Question/Problem with filter.

[jeffries]

I have a Marineland (hang on back) filter that I am using on my tank and when I got up this morning, for some reason it was not working. The pump was really warm and making a noise but no water was being drawn in and filtered back into the aquarium. It was working fine when I did my normal, weekly water change last night. It is also the kind that has one of those bio-wheels in it.

Years ago, when I had a different tank than I do now, this would happen to my other filters once in awhile and I would wash them down with hot water and then they would start back up again.

Does anyone know why this might be happening and what I can do to prevent it in the future?

Thanks.

 

[shelbyzman]

I have had stuff like this happen....I have problems getting my canister filter going after power outages sometimes. I would recommend what you already mentioned....clean and unplug/plug back in and it doesn't start and all else fails...beat the filter, always works for me
By the way, make sure to pour some water to fill the filter back up before plugging it back in.
As far as a preventative measure...I don't think there is one

 

[velanarris]

Check to make sure you don't have some of your filter media wrapped around the impellar.

 

[jeffries]

Check to make sure you don't have some of your filter media wrapped around the impellar.

I am at work right now, but when I get home tonight I will definitely check and see if that is the case.

 

[lighthouse39183]

This happens to me when the filter pump and impeller become coated. I always clean them now with cold water and a filter brush. When a slime coat builds up on them I think it prevents the magnet from working properly. I don't know if your pump detaches from your filter, but if you can remove it and clean it that works best.

 

[jeffries]

I have had stuff like this happen....I have problems getting my canister filter going after power outages sometimes. I would recommend what you already mentioned....clean and unplug/plug back in and it doesn't start and all else fails...beat the filter, always works for me
By the way, make sure to pour some water to fill the filter back up before plugging it back in.
As far as a preventative measure...I don't think there is one

Yeah, I always make sure that the filter is at least half full of water (if not more) before I plug it in...

 

[jeffries]

This happens to me when the filter pump and impeller become coated. I always clean them now with cold water and a filter brush. When a slime coat builds up on them I think it prevents the magnet from working properly. I don't know if your pump detaches from your filter, but if you can remove it and clean it that works best.

I seem to remember having a lot of slime on my old filter when this used to happen before as well. I will have to check when I get home if the pump detaches or not. I know the intake tube does detach though. What type of filter brush would you recommend I use?

 

[lighthouse39183]

I just use the little bristle brushes that you would use for your intake tube. I use the smallest to get down into the pump and use a larger one to clean the impeller and magnet.

 

[jeffries]

Ah okay... gotcha.

 

[jeffries]

Update.

I took apart the filter last night and cleaned it out really good and it is now working. It appears that it was the slime coating as was mentioned in this thread. I was able to take it apart enough to get to the impeller and clean that off really good as well.

The weird thing is though... after I turned it back on, the impeller made a really awful noise for a few minutes before it stopped and went back to the normal noises that it used to make. I called Marineland to see if they could tell me why it was making that nasty noise and they were of course gone for the day at that point. Like I said though... I tried to ignore it for a few minutes and it eventually stopped doing it, but it sure seemed like it took forever to stop.