low flow through hob filters

[jimluann]

I have a 55 gallon freshwater tank that has been taken over by platies, but that is another topic.

I use two Marineland Emperor 280 HOB filters with a filter assembly and the second spot with ceramic media. I normally do a 10 gallons PWC every 7-10 days and then try to do a thorough cleaning once per month. Along with that I take the filters apart and clean them as well.

In between, I take out the filter assembly and backflush the debris that has accumulated. It seems that the output of the HOB unit does not improve very much.

Now, even if I remove both filter trays, there does not seem to be as much flow through the filter as there should be. However, with them both installed, water backs up and bypasses the filter media, still at a seemingly slow rate

1) Can anyone offer some help trying to figure out what the problem is?

As a side question:
The frugal in me wants to know if there is a different way to clean the filters to get a longer life out of them. Currently it is difficult to get more that a few weeks, especially after stirring up the gravel.

Thanks for all your help

 

[papa_bear_21]

I had a similiar issue with my aquaclear 30 filter, took the whole thing apart, and cleaned every single part. The impeller, the pump motor, the basket, you name it, it got cleaned. As far as cleaning the the filters, my cleaning lasts about 2 months, then they get a ful thorough cleaning again. Keep the media clean, and it should minimize the need to clean the filter. I clean my media every pwc, rinsing it in tank water. I rinse out the ceramic bio pack, and hang it in the tank until it's time to be reinstalled, and the sponge gets rinsed and cleaned in the old tank water. Once everything is reinstalled, it runs better than ever.

Hope this helps,

Bear

 

[Ziggy953]

Hmmm......do you take the impeller out and clean it and the are the shaft fits into? That is a pretty powerful filter for a HOB and should be generating a decent amount of flow. Nomrally when that happens to me it is the filter that is the problem. Either it is overly soiled or there is a pile of debris in the filter its self. My FW tank has been running for almost 4 years now and I don't have to mess with it a lot. The only thing that I can think of is there is something blocking the flow. Although you said you backfulsh the tubing and all when cleaning. I'm not sure that is an interesting problem.