AC300 Question

[Endgame319]

My used ac300 is very noisy. Should I get a new impeller? How do I know its the impeller that's making the noise and not the motor?

[William]

Buy another, non-Aqua clear filter, which in turn is better. Like a Marineland with Biowheel. *hates Aquaclear*

[Endgame319]

I'm very anti-biowheel. I had a bad experience with one once.

I was away for the weekend, there was a power outage. The bio-wheel dried out and I lost almost all of my bacteria. There was an ammonia spike and I lost a whole spawn of 1 month old fry

[Menagerie]

How do I know its the impeller that's making the noise and not the motor?

If you replace the impeller and it's still noisy, then it was the motor
Seriously, start by cleaning it. If it is still noisy, and you trust your LFS, take it to them. If you don't trust your LFS, start replacing parts beginning with least expensive

The bio-wheel dried out and I lost almost all of my bacteria. There was an ammonia spike and I lost a whole spawn of 1 month old fry

I have bacteria growing not only on the bio wheel, but also on the sponge. That is a crumby way to loose fry

[William]

Originally Posted by Endgame319

I'm very anti-biowheel. I had a bad experience with one once.

I was away for the weekend, there was a power outage. The bio-wheel dried out and I lost almost all of my bacteria. There was an ammonia spike and I lost a whole spawn of 1 month old fry

Well, thats not exactly the biowheels fault.. Cause in a power out the filter usually has all the water spyphoned out and even the filter media gets dry and dead, so it could easily happen to any type of filter.

[grimlock3000]

I've lost power about 10 times with two AC filters and I have never had all the water siphon back into the tank. Once the power comes back on, the filtration resumes with no difficulty. The times range from a few minutes to a couple hours. The level in the media area drops by a bit to match the tank level but when power comes back on everything works fine. Even if you have a really low tank level, it is impossible for the siphon to drain all the water from an AC, because the media area goes lower than the intake tube.

My father lost power on his 55g tank with two Penguin 330s. No one was home, the bacteria on the wheels died, when power came back home finally he ended up with some dead fish after a spike.

With Bio Wheels, my belief is that you can end up with a disproportionate ammount of the total tank bacteria right on the Bio Wheels. So if it all dies from drying out, it can be a big deal.

[William]

I've had Aquaclears drain completly and need to be refilled with a cup or two of tank water before it'd continue normally.

[grimlock3000]

Its impossible for the media area to drain "completely". The intake tube does not go down near as far as the media area does, it can not suck the water out if it wanted to :P

[Pufferpunk]

I have used AQ filters for over 25 years & have only thrown away 1 due to noise. I have replaced several impellors & that has helped, but if it was run dry, the motor can heat & the hole the impellor goes into can widen & then the motor is trash. I like AQs because I can stack them the way I like: sponge, 1" filter floss (polishes the water) & a bag of BioBlox

[smilla4]

Originally Posted by william

I've had Aquaclears drain completly and need to be refilled with a cup or two of tank water before it'd continue normally.

Originally Posted by frimlock3000

I've lost power about 10 times with two AC filters and I have never had all the water siphon back into the tank.

Is it possible that they've changed the design or anything so both are possible? I don't know if you guys have the exact same model/age of product... (making sense?)

It would be funny to see two aquarists duke it out over an aquarium filter. Though now I said that I have a feeling I'm may get reprimanded by the admin(s). I'm not trying to start anything! I swear!

[grimlock3000]

They could have changed the design, but I am not aware of any changes affecting the intake setup. As long as the tank water is above the end of the intake tube, an AC filter (or other filter for that matter) will not lose the siphon. When I lose power, the water level in the ACs equalizes with the water level in the tank, this has not been a problem.

[William]

Originally Posted by grimlock3000

Its impossible for the media area to drain "completely". The intake tube does not go down near as far as the media area does, it can not suck the water out if it wanted to :P

Drain low enough to prevent it from working properly after a powerout without manual aid.

That better?

I have both old and new AC 500's and AC 300's and nope no changes from what I've seen and nope no complete siphoning either...Heck, come to think of it even when I do partials I have never had a complete siphon..anyways, Thats my take on it.

[grimlock3000]

Drain low enough to prevent it from working properly after a powerout without manual aid.

That better?

Makes a lot more sense now. Try keeping more water in the tank

[aridiar]

I have an AC 150, I've had the motor/rotor stop on me 2 times because it's gotten jammed with various things. First time it was duckweed, more recently it was snails (lemme just say that was very gross to take out). But, I just threw it in the floating breeder with my sisters little parrot and he ate them all

Otherwise no complains about the filter, I think it's great. Of course, the only other hang-on back I ever had was a Whisper that came with my tank

When I turn it off then back on it does loose some of the water from the siphon, it will usually get going again by itself, tho I've had to pour water in when the water level in my tank was lower than normal

[grimlock3000]

Anyway, back to the original questions. As long as the pin in the motor is smooth, a new impeller should fix the noise issue. If it is still within the two year warranty, contact Hagen who makes the filters, they might help you out for free

[William]

Originally Posted by grimlock3000

Makes a lot more sense now. Try keeping more water in the tank

Tank was full.

[grimlock3000]

Tank was full.

Then your tank and filter defied the laws of fluid dynamics and somehow drained the AC filter to a lower water level than the tank :P

[William]

Originally Posted by grimlock3000

Then your tank and filter defied the laws of fluid dynamics and somehow drained the AC filter to a lower water level than the tank :P

Like I said, Those Aquaclears are witches and evil.

[grimlock3000]

I think my Visi-Therm 150 heater is evil. Almost everytime I look in the tank, the heater turns on and I see the red light glowing back at me. Then I walk away and it turns off a few seconds later. Must be a coincidence 8O