Jewel powerhead not as powerful anymore

[BlackDog]

We've had our new rio 180 tank for about 5 months now and everything is going ok, but this week we've noticed that the powerhead in the filter doesn't seem to be kicking out as powerfully as before, our danios used to love 'surfing' against the current, but when you put your hand in front of it, you can hardly feel any movement. We have the venturi hose attached for extra air and this is not producing bubbles like it used to. We regulary change the white filter pad and have just changed one of the coarse blue ones. The powerhead seems to work a bit better when you hold it up slightly out of it's housing, when it rests in the hole, it's weight seems to make it stop turning as well. Has anyone had any experience of this? We don't really want to get a whole new powerhead, could the magnetised wheel inside need replacing?

Any ideas/thoughts would be very appreciated
Many thanks

BD

 

[dxgardner]

I had same problem recently.

When your next water change is due, remove all filter media (keep in tank water) and syphon the water from the filter housing. Make sure you get your hose right down to the bottom.

You will be amazed at how much sludge comes out.

Not only is my flow rate back to normal, but the water is clearer than ever !

 

[Dubby]

To add to what Dxg has said, clean out the impeller with an old toothbrush. It should make a tremendous difference.

 

[CFC]

Have you cleaned the filter media at all since you set the tank up?

Juwel give out some really terrible advise on the maintainance of their filters and the best advise i or anyone else for that matter would be to totally disregard all of what it says in the owners handbook.

When you notice a loss of power in your power head remove the two coarse sponges and give them a good clean in a bucket of water taken from the tank, the next week repeat the process with the two fine sponges. You must not disgard and replace the blue sponges until they are falling to pieces since they hold all the bacteria which provide the biological filtration.
Each week take the floss pad (white pad) and rinse it under a tap (this is not a biological part of the filter) it too only needs replacing when it is falling apart in your hands.
The carbon sponge should be replaced every 6 weeks like the manual advises but there is actually no need to use carbon in the filter at all unless you are removing a chemical you have added to the tank.

Once every 3 months or so stick the end of a hose into the filter housing and syphon all the sludge that has gathered in there, pay particular attention to the cavity where the heater slides into.

 

[BlackDog]

Cool, our next water change is this weekend, so will give all the suggestions a try and see what happens!
Many thanks!

BD

 

[BlackDog]

WooHoo,



Hurray, followed all your advice, clean the propeller, gave it a good hoovering out in the filter housing and then took out the filter pads and was horrified to see the state of one of the coarse blue sponges, it was covered in muck so rinsed it out in old aquarium water. Finally put everything back together again and was ecstatic to see the pump powering out the water as it used to, nice and strong! Hurray!
Thanks so much for everyone's help, our fish thank you too!
Hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas & New Year!

BD