Eheim Filter Problems?

[connor_09]

Hi there been a while since i've posted on here but it's the first place i come for advice so i hope someone can help me. I bought an EHEIM 2010 internal filter for my tank as an upgrade from my last filter as it wasn't really cutting the mustard. The EHEIM made a dramatic difference straight away and i was very impressed. I rinse the media every couple to three weeks in some of the water from the tank whilst performing my water changes it was running perfect for a good 5/6 months but recently i've started experiencing some problems with it, nearly every 4/5 days the output will really slow down almost to a complete holt so i rinse out the media give it all the once over and fire it up again, and it seems to be working fine, but like clockwork 4 or so days later it slows down again, can anyone fathom what is happening? I know it is most likey going to be the filter and if so what's the best way of switching from old to new media as don't particularly want to lose all of my bacteria that has built up since i've owned the filter?? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you!!

 

[JMcQueen]

Hi there been a while since i've posted on here but it's the first place i come for advice so i hope someone can help me. I bought an EHEIM 2010 internal filter for my tank as an upgrade from my last filter as it wasn't really cutting the mustard. The EHEIM made a dramatic difference straight away and i was very impressed. I rinse the media every couple to three weeks in some of the water from the tank whilst performing my water changes it was running perfect for a good 5/6 months but recently i've started experiencing some problems with it, nearly every 4/5 days the output will really slow down almost to a complete holt so i rinse out the media give it all the once over and fire it up again, and it seems to be working fine, but like clockwork 4 or so days later it slows down again, can anyone fathom what is happening? I know it is most likey going to be the filter and if so what's the best way of switching from old to new media as don't particularly want to lose all of my bacteria that has built up since i've owned the filter?? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you!!

You could always buy the same filter again and insert the old media into it. Failing that, if you bought a new filter of different design/make youd probably be best of taking a pair of scissors to the old filter media and getting as much as possible in the new filter to help colonise that. The only problem with this is that there might be a crossover period whereby you'd need to keep a very close eye on water content.

 

[jacko32]

have you cleaned the impellor if its got gunk on it wont spin very well i havent found an internal filter yet that doesnt loose power after a while

 

[holidayinn]

Bit concerning that a 6 month old filter chokes every 4/5 days. Do you squeeze out the sponges as well as rinse the media? I have fluval4's on some of my tanks, had them for years, not as effective as they once were, but in no way are they an inconvenience as yours seems to be.

If the filter is the right size for the tank and for the amount of stocking you keep, then something's wrong with that filter.

 

[arobinson1984]

As jacko said, check the impellor which is normally located in the main motor section of the filter. Make sure it is clean and the well that it sits in is all clear so it can spin freely.


Andy

 

[ewan_sw]

Hi,
I have a one-year old Eheim internal filter 2012 and got exactly the same problem - one day the filter started to pump less and less and eventually came to a halt. Removing it from the tank and cleaning it (including shaft and impeller) did the trick and water started to flow from the nozzle again, but within a few it hours it begun to slow down and after a couple of days came to almost standstill again. I have repeated this process a couple of times now but always get the same result. I ended up putting in an older (terribly noisy) filter into the tank just to keep the water circulating properly. I've been looking around but there doesn't seem to be much info available on this particular topic. Did you find any effective solution for the issue in the end? Or did you have to get a new filter?

Oh, I live in Beijing and the water is very hard (pH 8-9) and indoors temperature is around 30 C (same in the tank) now during summer. I've also noticed an increase in green and brown algae growth since summer kicked in, but could the algae effect the pump flow to such an extent?

 

[waterdrop]

I'm not sure on the Eheim internals but in my Eheim external cannister there is a ceramic shaft that the impeller spins on. I obtained a kit consisting of two brushes from Eheim which are helpful in doing the impeller cleaning which should be a part of each filter clean. The larger brush cleans between two impeller blades and cleans the empty cavity when the impeller is removed. The much smaller brush cleans out the center of the rotor that fits over the shaft. The shaft itself needs to be handled carefully but also cleans up nicely. Its pretty easy to perform these steps whenever you clean the filter. The hardest part is forcing yourself to slow way down and be super careful handling the parts so that you don't accidently break any of them.

Of course, this may not be the problem. I've had good luck talking with the tech support line at least in the USA for Eheim. I would definately try a phone consultation. Another think I might try would be replacing the shaft and impeller, unless the cost of those parts meant that buying a fresh filter and using the current one for parts was a better use of money.

~~waterdrop~~