Eheim return pump sponge yes or no

[Blue Ring Octopus]

Hello I have a Eheim 1262 return pump and I gave it its first cleaning and the sponge was filthy, do people run their Eheim pumps with the sponge or not?

Thanks in advance

 

[KrisReef]

I had a similar situation and didn’t check the sponge for like a month, I just tossed the pump in the sump with the brand new pre filter and figured it was self cleaning and would prevent large objects from getting sucked into the intake/impeller. A month went by and I noticed that the flow from the new pump return was just a trickle. I thought that the new pump had failed so I got a spare and then yanked the new pump to swap and discovered the fully collapsed sponge was obstructing flow. I pulled the sponge and never looked back until today. Hth.

 

[DeniseAndy]

I never run sponges on my return pumps unless after a sump clean out and then only 24 hours.

 

[Sean Clark]

I have only used the little 1048 version and removed the sponge almost immediately.

 

[Blue Ring Octopus]

Thanks everyone. I have removed the sponge and I will see how it goes.

 

[Fish D-Roo]

So how did it go?

 

[Blue Ring Octopus]

Well I cleaned my pump every month and I do not have the issue with the sponge anymore, Eheim pumps are work horse pumps so I doubt they will get damaged.