Jaide Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 For some reason, my new FX5 filter output flow dies down quite quickly. I thought the canister was getting dirty but it wasn't that dirty when I checked. Now a week after the clean, the outflow is dying down again. In another week I'll need to add an oxygen line as the outflow won't be strong enough to stir up the water - I don't think it's the filter itself, so what am I doing wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 What sort of media do you have in it? Do you have the filter wool pads as well? How old is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaide Posted December 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 It's 4 months old - I bought it 2nd hand from someone who had no trouble with it. It has noodles, pellets and filter wool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 It's 4 months old - I bought it 2nd hand from someone who had no trouble with it. It has noodles, pellets and filter wool. First thought: Open it up, take out the filter wool, reassemble, see if it's flowing well again. Also make sure the filter wool isn't being sucked up against the intake to the impeller housing. That will make it clog up REALLY quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaide Posted December 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 The wool has only just been added - it didn't have any before and I put it in the bottom basket (as recommended). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 Filter wool is guaranteed to slow the flow quickly. What are pellets? I compared my ones flow the other day with another fx5 and they have about 5 times the flow. All they have are two baskets with noodles in it plus the big sponges that go around the outside of each basket. Mine has one basket of noodles and two of sintered glass. The other thing you could check is your impeller to see if the intake is blocked slightly or perhaps the impeller itself is full of muck. What sort of substrate do you have? What sized tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaide Posted December 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 Filter wool is guaranteed to slow the flow quickly. What are pellets? I compared my ones flow the other day with another fx5 and they have about 5 times the flow. All they have are two baskets with noodles in it plus the big sponges that go around the outside of each basket. Mine has one basket of noodles and two of sintered glass. The other thing you could check is your impeller to see if the intake is blocked slightly or perhaps the impeller itself is full of muck. What sort of substrate do you have? What sized tank? I've only just added the wool, it didn't have any before and still the flow slowed down. I didn't check the impeller but I'm sure if it was stuck or blocked, the flow would be stagnant and not start strong to slow down again. Substrate is pebbles and tank is 400 litres. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 What do you mean by pellets ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrazyGeoff Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 What do you mean by pellets ? There is a media which is in essence the bit that is stamped out of the middle of the noodle ring. That is the only thing I would call a pellet. I think it is the aqua one brand, and comes in one of those square, clear plastic containers. Jaide, what is the height from the top of the filter, to the top of the water, and is there an obstruction in the hose, or a kink where a blockage could occur? My FX5 only slows down when the grill in the bottom of the media trays becomes obstructed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calculator Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 Look for a blockage in the hose, I just cleaned the hose of my canisters today, and it doubled the flow rate of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaide Posted December 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 There is a media which is in essence the bit that is stamped out of the middle of the noodle ring. That is the only thing I would call a pellet. I think it is the aqua one brand, and comes in one of those square, clear plastic containers. Jaide, what is the height from the top of the filter, to the top of the water, and is there an obstruction in the hose, or a kink where a blockage could occur? My FX5 only slows down when the grill in the bottom of the media trays becomes obstructed. The pellet things are granules I think - little plastic bits in bags. The height from the top of the filter to the top of the tank is 113cm (it's a deep tank). The hoses aren't kinked at all, but I'll check later to see if there's any blockage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted December 14, 2012 Report Share Posted December 14, 2012 It often is with a filter that all that is required in the way of cleaning is the intake hose. You can make up a 'PULL THROUGH' as used to clean a rifle barrel and it works very well. Even blasting water through it helps a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaide Posted December 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 I cleaned out the hoses - there weren't clogged at all. I ran a hose through them and the water ran out fine. Here's the tank, please tell me what is wrong with the filter set up as clearly it's not happy: I've just reattached the hoses after taking the pic and the flow is worse, the filter is currently running but very hard to tell as very little water movement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godly3vil Posted December 15, 2012 Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 Have you tried sitting it on something to make it higher off the ground? I know it shouldn't matter but I done the same with an eheim I have and it made a huge difference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrazyGeoff Posted December 15, 2012 Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 It is entirely possible that the impella is actually damaged. You could try taking all your media trays out and turning it on. If it goes like crazy, then it is something to do with the media etc. if its still poor, then most likely something to do with the impella or motor etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted December 15, 2012 Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 I have to ask this - how do you know that it worked better for the person you got it off. Did they tell you or did you see it working for yourself. Maybe this is why they sold it. I think you need to check the impellor and the impellor casing. Its not hard to do. A gunky casing will be slowing it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaide Posted December 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 It is entirely possible that the impella is actually damaged. You could try taking all your media trays out and turning it on. If it goes like crazy, then it is something to do with the media etc. if its still poor, then most likely something to do with the impella or motor etc. I tried it without the media trays and it's going like a rocket. So the media is the issue? How is it an issue? The previous owner only had two of the trays filled (noodles and pellet things), I added the filter wool - just basic filter wool, not polished, and it's only one layer of it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted December 15, 2012 Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 I havent used a FX5 before, but I had an Aquis 1200 that had a small split in the top media tray cover that allowed a small amount of filter wool into the impeller, slowing it down, when you pulled it apart it fell out again so you couldn't see what was happening Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted December 15, 2012 Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 I tried it without the media trays and it's going like a rocket. So the media is the issue? How is it an issue? The previous owner only had two of the trays filled (noodles and pellet things), I added the filter wool - just basic filter wool, not polished, and it's only one layer of it too. Like I said, try it without the filter wool. Also I'm still not sure what the pellets you say you have are, I found the ones that are a really irregular lumps seem to catch gunk and build up into a cloggy mass....Let me google... Ah, like these: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted December 15, 2012 Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 or this one???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaide Posted December 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 Nope, they look like this: And there are 2 bags of them in the basket with lining underneath: These are the noodles on top: And this is the filter wool I added: The filter came with the pellets and noodles, and after 2-3 weeks the outflow started slowing down. Could the lining under the pellets be the issue? I assumed it's there to catch any pellets if they escape the bags. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James125 Posted December 15, 2012 Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 The black pellets look like activated carbon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted December 15, 2012 Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 The black pellets look like activated carbon +1, throw them in the bin, they are probably used up anyway and get some sintered glass media. I never use activated carbon except to remove tannins or medications. imo the lining under the pellets is just the equivilent to filter wool (may be wrong and might be some super important part of the filter) also maybe look at getting some coarser sponge for around the outside (if you can???) and use a medium grade sponge on the top layer of the filter to help clean out smaller solids. oh also for you..... https://usa.hagen.com/File/da5e8f69-366f-453e-8b3d-c8c82ff3c4c3 the user manual Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaide Posted December 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 +1, throw them in the bin, they are probably used up anyway and get some sintered glass media. I never use activated carbon except to remove tannins or medications. imo the lining under the pellets is just the equivilent to filter wool (may be wrong and might be some super important part of the filter) also maybe look at getting some coarser sponge for around the outside (if you can???) and use a medium grade sponge on the top layer of the filter to help clean out smaller solids. oh also for you..... https://usa.hagen.com/File/da5e8f69-366f-453e-8b3d-c8c82ff3c4c3 the user manual If you have been following this thread, you will realise I have been following the manual closely The manual has suggestions of media and one of them is the pellet things which they call "peat granules", but could also be carbon - which is also in the manual. However I will try to get what? "Sintered glass media"? Sounds owie when cleaning! :-? Failing that, if the shop doesn't have it, any other suggestions please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted December 15, 2012 Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 sintered glass is a media that has extreme surface area for bacteria to colonise (last time I looked it up it was 10-15000 square feet per liter compared to 5-7000 ft per liter) peat is only if you want to play with your pH, activated carbon is a waste of time unless yo have other problems which should be sorted by good fish keeping instead of chemicals. just remember that the manual is made by a company that wants to make as much money as possible. my canister filters contain (in order of inlet to outlet) coarse sponge, ceramic noodles, medium sponge, sintered glass (or more ceramic if budget does not stretch) fine sponge, filter wool. only additive I use is TLC live bacteria and carbon if im using wundertonic. (or major tannin problem) tried a few and imo most chemical filtration is just a crutch for lack of BASIC fish keeping skills. just remember they were keeping rather nice tanks over 100 years ago without all of this crap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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