Aarrgghh! My Filter Died :-(

[Gilli]

Well my biggest nighmare came true. I tuned off my external filter to put in some new tank ornaments and generally give it a good overhaul , plugged it back in and nothing! Tried the fuse - dead as a doornail! Its been a pain from the moment I got it about 18 months ago,- and the fact that Interpet have discontinued it speaks volumes! My husband and I tried everything to get it going but after about 2 hours we gave up.

So off I ran to a local fish shop and had to pay through the nose for a new external filter. As I know nothing about externals I thought id make sure I got a good one so I have upgraded to a 305 Fluval even though its only a 250L tank as the difference in price for the 250 and the 350 was only about £7.

We spent ages trying to get it to work which I might add was not as easy as the DVD that came with it made out! Anyway its up and running now thank god! Needless to say the other half was not impressed spening his day off trying to fix my filter and then having to spend a lot of money on a new filter!

So im obviously worried that its not fully seeded. I transferred all my ceramics from the old filter to the new filter plus a bag of the new ceramics as well. Then I cut up the sponges from the old filter and crammed as much in as I could into the spare compartment (didnt want to use the new carbons). I managed to get 2 out of the 3 old sponges into the new filter.

My question is how effective is this likely to be? Will I have problems? Im going to test the water daily and make water changes if need be, but if I do have problems how long is it going to be before im fully seeded again?

 

[GAB99]

i think youll be fine, it might have been better and less stress on you to tranfser all of the old material but the bacteria should colonize in about a week or so. just do the tests and water change accordingly

 

[Gilli]

I crammed as much of the old sponges as I could in - it wouldnt take the last one. Im hoping that will be enough along with the bacteria that must also be in the gravel and growing on my internal fibreglass background.

 

[Honeythorn]

As long as the old media was still wet and you hadn't washed it under the tap ect , the die off in bacteria will not have been too bad. You should do smaller water changes every 3 days or so for the first week or two , just to make sure and keep the fish safe while the new filter seeds and settles itself

 

[kribensis12]

You should be fine. Don't you just hate it when the most important piece of equipment for tanks is the one that always dies? Not the little air stone, it's always the heater or the filter, or both. I don't bother with externals. I get HOB filters. Easier to clean, do a fantastic job, and don't die (depending on the brand). I use Aquaclear. Cleaning takes all of 3 minutes, they are very inexpensive, and wouldn't die, even if you ran over one. Now, if a external was given to me, I'd use it. But I would never buy a brand new one.

 

[NinjaSmurf]

That sucks, I can't imagine the stress.

Kribs, I'm with you, all my filters have been HOB and were my older brothers or ones we picked up at yard sales. I can almost guarantee some of them are at least fifteen years old, and they all work.

 

[GrubbyGirl]

You will be fine, but I suggest you go back to interpet and ask for your money back or a new replacement. Under the sale of goods act it should have been of merchanable quality and fit for purpose, if you've been having problems with it right from the start it clearly wasn't. Quote the SoG Act to them and demand a refund/replacement.

 

[Gilli]

Thank you for the advice GG but the Interpet filter was over a year old. It being my first external filter I didnt really know much about how it should perform so I struggled on with it. It kept getting a low flow rate all the time despite me keeping it clear of blockages, id fiddle with it , squeeze the pipes, turn it on and off a few times and all would be well for a few days then it would drop again. Still we live and learn!

I must say im impressed with the flow rate of the new fluval which just confirms how poor the last filter was. The good news is I tested the water this morning and all is spot on. Keeping my fingers crossed for the next few days that it doesnt change.

 

[GrubbyGirl]

The SoG Act covers you up to 6 years, you don't have to worry that it's over a year old. If it didn't work properly from the beginning I'd demand a refund!

 

[Gilli]

Wow I didnt know that - thanks!

Here are some pictures with the new design that caused all the problems It was just all slate but ive taken some out and installed some caves which my breeding kribs and BN plecs are over the moon about! Sorry for the blurry fish - they are my rainbow fish who are impossible to photograph cos they are too fast!

 

[GAB99]

by any chance if your bosemanis are stressed do they get black horizontal stripes?

 

[Bebobb]

Wow. I like the background on the back! Looks great!

 

[Gilli]

Wow. I like the background on the back! Looks great!

Thank you. I let some algae grow on it because i think it makes it look more realistic. Also my plecs and the kribs like having a munch

by any chance if your bosemanis are stressed do they get black horizontal stripes?

I havent noticed stripes. I do notice that if they are upset they lose thier colour - when I was re-arranging the tank and fiddling with the new filter they went very pale.