fizhgurl;2686205; said:
Well, I would expect more out of a filter that cost $200, but if it was laying around for 6-7 years unused, then the seals may have dried up, became brittle, etc., that's most likely why your 404 was leaking. I was just wondering why you switched the whole filter and not just the o-ring if that was all that you needed to make your 404 work? I'm not condoning what you did, just seems like a fair question....
it's a really fair question. i'll try to answer the best i can. I have a question for you as well, at the end of this post.
Josh this is a reply to your comment as well and why i didn't feel vaseline would work
The seal never felt brittle or cracked or anything. You can see from the pics its in really good condition. If anything it felt like it was swollen in places, which would make the most sense because the motor housing would not clamp down tight onto the canister.
However it could have been that the canister was warped too. So if i was to try the new O-ring on the warped canister and attempted to clamp it down, it could've pinched the seal and ruined it. Also, with the other seal on the "gonkulator" being broken, that could've been the problem, or at least a problem down the road. there's no place to buy those little o-rings, and trying to pull one off the 405 to the 404 to test it, couldn't ruined it. they're really tight around the tubes.
I had no way of switching canisters to see if that was the problem because the clamps were different between models. I didn't want to ruin my only chance at a working filter when i had 13 fish pwning my little Duetto filter.
To be completely honest, I had promised a guy in a wheel chair, about to go into open heart surgery that I would care for his fish the best I could, and that was weighing pretty heavy on my mind. Whether people want to believe I'm a terrible person or not, I was trying to do the right thing by the means and options I had available to me. Money is not something I have available, much like most people in the United States right now.
So in response to your post, gurl, I must ask, what is the difference between switching o-rings, switching a few $5 parts, switching out a $30 canister, or switching an entire filter? If this is a morality contest, and it certainly appears that many people want to make it that, why would switching a $5 part be any different? In my experiences with people in general, if I had switched a $5 part, not one person would've said anything. For some reason people believe a $240 switcharoo is worse than a $5 switcharoo, even though the broken o-ring they'd get in exchange would be completely worthless, where as the entire 404 would be worth quite a bit.
I dont want to get off topic of the tank, but I have no problems answering questions of those that are honestly curious about what happened, and can word their questions or posts in a way that isn't self righteous, condenscending, irritating, whiny, or jealous. Both of your posts, Gurl and Josh, were worded just perfect, and while you may not agree with what transpired, you didn't feel the need to judge. I respect that and haven no problems having a polite back and forth til the cows come home. I appreciate your maturity.
You honestly think Hagen can resell a used filter as a new one? 
If you're talking about reselling it as used, I doubt that a large corporation, like Hagen, is going to bother selling individual used filters. If Hagen(or their distributor) figures out that there was a switch, the store will most likely not be refunded their money. That is how returns work at the distributor where I'm employed. The expense from people frauding stores is passed onto honest customers.Stealing and then trying to justify it. I'm sure karma will catch up to ya, it'll be something like this
