Filter nightmares...what's yours?

[Deleted member 149562]

Over the years, filter technology has come up in leaps and bounds and mostly all for the good.

However, as with anything with moving parts, there can be a degree of "technological defectiveness" or plain, simple "AAAAAAAAARH! why won't you work!" that can stump and infuriate even the most patient of fishkeeper.

My filtration nightmare is a peculiar one that I never did find the reason for.

I have 5 aquariums, all absolutely identical equipment setup. All 5 working perfectly fine on installation. Filtration was Tetra EX600 Plus externals. Perfect.

A mere 48 hour later one filter decided to go on the go-fart. Did the usual things...check hoses for kinks....check outlet/intake for blockages...switch off/switch on....initially fine then went back to dribble (when all 4 others were doing a magnificent impersonation of Niagara Falls from their spray bars). OK...switch off...disconnect hoses...wander into the kitchen, dismantle filter. "Hmmmm...no obvious blockages....very odd". Filled the canister with water to prevent air being caught, reconnected hoses, primed it just to be sure of no air locking and switched back on.

Dribble.

Started looking at the aquarium....maybe that is the issue here. The only difference tween this aquarium and the others is that the stand is for a FRF555 and not an Aquael Hexaset 60. But that should not be an issue since the FRF555 is a larger hex made by Fish R Fun. The stand is wider and about an inch taller, but that is all. So on the premise of it being an inch higher, I put an inch of wood under the canister.

Dribble.

Get rid of the spraybar and replace with duckbill.

Dribble.

By this time it was 6 months down the line and I had replaced the hoses, valves (spotted one had a moulding fault from manufacture)....replaced everything I could think of, even swapping canisters around from the other Niagara Falls aquariums..

Dribble.

Long story short, I gave up. Replaced all 5 externals (actually chucked them cos tbh they were far too much hassle - being disabled, they got a tad heavy to lug about when servicing etc) and am now back to using Aquael Turbo 1000 internals (that are customiseable without limit) in all aquariums. The bank account took a big hit....£600 worth of externals binned and replaced with £150 worth of internals.....but the fish are happy and thats the main thing.

The dribbler no longer dribbles but it still needs to be set up differently to the other 4 filters and I still cannot fathom what is wrong with that specific aquarium.

So what nightmares have you had with filters that have really driven you nuts?

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Long ago when I had money, a 4' tank and a Project set-up, (well planted, pro-plant tank, with external canister filter and undergravel filter), in a dedicated fish cellar, I was working on another tank when I heard a sudden "Pssshhhhhhhhhht!".
I turned around to see a fine jet of water spraying out of the big canister. As I gaped at the ensuing mess, the top of the cannister popped up and open and my tank began a very rapid emptying, thanks to the power of syphoning! In the time it took me to dart across the cellar and close the taps, I'd lost 75% of the water.
This was all because one small plastic clip, holding the top onto the cannister, had failed.

Fortunately for me and fish at the time, I had a near-empty tank to hand and was able to replace the water tout suite, with no fish losses.
Whilst I did get replacement clips and reinstated the filter, with much apologies from Project and some decent freebies, I've since retained a distrust of external cannister filters.

 

[Fishmanic]

My penguin filter's intake tube came off and a fish got sucked into the filter. The fish died.
My aquaclear got clogged which caused the media to rise up and water leaked out onto the floor. Luckily I noticed ti before too much time passed.

 

[foxgirl158]

This isn't really an issue with the filter itself, but I had a small Black Moor that got suctioned to the intake tube, with her tail being sucked through the slats. She died I was so upset. I have a small mesh tube over the slats so it won't happen again, but man it was traumatic.

 

[ClownLurch]

I’d been away from fishkeeping for over 20yrs ie when undergravel filters ruled the earth.
Getting back into it I’d no idea that Mrs Lurch would have to donate a foot from her tights to keep an internal box filter from chewing my floating plants. Carnage. Noisy carnage at that.

 

[ClownLurch]

This isn't really an issue with the filter itself, but I had a small Black Moor that got suctioned to the intake tube, with her tail being sucked through the slats. She died I was so upset. I have a small mesh tube over the slats so it won't happen again, but man it was traumatic.

Tights. Pantyhose I believe they’re called over there.

 

[Slaphppy7]

This isn't really an issue with the filter itself, but I had a small Black Moor that got suctioned to the intake tube, with her tail being sucked through the slats. She died I was so upset. I have a small mesh tube over the slats so it won't happen again, but man it was traumatic.

I use these: https://www.jungleaquashrimp.com/st...er-intake-guards-for-aquariums-shrimps-tanks/

 

[carligraceee]

Over the years, filter technology has come up in leaps and bounds and mostly all for the good.

However, as with anything with moving parts, there can be a degree of "technological defectiveness" or plain, simple "AAAAAAAAARH! why won't you work!" that can stump and infuriate even the most patient of fishkeeper.

My filtration nightmare is a peculiar one that I never did find the reason for.

I have 5 aquariums, all absolutely identical equipment setup. All 5 working perfectly fine on installation. Filtration was Tetra EX600 Plus externals. Perfect.

A mere 48 hour later one filter decided to go on the go-fart. Did the usual things...check hoses for kinks....check outlet/intake for blockages...switch off/switch on....initially fine then went back to dribble (when all 4 others were doing a magnificent impersonation of Niagara Falls from their spray bars). OK...switch off...disconnect hoses...wander into the kitchen, dismantle filter. "Hmmmm...no obvious blockages....very odd". Filled the canister with water to prevent air being caught, reconnected hoses, primed it just to be sure of no air locking and switched back on.

Dribble.

Started looking at the aquarium....maybe that is the issue here. The only difference tween this aquarium and the others is that the stand is for a FRF555 and not an Aquael Hexaset 60. But that should not be an issue since the FRF555 is a larger hex made by Fish R Fun. The stand is wider and about an inch taller, but that is all. So on the premise of it being an inch higher, I put an inch of wood under the canister.

Dribble.

Get rid of the spraybar and replace with duckbill.

Dribble.

By this time it was 6 months down the line and I had replaced the hoses, valves (spotted one had a moulding fault from manufacture)....replaced everything I could think of, even swapping canisters around from the other Niagara Falls aquariums..

Dribble.

Long story short, I gave up. Replaced all 5 externals (actually chucked them cos tbh they were far too much hassle - being disabled, they got a tad heavy to lug about when servicing etc) and am now back to using Aquael Turbo 1000 internals (that are customiseable without limit) in all aquariums. The bank account took a big hit....£600 worth of externals binned and replaced with £150 worth of internals.....but the fish are happy and thats the main thing.

The dribbler no longer dribbles but it still needs to be set up differently to the other 4 filters and I still cannot fathom what is wrong with that specific aquarium.

So what nightmares have you had with filters that have really driven you nuts?

I am always worried my filter will start overflowing because of an internal problem and since my aquarium is on hard wood floors, it makes me incredibly worried!

 

[DoubleDutch]

The weakest spot of Eheim Ecco's are the plastic axes which "pull" the filterhead in place.
These always break just before you want to go to bed, expect visitors, have to leave for work etc etc. The filterhead has to be removed carefully, the ax replaced, etc (an hour further).
ALWAYS have spare ones (at least 4)

 

[foxgirl158]

I use these: https://www.jungleaquashrimp.com/st...er-intake-guards-for-aquariums-shrimps-tanks/

That's actually what I have, I just didn't know how to describe it lol.

 

[itiwhetu]

We used to have Diatomaceous earth filters and when changing the medium over if you didn't do it properly it would blast the Diatomaceous Earth into your tank and then the tank would look like a river in flood for hours as it cleared.

 

[coriesinhawaii]

I used to have the Tetra Whisper hang on back filter and the impeller would keep malfunctioning. I would have to turn off the filter during water changes because the water level would drop too low and when I would turn it back on afterwards a lot of times it wouldn't start back up. You could hear the motor trying to work but I figured out it had something to do with the impeller because sometimes if I took it out and cleaned it and put it back in it would start up again but sometimes not. I got to where I would always have a spare one on hand it case it decided to die on me so I wouldn't be screwed. Very stressful. After I got tired of having to constantly buy more I switched to a sponge filter and never looked back.

 

[coriesinhawaii]

Another one would be a couple of weeks after buying kuhli loaches one of them disappeared and didn't even come around to feed. I had heard you have to be careful about them getting into filters so I checked and sure enough he was in the filter reservoir and would have been in there for a few days by that point. My intake was covered so he had to swim upward against the strong current flowing out the filter to get into that reservoir. I was so surprised that that little loach could manage that. I dropped the water level and didn't have a problem with it again and then after I switched to a sponge filter I didn't have to worry about it at all.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

A friend of mine bought one of the later models of the Ciano Aqua 60, nice little 54 litre starter aquarium.

Called me one day to say that his fish were vanishing.

Went over to his home, he and his wife showed me the aquarium. I was expecting to see the CF60 box filter, which is just a very basic internal with a spraybar.

Instead it had an all in one filter that literally covered the entire end of the aquarium, its called a Ciano CFBIO150

The filter is a sealed unit that is 30cm x 33.5cm x 8cm...literally covers the end of the aquarium with access for media changing on the top, the heater slides inside it.

I have never seen anything like it. The filter is attached by clips on the top that slide into mounts on the rim and a single suction cup at the bottom. There is a gap of around 0.75cm tween the back of the filter and the glass. The inlet slits and outlet pipe has no mesh to prevent fish getting inside....so totally not good for fry or shrimp.

They had 10 Neon Tetras, but by the time they called me there were only 3 left.

I prised the filter out, stuck behind it were 3 Tetras, dead. Got a screwdriver and broke the filter apart and there were the rest of the Tetras, all dead. Very mangled in what was an exposed impeller, 2 were on the top and 2 underneath. The fish had entered via the inlets or outlet, obviously very easily since there wasn't any protection against it. The outlet is a 1cm diameter plastic tube that is around 3cm long that sits under the water. The flow is low enough that fish can swim straight up it and into the filter body. The inlet slits are 0.25cm x 1.5cm, again ample room to be sucked or swim into.

Fortunately I had spare filters and installed one of the CF60's using the media from the now broken one.

I have never seen such an awful filter design as the CFBIO150. It is a fish/shrimp killer and Ciano supply them as standard on all their Aqua 60, 65 and 80 now.