I would tend to agree with the above, it may be the intake tube is closer to the substrate than in another tank, and especially if you are using a fine grain sand, like play sand, or quickrete and the intake tubes are too close to the substrate, or with earth moving cichlids .Sure this is in the replies, but sounds like sand getting in the filters to me.
And when doing maintenance on these type filters, the entire filter needs to be taken apart and rinsed out, maybe even brushed where the impeller sits.
If even a single grain of sand gets into the impeller chamber, it can upset balance of spin and disable the filter.
On these type HOBs, I would clean the entire unit about once per week.
