Filter Died... How long do I have?

[ddeans]

Hey everyone,

Today we had a power outage, and my filter died during it. I unplugged in once we lost power so that I could ensure it was full of water before turning it back on. However it will not come back on. I took it apart and pulled the plastic thing out that holds the magnetic turny thing in there and cleaned it all out, but it still will not come in. It tries, it makes some rattling noise if I shake the unit, but thats it, then it goes quiet and gets really hot.

So, its a 125G Saltwater.. How long do I have to purchase a new filter? I don't get paid until monday.

I am using a Fluval Canister currently.

 

[Blueiz]

Did you prime it by pouring water into it? Your tank is going to start to go through a cycle, to get you by until monday you will need to do water changes at least twice daily depending on your stock levels. When you do get a new filter, your tank is going to go through its cycle as well because you have lost the majority of your bio filtration.

I have a couple filters that do the same as yours, let it cool off, pour some water in it and move the magnet housing up and down to see if that makes a difference, aslo try taking it apart and cleaning it again.

 

[mfdrookie516]

i would disagree... having 160lbs of live rock in there should keep the tank from going through a full cycle, probably wont even see a mini cycle... alot of people use live rock as their only filtration. I would definately try and get the filter back up and running, you may want to take out the impeller, turn it on for just a second, then put it back in and fire it back up... also make sure nothing is blocking any of the hoses or inlets inside the pump... mine started making some funky sounds and getting hot a couple weeks ago, i ended up figuring out that the impeller cover clip was broken and wasnt holding against the impeller.. $6 from ebay and 3 days later, all was well

 

[dkpate]

Have you tried lifting up to thing that hangs into the tank and wiggling that? I have to do that with one of mine sometimes.

 

[Blueiz]

i would disagree... having 160lbs of live rock in there should keep the tank from going through a full cycle, probably wont even see a mini cycle... alot of people use live rock as their only filtration. I would definately try and get the filter back up and running, you may want to take out the impeller, turn it on for just a second, then put it back in and fire it back up... also make sure nothing is blocking any of the hoses or inlets inside the pump... mine started making some funky sounds and getting hot a couple weeks ago, i ended up figuring out that the impeller cover clip was broken and wasnt holding against the impeller.. $6 from ebay and 3 days later, all was well

Go with this advice . I missed that it was a sw tank. From the basics that I know about it, the live rock is the bio filtration and the filter is the mechanical..

I'll step away from the sw thread now..

 

[ddeans]

I took the filter up to my LFS to have them look at it too, and he took it all apart the same as i did, and it won't even try now. So I purchased the Rapids pro plus filter. I just gone done getting it going, and it seems to be okay so far. I did see mixed reviews on it, but for $349, the price was right. I did check my water and my params seem fine, I'll check it again tomorrow. Silly me though when I unplugged the filter last night I unplugged one of the heaters too and the temp was at 72.1.. It's going back up now..

Thanks for everyone's help.