Filter Stopped

[gilaesther]

Some time between 10pm and 5am the filter stopped working. My husband woke me up at 5 with the joyous news, and the added fact that some fish were staying very close to the surface.... yay.

So I run downstairs and quickly unplug the filter, take it apart, run a bristle brush over the impeller housing and stuff, and it started working again (I was NOT looking forward to running to the pet store to buy a new one). The filter is a biowheel, BUT, on the advice of someone here who said they're inefficient, I had out a small bag of ceramic rings in there a month or so ago to give the bacteria something else to colonize, and also giving me spare filter media should I need it for another tank in the future or something. I couldn't tell if the wheel was still wet, because I was very tired, and only gave it a cursory feel. The rings however were still in the water that was still in the filter, so they were nice and wet.

Should I be concerned about a mini cycle or anything? I did about a 75% water change this morning (I was goings to do a small one anyway, and decided with the filter issue to do a bigger one).

Thanks for any and all advice!

 

[Aquascaper]

Just keep an eye on parameters but being unfiltered for 7hrs is not the end if the world.

What you have experienced is a classic example of the major drawback to biowheels, when they stop rotating the bacteria dry out and die very quickly. By adding extra media you've done yourself a massive favour

 

[gilaesther]

And now I'm super frustrated, because it stopped again!

I'm thinking I should probably buy a new one, I guess.

 

[gilaesther]

Ok, so they are sending me a new impeller, and claim that as long as I keep restarting it (Marineland Penguin power filter, model 100), the motor won't burn out, even if its running for hours without sucking water.

Can anyone tell me if that's ok?

Also, if my filter stops for hours before I discover it, will there be an an oxygen deprivation problem for the fish, since, my tank is mostly covered, there will be no current from the filter to ripple the water surface, and I don't have an air pump right now?

This is an urgent question, since if I need to go buy something, I need to do it ASAP before I need to worry about my son's school bus.

 

[WILDER]

I will move your thread over to Your New Freshwater Tank section of the forum. Seen as you need an urgent reply.

 

[snazy]

Do you have an air pump to plug in the mean time so at least the fish don't die of oxygen issues? Otherwise it gets dangerous. How long will it take for them to send you a new impeller and what's wrong with your old impeller? Is it broken?
If the filter keeps stopping you need large water changes to keep the ammonia and nitrItes levels in check if any detected.
If the manufacturer says the motor will not burn out, then it's their responsibility but why do you say running for hours without sucking water? No familiar with this filter too much but isn't the intake tube underwater anyways? The only problem would be if the filter media dries out by the time you restart the filter.

 

[gilaesther]

I do not have an air pump, but am willing to go one if its recommended.

I say not sucking water, because that is what it was doing. The motor was running, but no water was circulating. There was enough water in the housing to keep the ceramic things wet, so I wasn't too worried about that, just that whatever was on the wheel might have died off. But I use prime, and have no problem doing daily water changes for a week or two if necessary.

 

[snazy]

It's up to you really, if there's enough water to keep the media wet while it's stopped and the manufacturer suggests restarting it, then close monitoring and as less stressfull as you can water changes every day will do the trick but you do need an air pump while waiting for the impeller as your fish can suffocate while the filter is off and the more often it stops the less build up of oxygen in the water and the shorter it will take for them to suffocate. It will cause constant stress and future disease outbreaks.

Also, it depends on the price of a new air pump as sometimes the better air pumps can cost half the price of a decent filter so it's up to you. But in every tank I have a backup, either a second filter or an air pump running along as you never know what can happen.

 

[gilaesther]

I guess I'll run out and get the air pump. Thank you for you your help, Snazy. I was leaning that way anyway.