Noisy Fluval 304

[kajones]

I've just bought a used tank which came with a fluval 304. The guy i bought it from left the filter intact and full of water to maintain the bacteria but i've got it up and running again and it's so noisy. I'm sure it shouldn't be, it's a horrible humming, vibrating type noise that is mega irritating. Should i clean it, will i lose valuable bacteria and end up having to mature it again if i do?

When i was pumping it to get it running a lot of gunk came out of the outflow into the water so i'm guessing it is pretty dirty.

 

[dc3]

Sometimes that noise can be just air - i had my used 304 do it for 3 or 4 days before it became quiet - spat out bubbles too - i found gentle tilting helped get rid if it. If you want to clean your filter - stick the bio-media in your tank in a filter bag while you scrub down the rest of the filter...

 

[kajones]

Oh i've done it now, it was filthy, full of muck. I just rinsed the sponges in aquarium water and gently sluished the other media whilst wiping slime off the casing, hope it will be o.k. Had a nightmare trying to prime the damn thing to get it started again, got there in the end though. It still seems pretty noisy, i'm wondering if maybe it needs a new impeller[.

quote name='dc3' date='May 12 2007, 11:57 PM' post='1612022']
Sometimes that noise can be just air - i had my used 304 do it for 3 or 4 days before it became quiet - spat out bubbles too - i found gentle tilting helped get rid if it. If you want to clean your filter - stick the bio-media in your tank in a filter bag while you scrub down the rest of the filter...
[/quote]

 

[AK77]

Hi Kajones,

I'm having the exact same problem but with an Eheim filter. I just purchasesd a tank 2nd hand, with external filter. I've hooked everything up and the noise is soooooooo loud. The tank is upstairs in my bedroom and I can hear it humming downstairs in the kitchen and thats even with the filter being place on top of a towel too to dampen the vibrations.

Did the cleaning help? Did you get a new impeller or did the noise just settle down after a few days? I've tried tilting and even shaking the filter gently (which resulted in all the crap pumping back into the tank again lol). Any insights would be greatly appreciated as I doubt I'll be sleeping tonight

 

[HEX]

probably your impeller ,fluvals are notorius for them going bad. then you have to spend 20-30 for a new one. been there done that.

 

[kajones]

Yeah the cleaning helped a bit,i got gunk coming out into the tank when i was fiddling around so i had to clean it. it's still noisy though, gonna change the impeller and hope that quiets it down. I'll post when i've done it. I would clean yours though, just don't overdo it on the filter media. i've had fish in mine for few days now and they're thriving, my firemouths have even changed colour so the filter is obviously doing a good job.

Hi Kajones,

I'm having the exact same problem but with an Eheim filter. I just purchasesd a tank 2nd hand, with external filter. I've hooked everything up and the noise is soooooooo loud. The tank is upstairs in my bedroom and I can hear it humming downstairs in the kitchen and thats even with the filter being place on top of a towel too to dampen the vibrations.

Did the cleaning help? Did you get a new impeller or did the noise just settle down after a few days? I've tried tilting and even shaking the filter gently (which resulted in all the crap pumping back into the tank again lol). Any insights would be greatly appreciated as I doubt I'll be sleeping tonight

 

[AK77]

Well I've given the Eheim 2215 a clean. I didn't take out the filter media in the canister, as it all looks pretty clear and the water is flowing fine. I cleaned the impeller and housing unit. It wasn't dirty at all really. One thing I did notice is that the impeller seems to have quite a bit of "travel" on it - IE there is about 5mm-8mm space for the impeller to slide up and down. Is that normal or did someone lose a bit off the impeller whilst cleaning it?

Its still noisy. I got the canister on its side, had it upside down and upright before I hooked it all back up (gotta love those valves ) There wasn't any air in the impeller section as far as I can tell. I think I'll get a new impeller and go from there.