FX5 Air Bubble Issue

[Twicksisted]

I have had my FX5 running for about 2 months now and although its really powerfull and works well, I find that it gets loads of air in it, makes a lot of noise and I keep having to switch it on and off about 30 times to expell all of it....

Sounds like theres air in the top and a whirlpool going to the bottom... really noisy whoosing gurgling!

I can switch it on, then off, then on again about 20-30 times till eventually it expells all of the air, but its very annoying and I have to do it daily... has ruined my previously quiet room. when its got no air in though its fine... no noise... just a small hum..

Anyone else have this problem?

I have Biomax in the bottom basket, the the fluval pre-filter in the top and a bag of zeolite / carbon in the middle

 

[brianp]

This same problem has been reported by several others. Of course, if your intake is located near an airstone, then you'll want to move it. I'm beginning to suspect that the internal air accumulation is a direct result of the FX5 design, in which the canister sits on top of the motor unit. Maybe the motor unit heats the water, which makes the dissolved gas less soluble, so it bubbles out of solution, etc. Certainly, Hagen knew of this phenomenon and programmed this purge cycle into the firmware. At any rate, others have reported success in alleviating this problem by removing the prefilter pads and making the particulate mediate in the central chambers fairly coarse. Please consult the previous threads on this issue. Good luck.

 

[ziggy2]

I would check the hoses. It sounds like you have an air leak somewhere.

 

[duke33]

Try the airstone to close, check your hose connections, then remove the polishing media...that's what finially cured mine. I filled the sucker with scrubbies!

 

[thecoolguy]

here is what i would do....

1) empty all water from cannister

2) give it a decent cleaning - media and foam

3) put it back together and plug in the hoses - without putting in water first

4) release the hose valves and let nature (siphoning) takes it course, do not plug in the system until all the bubbles have stopped coming out of the exhaust

5) now plug in the system and let it run for 2-3 days

adios!

 

[Twicksisted]

thanks for all the replies guys... im just worried if the extra air inside the filter reduces the filtration efficiency... it sees to get so much air in overnight..

I dont have it near an airstone or anything like that... I also moved all the pipe connectors under the water level incase they were sucking in air... its really wierd.... then I thought it could be the lid, from overfastening... so i vaselined the seal to make a complete connection and nothing still...

Im going to be leaving my tank for 2 weeks while im on holiday and its my main filter... would hte for it not to work properly... (I have a tectratec EX1200 as second filter though but on its own it coudlnt do 2 weeks in my tank)

 

[superluke]

check for a air leak wherethe pipes are connected to the filter

 

[btmachone]

I believe I read that some people were having this problem and used less media in the baskets to make the sound go away.

 

[spexmoneymaker]

thats weird. i have a FX5 and mine is whisper quiet. isnt it supposed to shut off every 24 hours automatically to release any trapped gas?

 

[skynoch]

If any of your connections are above the water line it may not purge poperly.