OK I have been using the EI index for 4 months now and everything is doing fantastic. No doubt this is a proven method.

I am just curious now to what is the Tom Barr recommended cleaning cycle of canister filters? I am using an Eheim 2215 on my 55 gallon.

my 2 cents

I clean my can every 2-4 weeks . I reverse flush it and usualy replace 1 blue pad. Make sure you clean your hoses also. Keep all your equipment algae free.

I clean my Eheims about every two months.

Bump,

2-weeks, 2-months, Mr. Barr what is your feelings on this please? The reasons I ask is that Eheims seem to be able to go for long periods before slowing down. On other planted tank forums I have heard of people going 4-6 months. But my question is what is the better for the plants?

I'm having a hard time thinking that cleaning your cannister does anything other than improve circulation. If you're not using activated carbon, peat moss, etc. in your filter, and it's still moving water...who cares?

Granted, this assumes the worst thing that will accumulate is mulm type stuff and I have no idea if too much would be a bad thing.

Maybe it doesn’t matter and to be honest with you that is what I am looking for.

Over the last year I have heard one extreme from the other about it just like dosing. I could not find his post but I thought I had read one of Tom’s replies indicating a more frequent cleaning cycle. As I said in my original post what the EI method did for my tank I just thought I would like to hear what Tom feels about it that’s all.

You observe your filter and when you see mulm build up in there and hoses getting brown (if they are transparent to start with), you clean it. It could be 2 weeks or 2 months. I run my CO2 through my canister filters and I see when bubbles start to slow down in intake hose. It's also good idea to keep notes about when you did cleaning last time.