need help with my filter

[fredcabintoy]

Hi im having a few problems with my filter. Its a H.O.T Magnum 250HSB and it keeps spitting up micro bubbles, this gets annoying to look at. I have tried many time to fix this by emptying the canister and making sure there are no bubbles in it but no use for me at least. Sometimes on rare occasion it would work with out bubbles for a a max of say 2 hours and then randomly just burst out with bubbles and the bubbles just multiply and just get insane lol. It gets crazy sometimes to the point I have to turn it off. Any help would greatly be appreciated.

 

[melosu58]

Moved to General hardware and equipment discussion.

 

[CaptainAhab]

using it for salt or fresh?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I've got the same unit on my SW tank. Not sure how old your filter unit is, but whenever I have bubble issues, a really good cleaning normally fixes the problem. Areas to look at... make sure all the sealing surfaces where the little foam gaskets seat on are smooth and free of debris. Make sure the o-ring in the lid is properly seated. Run the little yellow cleaning rod up and down that clear tube on the central tube to make sure all the gunk is out of it.

The filter will under normal operation put out a burst of bubbles now and then as it purges itself of air that normally becomes trapped in it. And if that purge goes on for a little while, yeah... it can take 10 minutes or so for things to clear out. But I haven't had any real issues with mine. Just make sure that before you snap the lid back on, you've filled the cannister as far as possible to the brim with water, while holding down the cannister and top clear piece. (Those tend to float to the top, but I'm sure you've figured that out.)

Oh... another thing I just thought of - have you made sure it's level? With the lid off, you should be able to fill it up to the rim and gauge the level.

 

[CaptainAhab]

If it's for fresh, make sure the intake isn't near any bubble makers too. Bubbles in equals chopped up bubbles out

 

[fredcabintoy]

its for salt and kurt ill try out your cleaning, but i think im good cuz it just does bursts of bubbles not continues and does tend to clear away in about 10 mins of so. Is it also fine if I just use the canister part and not the bio wheel? So that way im just using the canister part. What does the bio wheel actually do in a salt water tank?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Perfectly fine to just use the canister. I don't have the one that comes with the biowheel and just use the canister unit by itself. However, I do the small Penguin 100 Biowheel unit on my tank so that I can transfer it over to a quarantine tank if needed and have an ready-to-go biological filter.

The biowheel in a saltwater tank just serves as a wet/dry biological filter. If you have adequate live rock, it isn't needed.