Filter has slowed down

[Guyb93]

Seemingly over night my filter has slowed by around 50% which isn’t great and I rely on my filter for oxygen and have no air stone , my water disturbance now is bad about 3/4 of it being dead
It’s an fx4 filter my tank is 500l so at half flow it’s turning my tank around 3x ph , I need full flow , what’s the easiest way of restoring it back to full

 

[Colin_T]

turn the filter off, take it apart, clean it and set it back up. if it doesn't work properly after that, the motor might be stuffed.

 

[Guyb93]

turn the filter off, take it apart, clean it and set it back up. if it doesn't work properly after that, the motor might be stuffed.

Iv blasted the hoses unscrewed the impeller cleaned that off a slight improvement but still doesn’t seem at full power

 

[Colin_T]

Take all the media/ material out of the filter and see if it works without media. There might be something blocking the media and restricting the flow.

 

[Guyb93]

Take all the media/ material out of the filter and see if it works without media. There might be something blocking the media and restricting the flow.

Il try that in a minute cheers iv had to just leave it a bit I was about to volley the thing out the back door

 

[Fishiemang]

Do you have a polishing pad in there?

These clog fast and reduce the flow significantly. The filter will require weekly tear downs with one of those pads. Run it with no polishing pads or super fine sponges. Just the stock stuff works good. The finer the media, the more maint and lower flow you'll have.

 

[Guyb93]

Do you have a polishing pad in there?

These clog fast and reduce the flow significantly. The filter will require weekly tear downs with one of those pads. Run it with no polishing pads or super fine sponges. Just the stock stuff works good. The finer the media, the more maint and lower flow you'll have.

No just ceramic rings and sponges , iv had to settle with it at the moment until tomorrow and il try again

 

[Guyb93]

Thnks @Colin_T tried running without media and worked fine after spitting out a load of crap , half rinsed 70% of the media and its running 100% thanks again just hope iv kept enough bb in the process

 

[Colin_T]

The filter bacteria are fine as long as you wash the filter media in a bucket of tank water.

 

[Guyb93]

The filter bacteria are fine as long as you wash the filter media in a bucket of tank water.

Washed it using the water from the filter then refilled the filter with my tank water , the media didn’t look clogged but cleaning it has made a huge difference ?