AquaClear 200 Problem

[AuquaMan]

I recently bought an AquaClear 200 HoB filter due to so many people liking them because of their flexibility with media choices and such, but I have a problem and wasn't sure if others have had this same isssue. I'm unable to allow the flow of the filter to be at full speed (200 gph) without the water from the intake valve wanting to run over into the media basket and therfore bypassing all media. All I have in the media basket at the moment is the sponge that came with it, and some poly fiber. This shouldn't be so much media that the water flow is unable to flow through all the media without backing up on the intake...should it? Have others had this same issue, or should I return it for another one? Anybody's help would be greatly appreciated. I am also curious what most people put in their AquaClears!

 

[grimlock3000]

By design, water should be able to go from the media basket over to the intake pool, but not the other way. Check the intake tube and make sure it is all the way in the groove above the impeller and seated correctly on the pivot area to adjust the flow.

I have a Aquaclear Mini and a 200, I run sponge - carbon - sponge. Seems to work pretty good, however I am going to try mixing it up with some filter floss soon since I do not think the sponges are too good at catching finer particles. I am going try using volcanic rock instead of the carbon to give the bio bugs a place to live, I just need to find the media bags locally. The arrangement would be sponge - floss - volcanic rock (bottom - middle - top). If I ever needed to use carbon, it would replace the floss as a temp.

 

[AuquaMan]

Thanks for the response. I didn't know that the AquaClear was designed to have the overflow from the media basket flow back into the Intake Resevoir. Why is that? I guess the poly-fiber might be the culprit for this, or I'm mistaking the flow going back into the intake as the flow from the intake going into the Media basket. Make sense? I'll have to take a closer look at it all tonight. I will be disappointed if it's indeed the poly-fiber as I really want to use it for the same reason you have mentioned. To catch some of the smaller debris the sponge misses.

 

[grimlock3000]

When you reduce the flow rate on the filter, the unit will still filter at its rated gph (gallons per hour). It does this by have some of the water flow back into the intake area, and that water gets filtered again before returning to the tank.

 

[AuquaMan]

If that's the case, then I definitely think I have a problem with the poly-fiber. The only time the flow passes between the Media Basket and the intake is when I increase the flow as opposed to lessening it. Thanks for you responses Grimlock. I'll have to experiment with it tonight...perhapse I don't have the intake tube seated correctly in the groove.

 

[grimlock3000]

It is not a problem as long the water goes from the media side over to the intake side. Any water that makes it to the top of the media side will be filtered water. I will check both of my filters when I get home, however I am fairly sure that the some water flows from the media to the intake side on both of my filters.

 

[AuquaMan]

That would be great Grim! I'll check tonight and post back here what my results are. Once again, I appreciate your help. This is a great forum!

 

[grimlock3000]

Both of them have water right up to the level of the divider.

 

[AuquaMan]

Well, got home and took out the poly-fill and placed a 2nd sponge instead and the water is just like you described it with the flow at full power - water is right up to the level of the divider and doesn't flow over into the media basket. I got the same problem of the water flowing over into the media basket from the intake valve if I added any sort of 3rd layer of media (i.e. media bag of carbon). Not sure how you are able to have 2 sponges and a layer of carbon and not have the water flowing over into the media basket from the intake valve. How thin is your layer of Carbon? Maybe I'm trying to put too much stuff into the media chamber, but I'm almost certain that if I put all three medias that AquaClear recommends and claims you can put in the chamber at one time (sponge, carbon and Amorid) I would still have the overflow problem from the intake resevior bypassing all media and flowing over media basket all together. I'm truly stumped at this point and am now considering taking it back. I would love to hear feedback from others who uses AuquaClear HoB power filters.

 

[brotherd]

I run all 4 of my tanks on these filters and here is the deal.The intake tube should be all the way to the left(directly over the impeller).As the media starts to clog over time you get an overflow around the intake tube area.This is a sign that your media needs to be rinsed or changed.If you don't have full flow and there is no spilloff around the intake tube then you probably have a clogged intake tube or a clogged impeller.These are great little filters for small tanks(under 35 gallons).Just be aware that they may not re-start in the event of a power failure.(I use a bamboo shish kabob skewer sometimes to spin up a stubborn impeller!)No problems!

 

[AuquaMan]

Brotherd,

The problem is I'm having overflow on the intake area with NEW media. There shoudn't be any clogging or backing up with new media. Right?

 

[Guest]

On the bottom of the filter, do you have the tilt selector to the max to make the back of the filter have a gap between the tank? It sounds to me as if the filter is leaning backward more than it should...

 

[grimlock3000]

brotherd, how many of the media spots are you using? With the sponge on the top spot in my filter, with new sponges, I get a small ammount of overflow into the intake area... even then, it is not spewing over to the intake side, the water is rriigghhtt up to the level of the intake area. with no sponge in the top, it doesn't overflow i think.

hrmm...

 

[AuquaMan]

Timbo2, the AquaClear 200 doesn't come with a tilt selector. I'll check to see if by tilting the filter system more foward into the tank takes care of my overflow issue, but from what I can tell, it just looks like the media is too much for the water to pass through at full flow. Ideally I was hoping to have 2 sponges with biomax or bioballs ontop, but that appears too much for the filter to pass without overflow. :-(

 

[grimlock3000]

On the bottom of the filter on the side that faces the tank there should be a little plastic tab. You snip the tab to the correct length to make it level with your tank.

If the tab broke off in shipping or something, you can level it out with some small blocks and tape.

I have always had a small ammount of water slowly going from the media to the intank side. I thought it was designed to work this way since that is how water recycles when you turn down the flow rate and the impeller pulls water from the intake tube AND intake area, which then gets refilled with water from the media bay. If water from the media side did not spill into the intake area, you would not be able to lower the flow rate.

 

[brotherd]

On the 200 I only use 2 spots.I don't run carbon or amrid just the sponge on the bottom and then a 1 inch layer of polyfilter.If I need to run carbon I still have room to add it.Typically I don't get intake overflow for a week and by then I am doing tank maint.on cleaning the filter media I replace the poly filter with new and rinse out the sponge thoroughly in water that was removed from that tank.Re install sponge without damaging the bio filter and I'm good to go again.You may have too much media in there as you suspected.How long has the filter been running?

 

[AuquaMan]

That's the problem brotherd. I was experiencing overflow issues immediately upon using my new AquaClear filter with a brand new sponge and 1 inch of poly-fiber.

 

[brotherd]

You got me then!I don't get it.Sorry I couldn't be of more help.