Tetratec Ex1200 Maintenance

[moochy13]

so i brought myself a second hand ex1200 on the advice of the forum, as it was made out to be some sort of god-filter. ive had it running about 2 months, and just cleaned it for the first time. cant say im overly impressed. but i have a few queries for owners of the filter that may help me. please, if you dont own the filter could you try not spam my thread with uselessness. i do believe that this filter should be good, and i want to know if my experiences are normal.

firstly - it's said to be silent. im in the house on my own, no noise, and i can hear the slight hum of it 10 feet away. its not in a cupboard. so when you say silent, do you literally mean "i dont know if i've turned it on" levels of silent ? its in my bedroom, im used to sleeping with it but its in no way silent.

secondly - should the trays fit inside eachother nice and easy ? my bottom tray is a very tight fit in the cannister, and ive just had a nightmare trying to get them all to sit in eachother, until by sticking my finger down the pipe i could 'feel' if they were lined up properly. i noticed a small moulding of a line on each tray, which i assume is the level the trays sit inside eachother to? i cannot pull the bottom tray out just by pulling the handle, i have to edge it out and up one side at a time.

thirdly - my tank is overstocked a bit, and i have a few messy fish, but after 2-3 months it was totally filthy and needed cleaning. which is only how often i used to clean my eheim 2213. is this normal ? the water quality chemically is definitely better now though. if i used to forget a water change for a week or so, sometimes muy fish would be at the top, reminding me to do it. thats not happened once, and until today i hadnt changed the water for 2 weeks. bad form i know

fourth..ly - restarting it. so i turned the filter off, turned the taps off, unplugged the tap block. emptied and cleaned the filter, put it back together, put the tap block back in. now in the book it says to repeat the priming process. yet as soon as i opened the taps water went in, obviously. when i attempted to prime it with the pump, water started coming out of the pump button. so i guess i dont need to prime it if theres water in the inlet pipe ? i left it to fill and gurgle until the level in the outlet pipe was equal to the tank level, like it says. am i doing something wrong here ?

here is a video taken about 5-10 minutes after i turned the filter back on. as you can see/hear, lots of weird noises and air still coming out. is there a better way to reduce the air in the filter before turning it on ? typing this, another 5-10 minutes has passed and its no different, can still see air in the pipe and its making a racket.



i have given the filter a couple of little nudges, and when i do the water almost stops coming out, then the flow 'pulses' 3 or 4 times, then it goes quiet with full flow, as though its working perfectly. then 2 or 3 seconds later the racket kicks in and bubbles in the pipe again.

either im doing something wrong, or this filter isnt all its cracked up to be. i hope its the former............

 

[Zikofski]

hmm yes i had same problem, what i did was turn the outlet valve off turn filter on or keep the filter on, keep the inlet valve on also, and shake it so to build up pressure inside the filter and shake it to push the pressure and air to the top put the outlet valve back on and if will gush out just air for a tad it wasn't as bad but still will get air bubbles no matter what but after shaking it for 5 or 10 mins they do fade,

with all electrical devises, there s noise but yes you are right when they mean silent you expect it to be silent but its never is now i don't have it in a cupboard but i barely notice it tbh if your room is dead silent at night then yes you can here the slight hum but no way near as noisy as say my so called silent computer fans there allot worse haha, but yes try shaking it banging it gently up the side of the cabinet i tried that just do that for a few mins and it will get rid of the bubbles eventually ,

no you don't need to prime when you re build the filter i think when they say re prime i recon they mean for you to do that if you have cleaned the pipes and all that as well i.e you have to pump water back in rather than just letting the water flow back in i just turn taps on if water flows turn pump on if it dosnt then yes prime then switch on

so overall no your not doing something wrong its just allot of foam loves to trap air and it requires alllllot of kicks to get rid of it

EDIT: sorry didnt reply to some questions, ye my trays don't fit perfectly i just shake them, i don't know if you do this you do fill the canister up with water then put the trays back in wit hthe water?, i do that, when doing the water change fill a small bucket up with water leave that to the side and when u empty and clean the filter, just poor the water in put the bottom media in try to kinda punch it a bit to get most air out, then this is the annoying one in my eyes, the plastic balls the float so i have to put the next two trays in ontop of each other like just quickly drop them in asap and push down to the end try that again with the top media try pushing it or punching it to get some air out then just get as much air out before u put the lid on, requires less kicking that way

Hope i have not missed something and hope this has helped

 

[moochy13]

thanks, good to get more points of view.

i rebuild the cannister empty, it stays empty until its connected back up the pipes and the taps opened. i did think about pre-filling it, wasnt sure if it would help though. what are your trays filled with ? being secondhand, i have no idea if mine came setup as factory. i added a filter floss on top of the bioballs, this could backfire if it clogs up quickly, but on the other hand my water should look better and the balls will hopefully not rattle about, which i guess could be adding to the noise. ive got ceramic rings, then bioballs with floss, then coarse sponge in tray 3, then coarse sponge, purigen and floss in the top tray.

also, didnt realise which part of the forum i was in

 

[Zikofski]

hey no worries dosnt matter tbh where you post if it is a problem a moderator will move it but yes i am not with my filter at moment but mine im sure is set up like this picture

Link to Filter Media Layout for Tetra Tec 1200

TBH i didn't read the instructions about not filling up the canister i just did it haha, but ye one thing is make sure you don't fill it back up with tap water or don't wash it in tap water or you kill of your bacteria , but yes not filling it up means you have a while canister of air for your filter to suck out you can help it by putting water in before you put it back to gather, i am tempted to put some wool above the bioballs also to stop them flooding lol

 

[minnnt]

so i brought myself a second hand ex1200 on the advice of the forum, as it was made out to be some sort of god-filter. ive had it running about 2 months, and just cleaned it for the first time. cant say im overly impressed. but i have a few queries for owners of the filter that may help me. please, if you dont own the filter could you try not spam my thread with uselessness. i do believe that this filter should be good, and i want to know if my experiences are normal.

firstly - it's said to be silent. im in the house on my own, no noise, and i can hear the slight hum of it 10 feet away. its not in a cupboard. so when you say silent, do you literally mean "i dont know if i've turned it on" levels of silent ? its in my bedroom, im used to sleeping with it but its in no way silent.

secondly - should the trays fit inside eachother nice and easy ? my bottom tray is a very tight fit in the cannister, and ive just had a nightmare trying to get them all to sit in eachother, until by sticking my finger down the pipe i could 'feel' if they were lined up properly. i noticed a small moulding of a line on each tray, which i assume is the level the trays sit inside eachother to? i cannot pull the bottom tray out just by pulling the handle, i have to edge it out and up one side at a time.

thirdly - my tank is overstocked a bit, and i have a few messy fish, but after 2-3 months it was totally filthy and needed cleaning. which is only how often i used to clean my eheim 2213. is this normal ? the water quality chemically is definitely better now though. if i used to forget a water change for a week or so, sometimes muy fish would be at the top, reminding me to do it. thats not happened once, and until today i hadnt changed the water for 2 weeks. bad form i know

fourth..ly - restarting it. so i turned the filter off, turned the taps off, unplugged the tap block. emptied and cleaned the filter, put it back together, put the tap block back in. now in the book it says to repeat the priming process. yet as soon as i opened the taps water went in, obviously. when i attempted to prime it with the pump, water started coming out of the pump button. so i guess i dont need to prime it if theres water in the inlet pipe ? i left it to fill and gurgle until the level in the outlet pipe was equal to the tank level, like it says. am i doing something wrong here ?

here is a video taken about 5-10 minutes after i turned the filter back on. as you can see/hear, lots of weird noises and air still coming out. is there a better way to reduce the air in the filter before turning it on ? typing this, another 5-10 minutes has passed and its no different, can still see air in the pipe and its making a racket.



i have given the filter a couple of little nudges, and when i do the water almost stops coming out, then the flow 'pulses' 3 or 4 times, then it goes quiet with full flow, as though its working perfectly. then 2 or 3 seconds later the racket kicks in and bubbles in the pipe again.

either im doing something wrong, or this filter isnt all its cracked up to be. i hope its the former............

1. Yes, silent. Mine are in cupboards, but i still can't hear them even with the door open.

2. Yes, perfectly. All trays should sit in each other in the same way. The handles are there for a reason when removing the trays... as are both of your hands.

3. Yes, normal. The filter will create enough bacteria to deal with the stock that you keep. It will also hold onto any bits and pieces that may be floating around your tank due to mechanical filtration. If the filter is getting clogged up the same as your old filter, then it is obviously something that you are causing them to do by having an overstocked tank.

4. Yes, you are. Sounds like you're not doing it right. If the filter is full of water and the inlet tube still has suction then there should be no reason to prime it. Unsure how you have managed to get water to come from the prime button. Mine has never done that.

Finally... Give your filter a good shake. Don't be worried about being too rough with it. People don't rock them enough to remove the air that is trapped inside of them then moan about them being noisy for ages after any maintenance.

 

[moochy13]

I think its possibly a little bit quieter this time. Its still spitting out a few bubbles every 10 minutes, but its normal the rest of the time.

Minnnt if i try pump the button with water in the filter, dribbles of water come from around the prime button. Is there a seal underneath it? if there is maybe mine has gone, could possibly be sucking a little air in?

The bottom tray is mega tight. Nothing i can do about that. If i use the handle to pull the bottom tray out, the handle will snap before the tray moves.

When i replaced it, the filter was empty and i let it fill just from the inlet pipe, until the level in the pipe was equal with the tank level, as instructed in the book. But i still somehow had an hours worth of bubbles in the filter

 

[jojouk]

Minnnt, maybe your just a little but deaf? D

 

[BigbruiserAl]

snip

1. Yes, silent. Mine are in cupboards, but i still can't hear them even with the door open.

2. Yes, perfectly. All trays should sit in each other in the same way. The handles are there for a reason when removing the trays... as are both of your hands.

3. Yes, normal. The filter will create enough bacteria to deal with the stock that you keep. It will also hold onto any bits and pieces that may be floating around your tank due to mechanical filtration. If the filter is getting clogged up the same as your old filter, then it is obviously something that you are causing them to do by having an overstocked tank.

4. Yes, you are. Sounds like you're not doing it right. If the filter is full of water and the inlet tube still has suction then there should be no reason to prime it. Unsure how you have managed to get water to come from the prime button. Mine has never done that.

Finally... Give your filter a good shake. Don't be worried about being too rough with it. People don't rock them enough to remove the air that is trapped inside of them then moan about them being noisy for ages after any maintenance.

Yep same as mint i have 4 of them, with cabnet door open standing above them cant hear them, putting my ear 15-10 cm i can hear the hum. When i clean them out every 2-3 months they do hold alot of crap in the 2 bottom trays i found. These are not god filters they are simply the best filter for £85 im sure there will better ones but cost twice the price

 

[moochy13]

well i cant see what im doing wrong, maybe theres something wrong with my filter, i dunno. but its still louder than yours all seem to be, and even now, the next morning, its still spitting out bubbles every now and then.

 

[minnnt]

Shake the mod edit Out of the filter.

No idea if there is a seal, I don't think so, its just on a spring I believe. Twist it to make sure its seated correctly. Should definately not leak.

If you're not happy then ring tetra and they will sort it for you.

 

[Zikofski]

do you see any bubbles going into the inlet?, you may have a slight air leave some where especially if you have water coming from the primer, for the tray at the bottom i can only think that the original owner may have put it in wrong sideways, if it dosnt budge normally maybe breaking it out the tray that is and maybe looking for spares on ebay?

 

[Tizer]

I might be stupid to point it out and it might not be relevant, but on the top edge of the filter housing after you take the lid off, there is an arrow, on the lip and on the top of the handles, there is another arrow, you are supposed to line these up when you put the trays back in.

My trays are setup like so

Top Tray
Filter Floss
Black Course Sponge
Black Course Sponge with square cut out and Purigen bag sat inside to fill gap

2nd Tray
Bio Balls

3rd Tray
Black Course Sponge
White Ceramic Noodles (ones that came with filter)

4th Tray
Black Course Sponge
White Ceramic Noodles (old ones that were in origional filter)


Both of my filters are "near" silent, they do make a little noise but not enough to distract me. They are also in a cabinet under the tank.

My priming button is locked down on one filter, still works ok, i've not messed around to get it to pop up.

I take out the trays in the filters and empty the crap out every 2 weeks. I dont clean the sponges.

Every 2 months, i clean the sponges and replace the Filter wool. Sometimes, if the filter wool is well clogged, i put new stuff in.

I probably clean my filters out more than most people do as i keep some fussy fish and being a planted tank i like to ensure my flow is good.

I hook the filters back up empty and open the taps to let it fill up, once full, or as much as it wants to do, i turn on the power and boom, they kick into life.

They get shaken back and forth quite violently to get the trapped air out.

Job done.

 

[moochy13]

cheers. the trays are all set up in line with the arrow, i think maybe the bottom tray is out of shape, which is possibly why i also had trouble getting the second tray to sit in it. what will TT do ifi email them, bearing in mind its second hand. obviously i wont mention it, but if they bring it up...........

 

[Tizer]

cheers. the trays are all set up in line with the arrow, i think maybe the bottom tray is out of shape, which is possibly why i also had trouble getting the second tray to sit in it. what will TT do ifi email them, bearing in mind its second hand. obviously i wont mention it, but if they bring it up...........

Probably tell you to stick the next tray on top of it then lower both in slowly I just push down with my fingers extended to get them into place. I think you are expecting a little too much in all honestly.

Or swap the top tray contents for the bottom tray so you have an "in shape" one at the bottom?!

 

[jamesmacc]

my ex1200 is silent, i have to put my ear to it to check its running, i had the same problem with the trays not going in right but it was because i didnt empty the water out and the filter media was lifting.