Filter Problem

[discus dreamer]

This is a bit of a specific question but perhaps someone can help.
After a recent water change and gravel vac my juwel 60 tank (56L I think) has been very cloudy and just hasn't cleared properly. Did another 20% water change yesterday and removed plants for cleaning off gunge and replanted. I now notice that the filter, its an internal one (one of the two sponges cleaned out in old tank water two weeks ago), does not seem to drawing water in or pushing it out very powerfully, the motor is running and there is some movement, but should there be more? For example, a tiny floating leaf placed an inch from the intake doesn't get drawn to the intake grill. There seemed to be an oxygen problem as well the other day so i added an airstone for a few hours and that helped but it also clouded up the water even more. The stats seem ok and it isn't overstocked. It is a quaranteen tank with two permanent residents (a betta that doesn't mix well in my big tank) and and very small siamese flying fox to keep the algae downand, at the moment there is also one small cory (awaiting friends) and two small black widow tetras.
I will probably buy a little box filter today to add and see what happens but should the filter be more powerful and do they get weaker, I assumed they just worked or not as long as they were clean.
any ideas please
DD

 

[raptorrex]

This is a bit of a specific question but perhaps someone can help.
After a recent water change and gravel vac my juwel 60 tank (56L I think) has been very cloudy and just hasn't cleared properly. Did another 20% water change yesterday and removed plants for cleaning off gunge and replanted. I now notice that the filter, its an internal one (one of the two sponges cleaned out in old tank water two weeks ago), does not seem to drawing water in or pushing it out very powerfully, the motor is running and there is some movement, but should there be more? For example, a tiny floating leaf placed an inch from the intake doesn't get drawn to the intake grill. There seemed to be an oxygen problem as well the other day so i added an airstone for a few hours and that helped but it also clouded up the water even more. The stats seem ok and it isn't overstocked. It is a quaranteen tank with two permanent residents (a betta that doesn't mix well in my big tank) and and very small siamese flying fox to keep the algae downand, at the moment there is also one small cory (awaiting friends) and two small black widow tetras.
I will probably buy a little box filter today to add and see what happens but should the filter be more powerful and do they get weaker, I assumed they just worked or not as long as they were clean.
any ideas please
DD

i stand to be corrected here, but can you not remove the filter pump, from the housing? this is possible on my juwel internal filter, it is stiff to do, but the pump is only held in by a silicone rubber seal, to give a friction fit.
http/www.pet-supermarket.co.uk/erol.html...-8%26oe%3Dutf-8
though a good clean of the internal impeller and pathways "may" avoid any cost at all!
http/www.pet-supermarket.co.uk/erol.html...-8%26oe%3Dutf-8

 

[discus dreamer]

Thanks Boboboy
had already done this and cleaned it.
DD

 

[romanadvoratelundar]

hi,

Looking on the juwel website the pump does 280 litres per hour, the 60 doesnt have a fast current, do you use that air diffuser pipe? When I had tropical fish i used that and it improved the flow and the oxygen, but now the frog is in there and sensitive to current i removed it, the water appears almost still, only the surface seems to move, he likes to be dragged along by it towards the food!

Sorry i cant be more help.

Romana

 

[raptorrex]

Thanks Boboboy
had already done this and cleaned it.
DD

so you already replaced it, and it still does not work?

 

[discus dreamer]

thanks Romana
it's useful to know what its output should be. I don't have a diffuser pipe, the whole setup was bought second hand. When i had the oxygen problem i just attached some tubing that reached the surface to to get some agitation but a slight ripple was the best it could do. I thought that was OK because my betta doesn't like a lot of current but the cloudiness and next to no current seems a new development.
DD

[/quote]
so you already replaced it, and it still does not work?
[/quote]
Yup, just dribbles away.
I have just bought a fluval 1 thinking i could just swap the motor over but it doesn't quite fit so have set it up some media from the old filter at the other end of the tank just to see if it will clear with two filters going.
DD

 

[raptorrex]

thanks Romana
it's useful to know what its output should be. I don't have a diffuser pipe, the whole setup was bought second hand. When i had the oxygen problem i just attached some tubing that reached the surface to to get some agitation but a slight ripple was the best it could do. I thought that was OK because my betta doesn't like a lot of current but the cloudiness and next to no current seems a new development.
DD

so you already replaced it, and it still does not work?
[/quote]
Yup, just dribbles away.
I have just bought a fluval 1 thinking i could just swap the motor over but it doesn't quite fit so have set it up some media from the old filter at the other end of the tank just to see if it will clear with two filters going.
DD
[/quote]
if the new power head just "dribbles" away. the problem must be with the socket the pump is pluged into!! or possibly the new pump is faulty. or have i missundrestood, do both pumps work well untill they are placed into the filter housing, and then just dribble?

 

[deni]

Hi Discus Dreamer,
How old is your tank? I just ask because my husband and I have a Jewel tank (100l) with an internal filter, It had been up and running for around 2 years when we noticed a fall in airflow from the pump, though we kept cleaning it, until there was hardly any water movement at all. We asked about this at our lfs and the owner told us that it sounded like the rubber part of the pump which you take apart to clean had gone out of shape, which they do over time from being in the water and this stops the pump working properly (no mention of any of this in the instructions which came with the tank, of course). So we bought a new one, and we were shocked at how mis-shapen the old one had got compared to the new one! The water flow has improved no end since then. Your posts rang a few bells, so I thought tell you what happened to us in case it helped. Cheers.