kc2ped
Aquarium Advice Activist
I am having trouble keeping the pump in my BioCUBE 14 from sucking air. The tank is about six months old now and this has never been a problem as long as I kept the water at the correct level.
I have the tank filled to the correct level. Water is pouring out of the overflow from the bioballs and I guess it is creating bubbles in the motor chamber that the motor sucks in before they can rise to the surface. I had a sponge for my emergency sponge filter in the mechanical filtration chamber which doesn't have a cartridge in it because I am told the carbon would adsorb all the good stuff from the water that my plants need to survive. Things used to be fine when it was floating in front of the cutout to let water into the bioballs chamber but now that causes the water level in the pump chamber to fall below the critical level and the pump sucks air. I moved the sponge on top of the bioballs strainer and when it obstructs the cutout from the mechanical chamber there isn't enough water in the pump chamber and when I move it to let any more water through the cutout I get a waterfall of water coming out of the bioballs overflow.
I don't think there is supposed to be that much water in a wet/dry system or it wouldn't have dry in the name. I am worried that all that water is going to drown my bacteria and break my cycle. I tested the water yesterday and ammonia was at 0.25 ppm where it always is and where my tap water is, nitrites are 0.0 ppm like normal, and nitrates are up a notch from normal to 80 ppm. pH has been rising slowly after a fall and is at 6.6. KH is normally too low to measure but was up to 35.8 ppm and GH, which has always been high has dropped off to 143.2 ppm. For what it's worth, temperature is around 78. The tank is overstocked but everyone seems as healthy as the day I got them. I did a partial water change yesterday of about 20%
I am wondering if there are leaves, a colony of snails, or just slime that are obstructing the low level connection between the bioballs and the pump. I forgot to clean the sponge when I cleaned the filter on the 1st of the month so will do that today but am new to this kind of filtration and leery of taking out the bioballs for fear of breaking NY cycle if the chamber flooding hasn't done that already.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcomed.
I have the tank filled to the correct level. Water is pouring out of the overflow from the bioballs and I guess it is creating bubbles in the motor chamber that the motor sucks in before they can rise to the surface. I had a sponge for my emergency sponge filter in the mechanical filtration chamber which doesn't have a cartridge in it because I am told the carbon would adsorb all the good stuff from the water that my plants need to survive. Things used to be fine when it was floating in front of the cutout to let water into the bioballs chamber but now that causes the water level in the pump chamber to fall below the critical level and the pump sucks air. I moved the sponge on top of the bioballs strainer and when it obstructs the cutout from the mechanical chamber there isn't enough water in the pump chamber and when I move it to let any more water through the cutout I get a waterfall of water coming out of the bioballs overflow.
I don't think there is supposed to be that much water in a wet/dry system or it wouldn't have dry in the name. I am worried that all that water is going to drown my bacteria and break my cycle. I tested the water yesterday and ammonia was at 0.25 ppm where it always is and where my tap water is, nitrites are 0.0 ppm like normal, and nitrates are up a notch from normal to 80 ppm. pH has been rising slowly after a fall and is at 6.6. KH is normally too low to measure but was up to 35.8 ppm and GH, which has always been high has dropped off to 143.2 ppm. For what it's worth, temperature is around 78. The tank is overstocked but everyone seems as healthy as the day I got them. I did a partial water change yesterday of about 20%
I am wondering if there are leaves, a colony of snails, or just slime that are obstructing the low level connection between the bioballs and the pump. I forgot to clean the sponge when I cleaned the filter on the 1st of the month so will do that today but am new to this kind of filtration and leery of taking out the bioballs for fear of breaking NY cycle if the chamber flooding hasn't done that already.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcomed.
