EX700 slow flow

[Mark Hewitt]

I have a TetraTec EX700 and I've measured the flow rate at 350 litres/hr. Which is only half the stated flow! The filter is only 1 month old and the flow rate hasn't changed so it isn't dirty.

Is there anything I can do to improve matters as this flow rate is not going to be sufficient

 

[BigJim]

The advertised flow rate is probably measured with no media in the filter.

- Make sure it's assembled properly. I've heard of people doing things like leaving the carbon packet in the plastic bag and wondering why they're not getting any water out.

- Make sure everything is clean. I know algae and other stuff really slows down my AC HOBs, even if it's just a film.

- Look into upgrading the impeller. You can do this with some filters. I've done it with two ACs and it worked well.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

+1 on teh 'advertised rate'. I spent a bunch of time evaluating canister filters before buying mine, and found that the rate of flow for just about every filter is different from the operating flow. I had to look online and pull op specs on several brands to find the actual operating GPH.

Check out the flow rates for Fluval in this first post of a thread I started last year...

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f60/which-canister-filter-should-i-choose-113632.html

 

[Mark Hewitt]

The advertised flow rate is probably measured with no media in the filter.

- Make sure it's assembled properly. I've heard of people doing things like leaving the carbon packet in the plastic bag and wondering why they're not getting any water out.

- Make sure everything is clean. I know algae and other stuff really slows down my AC HOBs, even if it's just a film.

- Look into upgrading the impeller. You can do this with some filters. I've done it with two ACs and it worked well.

Cheers, I tried taking the carbon out, no change, plus I'm sure it's not because of dirt, it's been running for a couple of months but the flow hasn't changed since it was new.

Upgrading the impeller? Interesting, that's probably what it needs tbh. I know you can buy the impellers seperately but I'm not sure if the EX1200 impeller would fit the EX700 and even then if it would make any difference?

 

[BigJim]

Look around online and see if anyone else has swapped impellers with this filter. If that fails, try to compare the impellers side by side at your LFS. If the impeller for the larger filter has more or taller blades, it should move more water.