Faulty Filter

[shbimi]

I tried to resolve this issue with hagen, who were useless, and now with the company i purchased it from (online) but i'm getting nowhere. I bought an elite mini for my first tank just over a month ago. At first the flow was far too strong, even on its lowest setting, but now i'm struggling to even get a decent airflow from the thing. I'm lucky if i see the bubbles at all. The company asked me to do various things such as try it without the media, clean it, take it all apart (did all these, nothing changed). Now they're suggesting for me to send it back to them so their technicians can check it. I can't do this because it is my only filter, and in the time it is away, my fish will have unfiltered water, a decrease in good bacteria and no oxygenated water. Which will be crazy to do.

Does anyone have any ideas of how to fix my filter? I really cannot think of anything else.

 

[Arachnidzone]

Hi, whereabouts are you? country? location?

How big is the tank?

If you hold the filter while working in the water does it just vibrate slightly or is it a little big jerky?

 

[shbimi]

thanks for your response. I'm in the UK. It vibrates just slightly, not much at all really but it isn't jerky. At the moment there are precisely zero bubbles coming from my filter, on full.

It's just a 5 gallon tank, with a couple of guppies (starting easy).

 

[Arachnidzone]

thanks for your response. I'm in the UK. It vibrates just slightly, not much at all really but it isn't jerky. At the moment there are precisely zero bubbles coming from my filter, on full.

It's just a 5 gallon tank, with a couple of guppies (starting easy).

Most filters dont throw out bubbles unless they have a snorkel or and inlet. Is it still blowing water? bubbles are good but theres loads of factors which oxygenate the water. This is a water pump not an air pump?

What model filter is it? Can you take a photo of the tank an email it or post it on here? I keep guppies in still water and they not only do well but breed too.

I asked where you are as i would rather send you a spare pump than your fish die.

 

[shbimi]

thanks for your response. I'm in the UK. It vibrates just slightly, not much at all really but it isn't jerky. At the moment there are precisely zero bubbles coming from my filter, on full.

It's just a 5 gallon tank, with a couple of guppies (starting easy).

Most filters dont throw out bubbles unless they have a snorkel or and inlet. Is it still blowing water? bubbles are good but theres loads of factors which oxygenate the water. This is a water pump not an air pump?

What model filter is it? Can you take a photo of the tank an email it or post it on here? I keep guppies in still water and they not only do well but breed too.

I asked where you are as i would rather send you a spare pump than your fish die.

It is still blowing out water, but it is completely different to what it was a month ago, where my guppies would play in the stream/bubbles and their food would swirl around the tank. Now the food barely moves, but there is still a currant. It is a water pump, yes. It's a Mini Elite:
- 220lph
- 220 V
- 50 Hz
- One only 1/8" hose adapter
- One only Venturi diffuser adapter
- 200 mm 1/8" tubing with noise muffler
- With 6' SPT-2 electrical cord
- Packaged in clamshell blister with colorful display card
(taken from the hagan website).

I just want the flow not to have reduced, and my water still to be oxygenated as it was a month ago. If this is still the case, then great.

 

[Arachnidzone]

Hiya, not sure why its not blowing bubbles, but if its still blowing water and the tank isnt overcrowded i wouldnt worry about the pool guppies, its the movement and the the surface area which initially aerates the water. Much more to it than that but thats the basics.

is it this filter? with the bit of pipe etc etc?

my immediate ideas would be the pipe is blocked? blow down it while filter is in water and do bubbles come out then?

if not give it a real hard blow as there may be a blockage (dont feint)

If the pipe falls in the water it will stop bubbling too be presume youve tried this?

We will fix it! but dont worry as it shouldnt harm the fish.

 

[shbimi]

I'll say first of all thank you, you have been a great help for me. The picture you posted is that of my filter, yes. I blew down the pipe and bubbled did appear, and then back to nothing when i stopped. So i did a couple of big blows which made the filter spit and make some funny noises and lo and behold it worked. For three seconds. Then it stopped again. So i repeated, and the same happened.

I figured something was not properly connected, because of the stop/start noises it made when i did this, so i took the bottom half off (which includes the media) and left the turny thing to spin. It popped out, so i put it back in with force until it stopped popping out. Now, i have bubbles!! Not as many or as strong as it was at first, but they are definately there and i am happy with the job it is doing now.

Not sure what was wrong, maybe it was a number of factors, but without your suggestions my filter would have proabably ended in the bin.

Thank you!

 

[Arachnidzone]

I'll say first of all thank you, you have been a great help for me. The picture you posted is that of my filter, yes. I blew down the pipe and bubbled did appear, and then back to nothing when i stopped. So i did a couple of big blows which made the filter spit and make some funny noises and lo and behold it worked. For three seconds. Then it stopped again. So i repeated, and the same happened.

I figured something was not properly connected, because of the stop/start noises it made when i did this, so i took the bottom half off (which includes the media) and left the turny thing to spin. It popped out, so i put it back in with force until it stopped popping out. Now, i have bubbles!! Not as many or as strong as it was at first, but they are definately there and i am happy with the job it is doing now.

Not sure what was wrong, maybe it was a number of factors, but without your suggestions my filter would have proabably ended in the bin.

Thank you!

Glad to help! And glad your lil guppies will be able to play in the bubbles again!

 

[shbimi]

Ok. I spoke too soon. My filter is still not working properly, no matter what I do. So i give in, it's going back to the seller. Does anyone recommend a filter for a 5 gallon? Obviously i chose the mini elite because it wasn't too strong for my fish, and i hope i can find a similar one! Any idea?

 

[vinylman]

I'd go for a Fluval 1 internal. Don't worry about the current being too strong, it can help strengthen Guppies muscles as they grow, particularly the males with larger tails.