Has anyones aquaclear HOBS ever overflowed?

[daboyprince23]

Has anyones aquaclear HOBS ever overflowed? I have 50 gallon HOB AC with just a sponge and carbon, no ammonia remover, it looked like the carbon was going to flow out of the compartment into the tank and the water level rised with the carbon and was dripping fast down the side of the filter, good thing i caught it went I did or I would've had a big mess. Any similar experiences with an HOB.

[chefjamesscott]

yup

i came home one night to hear the sound of rushing water that sounded a bit different than the normal overflow

when i rounded the corner into my basement fish room there was my african fry grow out tank 50% emptied i thought the tank had cracked or something and i freaked until i got to the tank an realized that the filter basket hat kiltered itself up

since then i have made it my policy to include a regular checking of the filter baskets every day or so just to make sure plus i make sure to do a regular clean of the filter/canister so as to keep any of them from building up an bacteria atom bomb

[daboyprince23]

damn that sucks bro im going to keep an eye on the filter basket from now on also lol

[chemicall]

Yep i've had one leak over the top, my cousins leaked out around the motor seal too.

[heavyhitter]

Has anyones aquaclear HOBS ever overflowed? I have 50 gallon HOB AC with just a sponge and carbon, no ammonia remover, it looked like the carbon was going to flow out of the compartment into the tank and the water level rised with the carbon and was dripping fast down the side of the filter, good thing i caught it went I did or I would've had a big mess. Any similar experiences with an HOB.

HAHA, this brings back fond memories. :irked:

About 9 years ago I had a AQ50 on a 55 gallon tank, and the media got dirty and caused the 2 foam blocks I had in there to float up which caused the water to flow over the foam and onto the floor.

Since I had added extra tubes to the intake, the intake was near the bottom of the tank so that nearly ALL of the 55 gallons ended up on the floor. Man it sucked majory. Luckily that was a rental house LOL.

From the Hagen line all I use now are the 110's/500's. They have little plastic notches on both sides to help hold the media basket holder down. I am not sure if the smaller versions use those.

In my experience with the AQ is that once the sponge gets really dirty it will want to rise. This is the only complaint I really have with an otherwise great filter.. uh and I hate that they rattle alot.

[COLDasICE]

It will usually show you signs that it needs to be cleaned prior to getting that far. The media basket will rise and you should hear the lid rattling if you pay close enough attention. Matter of fact I need to clean one of mine today as it has been rising for 2 days :screwy:

[Bawb2u]

The only way the filter can overflow is if it's angled improperly.
If you use the black plastic multi-sided piece that goes on the bottom of the filter to tilt the filter so the back is higher than the front it can't overflow, that's why it included with the filter. If you've lost that piece just stick something between the bottom of the filter and the back of the tank.

[Bderick67]

Clean you filter on a regular basis and avoid having this hapen.

[heavyhitter]

The only way the filter can overflow is if it's angled improperly.
If you use the black plastic multi-sided piece that goes on the bottom of the filter to tilt the filter so the back is higher than the front it can't overflow, that's why it included with the filter. If you've lost that piece just stick something between the bottom of the filter and the back of the tank.

No I think you missed the point. The filter baskets lift up causing the water to flow up and over the filter regardles of the angle. Keeping it clean will help prevent this from happening though.

[Bawb2u]

No I think you missed the point. The filter baskets lift up causing the water to flow up and over the filter regardles of the angle. Keeping it clean will help prevent this from happening though.

No, I understand, I think you're missing the simple physics. Water takes the path of least resistance. If the back of the filter is higher than the front of the filter, the water will flow to the lowest point which will be the tank. Even with the baskets lifted there is plenty of room for the water to flow around or under it. The sides and back are built higher for this reason. I've been using Aquaclear filters for probably 20 years and have had some seriously gunked up but have never had one overflow onto the floor.

[COLDasICE]

No, I understand, I think you're missing the simple physics. Water takes the path of least resistance. If the back of the filter is higher than the front of the filter, the water will flow to the lowest point which will be the tank. Even with the baskets lifted there is plenty of room for the water to flow around or under it. The sides and back are built higher for this reason. I've been using Aquaclear filters for probably 20 years and have had some seriously gunked up but have never had one overflow onto the floor.

True. The filter has a hole underneath where the peg from the plastic spacer can be inserted then it can be adjusted to the preferred angle. When the filter is dirty it will flow both out of the output and around where the intake tube enters the filter so it wont overflow out of the filter casing.

[Camshaft Ramrod]

Main reason I dont use aquaclear

[heavyhitter]

True. The filter has a hole underneath where the peg from the plastic spacer can be inserted then it can be adjusted to the preferred angle. When the filter is dirty it will flow both out of the output and around where the intake tube enters the filter so it wont overflow out of the filter casing.

This was BEFORE AQ's had the plactic foot on the bottom. Back in the day they had a little tap that was on the motor housing and you had to cut the tab to size to fit the angle of lean you wanted. The "plastic spacer" you speak of is a newer design of the AQ I used back then.

[heavyhitter]

No, I understand, I think you're missing the simple physics. Water takes the path of least resistance. If the back of the filter is higher than the front of the filter, the water will flow to the lowest point which will be the tank. Even with the baskets lifted there is plenty of room for the water to flow around or under it. The sides and back are built higher for this reason. I've been using Aquaclear filters for probably 20 years and have had some seriously gunked up but have never had one overflow onto the floor.

Actually my filters are all set to lean forward a little bit as opposed to leaning level or backwards.

The over flow came out from the little are before the media basket area. the force of the incoming water was enough to rise up above the filter top of the filter and spew on the floor. Because it was leanig forward Im sure alot fo the water flowed back in the tank but enough came out in order to empty most of my tanke throughout my 8 hr work day. (Think if turbulent water in a river, even though it is going down stream - the path or least resistence- with obstructions the water can rise up and abve the rest of the water in the river. Well that is what happened in my case) The media basket floated up- and that solid section of the top made the flow rise up and over the side, even though the majority flowed back into the tank from the front because of the angle it was at, but over time that slight over flow still emptied the tank.
Maybe its is something you'd have to see. Either way, it was my falut for not cleaning my filter - and maybe Hagens a little too because they chanegd the filter design years later by added the media backing locking tabs.

[spiff]

I never had this happen, but I see a simple solution. The left side should back up first (and get a bit higher) since its the pump side of things, prefilter, so it has the highest pressure. If you drilled an overflow safety slot at the top of this side of the filter partition, then the water will pour back into the tank instead.