Odyssea CFS500 Disaster

[Soggy]

I've had my Odyssea CFS 500 for a little over a seek and it seeemed to be a good filter until somewhere between midnight and 2AM. Today was the day I pulled my UGFs out off the tank removed all the gravel and replaced it with sand, the filter worked like a champ clearing the water quickly and the flow never seemed to drop, everything was going great. I turned the lights off at 10PM and checked everything at midnight, aronud 2AM I could hear the water from the return line which should be under water splashing into the tank and new something was wrong. The lid on the filter split open and drained 15 gallons out of my 55, the worst part is that i was only able to mop up about a gallon of it as the rest seems to have gotten under the wood laminate floor, and the tank is in the starting corner which means the entire 40X20 floor has to come up to get at it.

There seem to be 2 factors in the lid splitting open. 1) the filter collected way more crap than I thought it had today and was pretty well clogged. 2) although it's ha to tell before it breaks, the lid is made from cheap, brittle plastic that apparently cant take the siphon pressure of the intake like, pressure I might add that I held back with my thumb with no problem. It completely baffles me that this could break under suck pressure but there you have it.

Maybe the filter would have operated fine if I had cleaned it out and maybe it would have broken anyway, I'm not gonna give it another try. I'll spend a bit extra and get something from a trusted brand once I get this mess cleaned up.

I'll try to post some pictures off the damage tomorrow.

 

[bigbadfish711]

Please post some pics. I have just order this filter.

 

[Soggy]

The promised pictures.

This is how much water leaked out. Filled the tank back up so the filter would work and it took 3, 5 gallon buckets.

This is how much crap was in the filter...way to much I know and I should have cleaned it as soon as I had finished removing the UGFs and gravel but it slipped my mind in the excitment. A clogged filter still should not shatter under the pressure of it's siphon hose.

The filter lid broke in 3 places causing a complete failure of the seal.

And this is the room that has to be ripped apart. the floor is interlocking laminate and the corner with the TV is the start corner and also the down hill corner. What that means is that the entire floor has to be taken up to get at the water.

So there you have it. I suppose I'll get my free replacement lid from the E-bay seller, I've heard he's good about sending new ones. But I'll never use this filter again for any indoor application.

A few questions...

QUESTION 1) I have to rehome the fish for a few days to a week or more to get this taken care of. The only options I've come up with are (A) put them all into an avalable 20 tall I have already set up. (B) move the aquarium to the garage and buy an aditional heater because the garage gets down into the 40s at night. (C) Ask a local fish store to house them for me (guy is super nice but I don't like my fish being out of my care). I'm leaning toward option (B) but I don't know how much heater it would take to keep a 55gal tank 30-40 degrees above room temp

QUESTION 2) what filter do you recommend for a 55. I'm thinkging a Fluval 405 would do nicely.


Thanks guys, I'll probably take more picks once the floor is ripped up and the damage can be seen.

 

[bigbadfish711]

The promised pictures.

This is how much water leaked out. Filled the tank back up so the filter would work and it took 3, 5 gallon buckets.

This is how much crap was in the filter...way to much I know and I should have cleaned it as soon as I had finished removing the UGFs and gravel but it slipped my mind in the excitment. A clogged filter still should not shatter under the pressure of it's siphon hose.

The filter lid broke in 3 places causing a complete failure of the seal.

And this is the room that has to be ripped apart. the floor is interlocking laminate and the corner with the TV is the start corner and also the down hill corner. What that means is that the entire floor has to be taken up to get at the water.

So there you have it. I suppose I'll get my free replacement lid from the E-bay seller, I've heard he's good about sending new ones. But I'll never use this filter again for any indoor application.

A few questions...

QUESTION 1) I have to rehome the fish for a few days to a week or more to get this taken care of. The only options I've come up with are (A) put them all into an avalable 20 tall I have already set up. (B) move the aquarium to the garage and buy an aditional heater because the garage gets down into the 40s at night. (C) Ask a local fish store to house them for me (guy is super nice but I don't like my fish being out of my care). I'm leaning toward option (B) but I don't know how much heater it would take to keep a 55gal tank 30-40 degrees above room temp

QUESTION 2) what filter do you recommend for a 55. I'm thinking a Fluval 405 would do nicely.


Thanks guys, I'll probably take more picks once the floor is ripped up and the damage can be seen.

Wow that really sucks. If I were you I would not take them into the fish store. You never know what might happen. If you do not have to many fish or they are not to big. I would put them into the 20. If you put the tank out side you are going to have issues keeping it warm enough. I don't know how many heaters it would take. I would just go with the 20 if you can.

 

[Soggy]

I have 13 Cichlids and a Pleco. Seems like way to many for my 20 but could the massive overstocking help keep aggression down? The fish store was my last resort.

 

[bigbadfish711]

I have 13 Cichlids and a Pleco. Seems like way to many for my 20 but could the massive overstocking help keep aggression down? The fish store was my last resort.

No, If they are too crowded they will be more aggressive seeing how they would not have much room for them selfs. Can you move the 55 into another part of the house until you can move it back? I have had to setup tanks in my bathrooms before just so the carpet could be replaced.

 

[Mavrick813]

Not to throw insult to injury. But I have seen similar pictures of this canister on the internet. And it seems that it's a Lid tightening issue. On numerous threads I have read that people advise tightening this canister the way you would when putting the Lugs on a car tire.

Sorry to hear about the disaster. Are you sure you have to tear up the floor? I've heard of people pouring Rubbing alcohol onto these types of floors where they know the water has pulled to then using an air mover to dry it out. The alcohol mixes with the water and helps to make it evaporate faster. I've never tried it myself but it's worth a shot imho.

As for moving the fishies. I'd use a big Tote in the garage and wrap it in a couple of blankets.

GL with everything and keep us posted.

Mike

 

[Soggy]

Not to throw insult to injury. But I have seen similar pictures of this canister on the internet. And it seems that it's a Lid tightening issue. On numerous threads I have read that people advise tightening this canister the way you would when putting the Lugs on a car tire.

Sorry to hear about the disaster. Are you sure you have to tear up the floor? I've heard of people pouring Rubbing alcohol onto these types of floors where they know the water has pulled to then using an air mover to dry it out. The alcohol mixes with the water and helps to make it evaporate faster. I've never tried it myself but it's worth a shot imho.

As for moving the fishies. I'd use a big Tote in the garage and wrap it in a couple of blankets.

GL with everything and keep us posted.

Mike

Yeah I had seem several of the threads that talk about the tightening issues. I tightened it the same way you would a car by going on opposite sides and then I started really loose with the filter running and only tightened until it stopped leaking. I think the big issue that causes this problem is that the lid is made of super brittle plastic.

If a tote in the garage would work wrapped in blankets then why not the acrylic tank wrapped in blankets?

As for the water that got under the floor it's some wheres around 15 gallons and it's just to much to try removing with out being positive that you get it. If we don't get all the water then it's gonna mold and that would be an even bigger problem.

 

[Mavrick813]

If a tote in the garage would work wrapped in blankets then why not the acrylic tank wrapped in blankets?

Sorry, The tank they're in; in the garage wrapped in blankets,

If the Acrylic your mentioning is the 20 you mentioned before,

As for the water that got under the floor it's some wheres around 15 gallons and it's just to much to try removing with out being positive that you get it. If we don't get all the water then it's gonna mold and that would be an even bigger problem.

I see your point, Mold would be far worse.

 

[Red_Belly_Pacu]

I read a lot of negative posts about this filter. I am never going to buy one. Better off buying a used Rena or Fluval