Filter

[Fishyfishfish2010]

the filter on my tank keeps dying out on me but with a little bit of playing around with it i can get it going for another couple days......i plan on buying a new one but not sure of what kind to get....i think the problem with this one was the sand from the tank got into the filter....is there any filters that would do better with sand than others?

 

[karin]

Generally speaking you need to be very careful with sand when it comes to all filters. Make certain it is off when doing any tank maintenance and only turn it back on when sand has settled. Also make certain that your intake is at least 6 inches off of the sand. That being said, canister filters are a safer bet as water is brought in at the bottom of the canister where sand can be trapped before it gets to the top of the filter where the impellor is.

You probably got sand in your impellor. You could try to clean this well and re-lubricate.

But give us some info... size of tank, inhabitants of tank, and type of filter you currently run. You might want to act quickly as a stuck filter when you are not around can after some hours throw your tank into a mini-cycle.

 

[Fishyfishfish2010]

Generally speaking you need to be very careful with sand when it comes to all filters. Make certain it is off when doing any tank maintenance and only turn it back on when sand has settled. Also make certain that your intake is at least 6 inches off of the sand. That being said, canister filters are a safer bet as water is brought in at the bottom of the canister where sand can be trapped before it gets to the top of the filter where the impellor is.

You probably got sand in your impellor. You could try to clean this well and re-lubricate.

But give us some info... size of tank, inhabitants of tank, and type of filter you currently run. You might want to act quickly as a stuck filter when you are not around can after some hours throw your tank into a mini-cycle.

30g sand 24c swords guppys blue ram blue powder gourmais and a kuli loach and its an aquaclear 200

 

[karin]

Have you tried removing the impellor and cleaning it really well? I have aquaclear filters and just take them gently apart, use a q-tip to clean them up, put some vasoline on the impeller needle and barrel, not the fans and see if that works. Some times mine stopped working because there is just lots of gunk around the impellor too. That being said, I ruined an aquaclear 20 by sucking up sand in it.

A good canister filter for your tank would be an eheim 2213 or a 2215 if you really want to up the filtration.

 

[Fishyfishfish2010]

not sure what those are never seen a canister filter in any of the lfs around here

 

[symon_say]

Why not use a prefilter sponge??

 

[karin]

Just google eheim classic canister filters. They should be stocked in most LFS.

Pre-filter sponge might work but sand grains can be very very small. And they do wreak havoc in the impellers.

 

[Gvilleguy]

I like all the stuff Karin said, particularly the part about sand entering the bottom of a canister and having a better chance of getting filtered before reaching the impellor. Another brand used by a lot of forum members are the Fluval canister types. Just to give you another brand option. But eheim is also very good stuff. Sorry your current one gave out. I have an Aquaclear 20 on my Q Tank, and it is a great filter.