400l tank and eheim setup...

[GrkBoy]

I am currently in the proccess of putting together my new juwel vission 450. it is roughly a 450l tank.
I will be removing the internal juwel filter as this REALLY kills the look of the tank, and to replace it I have a eheim 2026, and a eheim 2217.

My question is this, is it possible and wise to use the one filter (2026) for mechanical filtering, and the 2217 for biological?? I have them in this order as the 2026 is good for roughly 350l and the 2217 is good for about 600l. My 2026 will be filled with sponges, and certain resin packs like biochem-zorb, and the 2217 will be filled with eheims substrat pro, and the usual sponges as to prevent cloging of the biological filter media.

Any thoughts on this idea???
All help will be greatly appreciated!

[ILLUSN]

if you want to use one for mech and one ofr bio i assume you'll be connecting the 2 filters in series? if so only use the 2217 as a pump, if not your 2026 could preasurise the 2217 and the top can blow off (been there done that). the flow rate on your 2217 will also be considerably reduced, howere your filtration capacity will be increased by about 200% i run an old 2017 inline with a 2217 and it works great, together they outperform an aquis 2400.

heres and old post i put up about it.
http://www.discusforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=92473&highlight=#92473

[GrkBoy]

Thanks for the reply illusn, I was thinking of running them each seperatly, do u think this will have any difference?? What is your water quality like after connecting them in series???

As its going to be a fully planted discus tank, i presume by connecting them in series and getting a slower flow rate, this will help in the calm waters that discus want??

[ILLUSN]

if you run your bio filtration without any mech filtration you'll be cleaning it CONSTANTLY, as all the filth from the water will be fouling up your bio substrate.

with the 2 connected in series my flow dropped by about 30-40%, however my water quality has never been better, as i said the 2 eheims do a better job interms of water quality then my aquis 2400 which has 3x the flow of a 2217.

mines a 330L planted tank.