for the canister to prime up on first start and to re-establish prime when I drain the tank for w/c's. The canister should really sit beneath the tank if at all possible. It does work but its a bit of a struggle.

[tang daddy]

It is abit hard to prime a classic compared to the ecco line, but shouldn't be a problem running it. If you do water changes just make sure to close the shut off on the canister and it shouldn't be a problem. I am gonna run a 2213 classic at the same height as the tank because it's a work bench and no space underneath.

[Diztrbd1]

I think the only problem you'd run into with this Ed, is priming the filter. And that probably wouldn't be a big issue . I don't think you would have to worry about the filter running properly after it's been primed, especially since it would be closer to the tank taking away alot of the head pressure . I would keep the hoses short as possible. Just my opinion

[hp10BII]

Thanks, if the only problem is priming the filter, I could live with that.

[josephl]

Another thing to think about is that if you put it too low, a siphon might not work when you are trying to do water changes and that would be a royal pain

[tony1928]

Yeah, I hate that part the most. I try to make sure I only change water to a level where I don't break siphon. When I do, it seriously takes me 10 minutes to get the damn thing re-primed. Even with an Eheim Ecco which does have a (weak) prime button, it still doesn't want to establish the siphon.

Another thing to think about is that if you put it too low, a siphon might not work when you are trying to do water changes and that would be a royal pain

[hp10BII]

That's why I like the ugly green eheim intake tubes - water change levels can go lower without losing the prime. With the grey installation kits, the prime gets lost at a higher level.

I'll be using Jehmco's easy siphon contraption with pump for my water changes, so water changes will probably be at least 4x faster than my python.