Aquaclear filter question

[kilfrg7864]

hi all

i just got an aquaclear mini from my grandpa, and i am not sure if it is working correctly. WHen i turn it on it seems like water is being filtered, but at the same time a good amount of the water is just flowing right over the top of the left compartment into the right compartment. The filter holder thing has like little loop cutouts and the water is flowing right through there and back into the tank.

I was wondering is this normal? or is the old unit my grandpa gave me broken?

 

[Speakerman]

does it have a clean filterpad? replace it with a new one, or wash it out with high pressure water. The filter is designed to overflow into the tank instead of onto the floor when the pads are plugged up.

 

[kilfrg7864]

yea both the sponges are pretty much brand new.

 

[kaiofcanada]

That particular model is now the aquaclear 20. I have it on one of mt 10 gallon tanks. There are three different filters in it. A sponge, which should rest at the botton of the right chamber. A second/middle layer of activated carbon, and a third/top layer of white biomax "balls". Do you have all three filter layers? If not you can go to you LFS and buy the replacement cartidges for the model. It is a great system. You would have wanted to replace those parts of the filtration anyways. Also, you may want to replace your sponge filter if it wasn't used in a while. It may have grown some yucky stuff or not been stored in a safe way for your new setup. All the replacement parts are relatively inexpensive. Should not cost you more than $6-8.

 

[Speakerman]

can you get a picture of your problem? it could be the filter is really really not level, or you don't have your suction tube seated down all the way, or there is some other blockage inside the filter's reservoir.

 

[kilfrg7864]

of course! as you can see in the picture the water level is very high for some reason.

Imageshack - img5494

I am currently running 2 sponges(1 is seeded with my friends gunk from his tank) and the ceramic rings in the filter. And for the most part my tank is level, and the tube thing that leads to the impeller is within that groove and is as snug as i can get it.

Also this problem persisted when i was running from the bottom to the top, foam, carbon, and ceramic rings.

 

[kaiofcanada]

Well the sponge should be at the bottom, not the top.

But in general...the way it works should be that there is a tiny little side slit. You can see it if you look exactly on the side in good lighting as the plastic is greyish. That slit is the flow from the inlet to the bottom of the right chamber. The gray carriage for the filters should sit so that there isn't overflow, rather that the water flowing into the holes on the side and down through the sponge (which should be at the bottom of the stack).

The order should be top: biomax rings middle: activated carbon bottom: sponge.

The water should circulate through the sponge and carbon and back up and flow out. If you are seeing overflow, pull the carriage a teeny bit up to allow optimal flow through the chamber filters rather than over the top.

 

[kaiofcanada]

If i could find my camera i would take a picture of the instruction piece for you. I hope my description helps.

 

[kilfrg7864]

a picture would help a great amount!

 

[FishEggs]

i'm not sure if the older models allowed for it but you can also try reducing the flow by twisting the intake tube clockwise.

 

[BillD]

Lose the carbon and run 2 sponges and the bio rings.

 

[kaiofcanada]

ask and ye shall recieve :0) I finally found my camera

 

[kilfrg7864]

thanks! i am currently running 2 sponges and 1 ceramic rings. but it still does not help with the problem of the water flowing into the right compartment.

If i turn the filter all the way to the lowest the water just barely does not cross over to the right chamber, but when i turn it up it flows right over like in the picture

 

[mfdrookie516]

just out of curiosity, how high is your water level... this may be totally unrelated, but if my water level is really high, one of my filters "pushes" water over top of my cartridges and to me it sounds like thats what yours is doing... i may be wrong though

 

[kaiofcanada]

thanks! i am currently running 2 sponges and 1 ceramic rings. but it still does not help with the problem of the water flowing into the right compartment.

If i turn the filter all the way to the lowest the water just barely does not cross over to the right chamber, but when i turn it up it flows right over like in the picture

Notice on the diagram...second picture. There is a symbol at the bottom with a raindrop shape symbol. This is the amount of space you want to leave beneath the carriage. This allows optimal flow down through the sponge and should put your carriage such that the notch at the top is above the water flow line and you should not get overflow.

 

[kilfrg7864]

thanks for the help! unfortunately lifting the filter basket area up did not work out so well. I lifted it up now the water is overflowing out through where the U tube is and back into the tank :-/ maybe its just time for me to get another filter.

 

[joy13]

One of my HOB filters was doing the same thing, I didn't realize it right away but the filter wasn't resting against the back of the tank. I put a small box between the filter and the tank to level it out and it worked.

 

[kaiofcanada]

One of my HOB filters was doing the same thing, I didn't realize it right away but the filter wasn't resting against the back of the tank. I put a small box between the filter and the tank to level it out and it worked.

I was just about to mention this.

There is a little notch or could have been a notch on the carriage box. This can force your filter forward a bit. You can adjust this so that you filter is perfectly parallel to your tank as it hangs.

As for the space I mentioned, there should only be a small space left at the base for the water to flow roughly the measure of 2-3 quarters stacked on each other.