Sadmy reeflo clogged with a piece of mesh, smh i lost 90% of my stock.
I suspect the impeller got stuck. Glad your fish are ok. As you noted, more frequent pump cleaning will be needed.No, that is hard water build up and the brown is mulm (I think that’s what it’s called.) it’s soft and wipes off.
I do have sand in the main tank, but none gets past the first baffle in the sump. So this wasn’t caused by sand. Or snails. We took it apart and all the parts are in perfect shape. No visible wear on the shaft or impeller.
Though I do wonder if a loose bit of calcium buildup may have jammed it up. My husband said the impeller felt a little stuck in one area and wouldn’t freely spin all the way around.
I guess if the impeller getting blocked can cause a melt down then that must be what happened.
I’ll have to do a better job keeping on top of build up. I hate having hard water.
Geez, it’s crazy how little it takes.This can happen to any brand, if something (1 grain of sand) gets in and creates a wobble, the impeller itself ca wear.
Below is a pump where something got in pushed the impeller shaft off balance, created cavitation, and wore a figure 8 destroying the housing
below a Malay snail wedged into the volute,
I used to work in a water plant where pumps the size of compact cars had to have impellers replaced due to sand, and other debris