Can filters be clogged from your sand substrate?

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TheKraken

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Apr 18, 2011
Messages
19
Location
Pennsylvania
Hi guys,

Ive had my top fin beginners 10 gal tank for 2 weeks or so now and my filter that came with the kit is no longer working for some reason. I do have sand as my substrate and was wondering if this could cause it to clog. There was sand in the filter well and the well for the intake tube but i have since rinsed it out and it is still not working. When i plugged it back in after refilling the wells with water, the energizer sounded like it was working, but no water is flowing back into the tank. Im at a loss...

I also had an airstone next to the intake tube, dont know if that would have any effect.

Again in regards to sand, i did my first cleaning the other day and accidentally stirred up alot of sand, so i thought that may have had something to do with the filter not functioning properly
 
I'm assuming Top Fin filters are the same way, but it's common for sand to damage Aquaclear filters. It happened to mine, I had to purchase replacement parts.
 
The exact sand substrate i bought was from CaribSea Inc. "Super Naturals" premium aquarium substrate. And yes, my airstone was very close to my intake tube....the airstone overnight managed to displace the two inches of sand it was lying against to the bottom of the tank. I was planning on moving the airstone in the next day or so once i got some suction clips and a check valve for the pump
 
Yeah, I'm not very fond of their sands... they're all very fine. PFS is the only sand I like, that isn't expensive. And, its far too heavy to be sucked up by filters. I'd say its the air stone that caused it though.
 
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