Filter Isnt Working, Need Quick Solution

mwood2 · Nov 19, 2008

well the filter on my older tank isnt working properly and I need a quick solution to help. I can move the oto or Dwarf Platy to my other tank I'm sure since that filter is mature and has an extra air pump filter in it but the tank has a dozen or so fry and more may be on the way but again my other tank is working on being set up. I have some extra filter media but it wont work in the current filter since there isnt enough water flowing in it. Would it work to just toss it in the tank?

I plan to buy a fluvel 1 filter when saterday comes.

petertr · Nov 19, 2008

What is wrong with the filter?

mwood2 · Nov 19, 2008

its the built in marine land filter. The intake isnt enough to properly filter. The amount of water going through is little to none and isnt cycling enough water to eat the ammonia/nitrite. The tank has .25+ ammonia and nitrite before I left for work so I did a water change before and after and everyone from what I can tell is fine. I cleaned the filter but the water intake is still horrible. I have the same filter in my other tank and it works fine. But I need something until I can fix and or buy a new filter. Would tossing some mature filter medium in the tank work or would I have to worry about the fish harming it or something?

petertr · Nov 19, 2008

Did you look at the propeller? It could have dirt in it. I used to have to clean my Fluval 4s from time to time

Colin_T · Nov 19, 2008

Putting mature filter media in a tank won't work unless you can get water flowing over it. Your best bet is to reduce feeding and put some plants in the tank. Then have a light on the tank and run it for 16-20hours per day. The lights will encourage the plants and algae to grow and they will use most of the ammonia produced by the fish. Reducing the feeding will reduce the ammonia in the water and the fish will be better for it. Fish can go for weeks without food so even a few days without food won't kill them.
If you can get some Ammogon/ Zeolite, (a white granulated substance) then you can put a layer of that in the tank and it will absorb ammonia for a few days. It needs to be changed or recharged regularly and you should monitor the ammonia levels.
Having lots of aeration in the tank will help.
Doing a 50-75% daily water change will help keep the ammonia levels down and the fish can live for months without a filter and only a small amount of food. I do it when I go collecting fish. I have the fish in buckets and change their water each day. I don't bother feeding the fish unless they have been in the buckets for a week or more. Then I feed them every couple of days and do a really big water change 12 hours later.

mwood2 · Nov 19, 2008

I cleaned the propeler as well as the rest of the parts during my last water change. I did a quick fix and I will wait on the results of it when I get home from school.

What I have done is since I started fish keeping a month ago I have kept a Fluvel 2+ pad on top of the filter in my main tanks. here are pics of what I did:

Main Tank:

other tank with filter changed:

The water flow is increased this way, while it does not yield as much as my other tank its still an improvement. I will buy a Fluvel 1+ filter on Saturday and Place this filter in there and run both at the same time. I dont have many choices besides internal since the main filter on here is positioned and even if taken out I cant use HOB filters.

saz326 · Nov 19, 2008

Is it possible to make the water inlet bigger? You say not enough water is getting in.

It might be that the water level is too low for the impeller to draw the water up/in with any power. Low water level will make the impeller need to work harder to suck the water up.

Or maybe (you say its an old filter) the chamber that the impeller sits in has slowly worn away at the edges. A non-fitting impeller will not have as much power.

mwood2 · Nov 19, 2008

the water level in the tank is as high as it can go without over filling it. I took the whole filter apart and didn't see any problems at all.

saz326 · Nov 19, 2008

is everything that turns turning freely?

mwood2 · Nov 19, 2008

yep, I made sure of that when I put it back together. I may take it apart one more time before school if I have time. But from what I can tell it just doesn't seem to want to work. I plan to over filter the tank anyways so maybe I can put a fry or 2 in there once there big enough to not be eaten by my AFD

pippoodle · Nov 19, 2008

Maybe your filter isnt fully cycled and thats why you are getting the ammonia
4 weeks isnt long for a full cycle
have you recently added any more fish to that tank that could have caused the ammonia to rise ?

mwood2 · Nov 19, 2008

the filter was fully cycled and I did the add daily fishless cycle on my other tank while my extra filter sponge was in there so I am cycled. The levels in the tank where fine until the water flow pretty much stopped. After I just tinkered with it i managed to get it enough to normal. I still plan to get a new filter for it so I dont have to keep worrying about it.

Any other filters suggested? I need something that will fit on a 6inX11.5in hex panel. I would like a nicer filter but all I can see that would be best is Fluvel +1 that would fit. Also I want something that not disturb my AFD to much since I heard they prefer still water.