My Filter Stopped Working

[wolfwolf]

Some time between wednesday at 9:00pm and thursday at 4:00pm my Aquaclear 30 filter stopped working. The intake tube was filled so it did not lose its prime. There was no power outage. When I discovered the problem here is what I did:

Unplugged the filter and took it to the sink to disassemble it. The sealed motor was VERY hot. I took everything apart and washed it out. I did not see anything that would have jammed the impeller. I put everything back together and the filter is working fine. So I put the media back in. The sponge stayed wet for the entire time. The ceramic bio media was bone dry when I discovered the filter was off. I did a 40% water change and swapped the ceramic bio media with another one of my tanks. My kribs are just ready to breed I don't want a minicycle to mess them up.

The bad news is that I must now go on a weeks vacation. My neighbor will check my tanks twice a day. I am going to ask her to feed the fish every other day and a very small amount. if my krib does lay her eggs and they hatch they will just have to survive by themselves.

Should I do anything else? Replace the sealed motor unit?

Side note... I had just cleaned the filter 2 weeks ago.

 

[Colin_T]

Aquaclear filters are normally very good and it is unlikely to be a problem with the motor. Having said that it could be a faulty one but they are such a simple design and have been around for years and are generally reliable.

If the water level in the tank was low and you had a power failure, then the pump might not have been able to re-prime itself and get going. This would leave some water in the filter but not enough for the filter to actually work properly and start running. Having the tank's water level reasonably high helps to prevent this problem occurring. However, a full tank can make it easier for fish to jump out if it isn't covered.

I am a bit confused about how the ceramic beads could be dry while the sponge was still wet. Was the sponge in the bottom of the filter and the ceramic beads on top. Then as the water level dropped the beads ended up out of water while there was still some water in the filter covering the sponge.

The only thing I would do with regards the holiday is measure out specific amounts of fish food for your neighbour to feed the fish. Then she can come in and put one portion of food in the tank every few days and there will be less chance of the fish being over fed.

 

[Mikaila31]

My filter cut out on me when I fail to clean the impeller, nothing hard jams it. It just get to much junk built up on the impeller and in the housing.