Lousy Fish Filters

[Nightflier]

I wanted to seek the opinion of the more experienced fish owners on a good fish filter to purchase. I have 2 bettas, and 6 mollies. The fish filters I have been purchasing from the pet stores work for about a month, then stop. When I clean them out, they do not start back up, regardless of the degree of disassembly and cleaning.

I currently have a Topfin for 20 gallon and, so far, it is running well. The smaller filters for my 3 10-gallon tanks, however, seem to be very short-lived.

Also, I currently clean the tanks by removing the old water via bucket - at my age, this is abit much. I've heard of syphons, but am not sure if they are only for gravel or for general use. I only strip-clean the tanks once every 2 months, but do add fresh water/dechlorination additive. At present, my little fishes are happily swimming around and I have had no problems as of yet, but am very tired of the inoperable fish filters and bucket hauling.

Any assistance you can provide would be really helpful!

 

[vinylman]

You really need to buy a siphon to do water changes; that way you can vacuum the gravel while removing water; you won't believe how much gunk a gravel vac will remove. Please don't strip the tanks down every couple of months, either - with regular water changes every week (replacing around 20% of the tank water and not forgetting dechlorinator, or course), there'll simply be no need to do that. I'd clean the filter out every water change, too. Just swish the filter media around in a bucket of the old tank water. Cleaning the impeller is important, too - this may be why you've been having filter problems. Believe me, 30-60 minutes maintainance a week is so much easier than stripping a tank every two months - less wear and tear on your back, too!!.

 

[Nightflier]

You really need to buy a siphon to do water changes; that way you can vacuum the gravel while removing water; you won't believe how much gunk a gravel vac will remove. Please don't strip the tanks down every couple of months, either - with regular water changes every week (replacing around 20% of the tank water and not forgetting dechlorinator, or course), there'll simply be no need to do that. I'd clean the filter out every water change, too. Just swish the filter media around in a bucket of the old tank water. Cleaning the impeller is important, too - this may be why you've been having filter problems. Believe me, 30-60 minutes maintainance a week is so much easier than stripping a tank every two months - less wear and tear on your back, too!!.

Thanks, Vinylman - yes I will look into the siphon this weekend - I'm too old for the bucket hauling! The filters I'd been purchasing are cheapies; i do try and clean the impellers as well, but they just don't turn on. Didn't know if there was a specific brand that was preferred. I don't mind spending a little extra money to keep my fishes happy! I appreciate your response - and so does my back!

 

[vinylman]

If you want really reliable internal filters for small-ish tanks, I wouldn't look any further than the Fluvals (Plus 1 and Plus 2); I had a Plus 4 in my 4ft tank for a couple of years and never had a minute's bother with it. You'll still need a bucket or two when you do your regular water changes, but of course you won't need to empty the tanks any more; I know how back-breaking it is - I had to move my 4ft tank twice in a couple of weeks when we redecorated the living room last year. Feel free to PM me if there's anything else.

 

[Nightflier]

If you want really reliable internal filters for small-ish tanks, I wouldn't look any further than the Fluvals (Plus 1 and Plus 2); I had a Plus 4 in my 4ft tank for a couple of years and never had a minute's bother with it. You'll still need a bucket or two when you do your regular water changes, but of course you won't need to empty the tanks any more; I know how back-breaking it is - I had to move my 4ft tank twice in a couple of weeks when we redecorated the living room last year. Feel free to PM me if there's anything else.

Thank you! I will look into the Fluval filters - I really appreciate your help - and so do my litle finned buds!

 

[RedeyesUK]

I'll second the fluval recommendation - I've been running a Plus 2 in my 15G tank for about seven years now, and it's only recently started playing up (maybe something to do with the fact that I cleaned it all with near-boiling water, which warped the plastic - don't do that!

Funnily enough, the problem I'm having with it (apart from the fact it no longer comes apart very easily) is that the impeller won't start after plugging it in. All I do to start it up again is to detach the media cartridge and give the impeller a little flick (while it's plugged in) - once I do that, it runs fine until the next time I unplug it. Maybe you could try that with yours?

That said, it's probably worth investing in a decent filter anyway - as I'm sure you've realised by now, cheap ones give you more headaches than they're worth, and just end up costing you more in the long run. Get a fluval and put your current one away as an emergency spare.

 

[OldMan47]

If you have an impeller that seems to not want to turn,try taking the impeller out and cleaning the hole that the magnet sits in. A small bottle brush works well for this. Then take a rag and wipe the outside of the magnet thoroughly. When it goes back together, make sure the little rubber looking bearings on the end of the shaft fit nicely into the ends. You may be surprised how nicely an impeller will work after doing this. The clearances between the impeller's magnet and the case it sits inside are very close and it doesn't take much to stop that impeller from turning easily.

 

[xcharmanderx421]

i had bad experiances with marililand 350 power filter. thing works, just really really loud, like the motor is going to explode. It sounds like there's a lack of water in the container, when its full. so no idea what it was.