Ok. I'll share my moment of supreme intelligence last night with you.
So, I got an air pump that was twice as strong as my old one that apparently is useful only for quarantine tanks with a small airstone. The new one is for 20-60 gallons.
I replaced the air pump, put an airstone over the airline tubing that was for the bubbles since I knew it would come out a lot better and stronger, and let the whole thing go for a little bit - maybe 30-45 minutes. I did a water change in the main tank, discovering that I desperately need to clean that filter cartridge about 50 times - there was a good inch plus of gunk built up on it. I almost gave up and took it to the sink, but I didn't. It is gross.
Then I go to the fry tank. My gravel vac is a lot bigger now since my other one decided to break on me. Walmart doesn't sell the little ones, which I like better than this monster. I say, use the turkey baster to suck up the spinning dirt that keeps popping up out of nowhere. Well, with the stronger air bubbler, the water moves a lot more, making it significantly harder to catch them. I got several of them out, though.
Then I noticed that the filter
still wasn't working.
I think to myself: "It's on a 60 gallon air pump! What the *heck* is wrong with this thing!"
Got clever and checked the filter intake for the first time. The intake was clogged and the pantyhose weren't pulled tight, so nothing was going through them.
Two finger swipes and a pantyhose adjustment later, and it works like new.
Yes, I know. That was an ingenious moment.
