New setup, filters backing up + brown staining

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Pylor

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Feb 17, 2014
Messages
58
I have a new tank just setup in the past two days water-wise. I'm using RODI water as my local water has awful PH and has ammonia in the tap. Water was reconstituted with seachem equilibrium and the two buffers (alkaline and acid). I just turned the filters (an older emperor 280 circa early 2000s) and a brand new fluval C4. Both the filters seem to be "backing up." By this I mean that the emperor has water coming out the front of the intake similar to what it was like when I was younger and would let the filter get too dirty, and the C4 has the red "button" sticking up indicating that the unit needs cleaning.

Both are using new filters (though the emperor's filter was in a storage unit for ~6 years, it was in a box and looked fine when I opened it). Anyone have any thoughts?
 
Just an update, I "fixed" the C4 unit atleast. I found the instructions and it mentioned a plastic piece for leveling the filter that I had never seen. It was hiding beneath the carbon package I didn't use, so now that the filter is level it's working properly.

I'm thinking the impeller on the old emperor 280 needs replacing so I ordered one and I'll see if that does anything. I had cleaned the impeller very thoroughly and it seems to rotate as well as it ever did, but the unit seems to vibrate a bit and it seems to be pumping too much water up.
 
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