New AquaClear leaking? No! :)

[jinmon]

Hey guys! I just hooked up my new Aquaclear 70 and... I think it's leaking. When the flow is set to anything but the lowest setting, water flows from alongside the U-tube (intake) - as well as from the nice pretty spillway by the filter media.

Um... is this normal? It's my first tank and my first filter, and it just doesn't seem... right. :/

Thanks!

EDITED -

OOPS!

Okay, for any newbie who sees this - first thing to check is that your bag o' ceramic biomedia isn't just positioned to divert water back towards the U-Tube... ie, smoosh it around a bit, see if the problem goes away.

Sheesh.

Er.... nevermind!

 

[Ziggy953]

Not to worry....we all do things like that once in a while.....

 

[plecoperson]

Been there, Jinmon!

 

[blazeyreef]

done that to! flipped out to (lol)

 

[jinmon]

Oh, I'm SO glad it's not just me! Thanks, guys!

 

[BillD]

That overflow by the lift tube is your indicator that the sponges are plugged. That shouldn't be the case with a new filter. It should flow through, even with 2 sponges, which I use on all my AC filters.

 

[plecoperson]

Mine has always had a little spillover.

Not a problem unless a big snail climbs the intake, blocks the flow and diverts it to the edge of the hood, where it then spills down the front of the tank and onto the floor. Like it did 15 minutes ago. Again. Oy.