jude Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 My L shaped tank has two Fluval 204's. Last night I discovered a dead fish and then I realised that neither filter was working. We have cleaned them out and set them up again but they don't work. The motors make a noise but no water goes through despite lots of priming. All I can think of is that the pipes are blocked but there was plenty of flow 4 weeks ago. They are plugged into different plugs so its not that. Whatever has gone wrong it seems totally weird that it should happen to both at the same time. Any suggestions? And how do I keep the fish alive? The tank is heavily populated and I guess the cycle will have to happen all over again once the problem is solved. I changed about 1/3 of the water at midnight last night - when we discovered the problem. I will change another 1/3 before I go to work and will do it again when I get home .............. but I can't keep that up for long The only other filters I have are in a couple of tanks heavily infested with cyano and they are only tiny filters anyway - they wouldn't do much for this tank. Cheers Judy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simfish Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 I dont know much but could it be snails? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 make sure you fill it alll the way to the top and then perhaps force start it by putting a hose in the intake and turn it on. worked on my reluclant 304 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude Posted December 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 Thanks simfish and brianemone. I'd thought of snails but there is no sign of them in the tank (thanks loaches) or in the filter itself. I guess there could be some in the pipes though. I will try your suggestion when I get home from work Brianenome - sounds like a plan Cheers Jude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wok Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 Try sucking on the outlet pipe until water comes through. I did that with some new 404 because the pipes were quite long and the little primer thing on the filter just wasn't doing its thing. did you clean the sponges? they have a tendency of stopping water flow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 To get it started, try taking the outlet pipe out of the tank and putting it into a bucket (if possible below the filter), suck on it to get the siphon going you should get a little water flowing even with the motor off. Turn the motor on to clear out any air etc, turn off tap thing and put hose back in tank. How long was it since you last cleaned them? It seems really strange to me that they would both fail at the same time, is it possible you did some thing to both of them when you cleaned them that has caused the failure? Did you clean the seals and put them back in wrong? Reconnect the hoses correctly? Speaking of hose do you clean yours? I have a little bottle brush on a wire that I push down mine every six months or so to clean them out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billaney Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 Hey Jude If you need to house some fish while you recycle , let me know I'm sure i can find some space somewhere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted December 5, 2005 Report Share Posted December 5, 2005 Hi Jude (and Ian), I'll see about stopping by to take a look this afternoon if anyone is in and you haven't sorted it yet. I needed to make a trip out to Wai anyways to pick up some water containers. Yes, you'll be starting a cycle again probably but with Chris and Paul so close hopefully you'll be able to "borrow" some filter media to make it a short one. Heck, you can probably borrow a filter from one of them (or I might bring one with me). Good luck and I hope you don't lose any more fish while it gets sorted!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 It'll only be a small cycle, probably barely large enough to be measurable since you have it heavily planted and there will be just as much if not more bacteria in the tank on the substrate, plants, glass etc as there is in the filter. I wouldn't worry too much, just maybe give it a few extra water changes for the next couple weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Oh, and give all the pipes a clean! I have one filter, an eheim, that is a pain in the butt about clogged pipes. I can clean the pipes out so I'm SURE there's no clog, it'll still be clogged...Then I'll see a clump of garbage going down the pipe where I'm SURE it was clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude Posted December 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Thanks everyone, I'll take the pipes off tonight and try out all the suggestions - I'll clean and I'll blow and I''ll suck and I'll prime ........... :lol: Thanks Billaney - I will take you up on that offer if I can't get it sorted real soon. And thanks Faran. I've only just got home from work and I said a rude word when I heard your message on the answerphone and realised we'd missed you. Cheers Jude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newtman Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Both my filters have started working! Newtman (Tim) galloped to my rescue with a backpack full of cleaning gadgets. They both had an airlock and one's intake pipe was blocked. So now I can heave a sigh of relief and my fish look happier too Cheers Jude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billaney Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Happy to heat it Jude, Well done Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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