Is My Fluval U2 Broken?

[HayzH]

i forgot to turn it off yesterday during a w/c and once the top vent hit the air it made a fizzing sound..
when i put it on again after the w/c there were only a few bubbles and the jet stream wasnt as good as before....my water test this morning showed 0.25 of Ammonia. Leading to another w/c. is there air trapped inside, or have i broke it??

 

[Tizer]

Turn it upside down under water and release the air.

 

[HayzH]

Turn it upside down under water and release the air.

done made no difference

 

[Tizer]

sponges full of gunk? (doubtful they are yet)

 

[HayzH]

sponges full of gunk? (doubtful they are yet)

i took them out to look at them..and they are pretty gunky yes.

 

[Tizer]

In my fluval 2+ if the middle sponge gets gunked up it stops the flow of water into the filter so thats the one i tend to clean the most. No idea how the U series ones work but it wont harm the bacteria if you give a sponge a gentle squeeze out in some tank water. if you got multiple sponges clean one today, one at the weekend etc. Bacteria are like plaque on teeth, quite hard to dislodge. but its better to have a good flow of water through the filter providing oxygen to them than a slow flow, hence keeping sponges free of mulm helps.

If you did it in a jug of tank water, you could collect the mulm at the bottom with a sieve then plop it into the filters you have that are not cycled yet to help speed them along. It wont help massively but it wont do any harm either.

If its still not great, check the impeller area of the filter, make sure nothing is gunking that up either. You can normally pull the impeller out on its shaft and clean then with a cotton bud.

 

[HayzH]

In my fluval 2+ if the middle sponge gets gunked up it stops the flow of water into the filter so thats the one i tend to clean the most. No idea how the U series ones work but it wont harm the bacteria if you give a sponge a gentle squeeze out in some tank water. if you got multiple sponges clean one today, one at the weekend etc. bacteria are like plaque on teeth, quite hard to dislodge.

ok..ive just done a W/c though should i wait...or do it now? I also added a long airstone for extra bubbles..as i noticed when i syphoned in the freshwater they loved swimming through the bubbles.

Personally i think its broke....grrr
could that be why the Ammonia was up this morn?

 

[Tizer]

yes, if the flow of water through the filter is slow, the less water is being processed, thus the ammonia reading. Welcome to the other side of the hobby, which includes filter maintenance

 

[HayzH]

yes, if the flow of water through the filter is slow, the less water is being processed, thus the ammonia reading. Welcome to the other side of the hobby, which includes filter maintenance

should i do it now then?

 

[Tizer]

no good reason not to. check the impeller first, its a very simple device, just think of it as a fan on a stick that sucks up water, if its dirty, it can turn less thus, less water gets sucked up.

 

[HayzH]

no good reason not to. check the impeller first, its a very simple device, just think of it as a fan on a stick that sucks up water, if its dirty, it can turn less thus, less water gets sucked up.

well....
the vent from the biomedia filer was fully clogged up..so wiped that out so water can get through...put it all back together and there is still no difference.

 

[Twinklecaz]

I have the Fluval U2 and do what you did all the time. The flow does slow down sometimes but usually a good clean (did you take the impella out and clean it?) fixes the prob.

 

[HayzH]

nope..i'm useless at those type of things..so i bought a new one (with a £10 off )

 

[Twinklecaz]

LOl yeah that works too!

 

[HayzH]

lol...least i have a spare now eh?