Fluval 204 spews out a bunch of crud on clean out!

S

sushiray

AC Members
Jan 14, 2009
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new windsor, ny
Fluval 204 backup crap on clean out

Ok, I must be doing something wrong, big time. I have cleaned my 204 twice b-4 & all seemed ok. 3rd time was after feeding too much frozen brine so 204 filtered out a lot. when I finished cleaning & pumped/primed (using the siphon key) all of a sudden a thrust of crud came out of the return tube. all this brine which was not in the filter media. I can't understand what happened. but here is what I did so maybe someone can tell me what I did wrong.

I go thru my cleaning of the filter as follows:

1. lift water stopper lever
2. lift water flow lever to off
3. unlatch the top unit & separate from canister
4. remove canister with full water
5. pour water into drain
6. pull out media baskets & clean & rinse (lightly rinse biomedia only)
7. slide out sponge holder, clean/rinse thoroughly (it was filthy)
8. replace it all
9. reconnect latch
10. pump/prime

this is when the crud comes gushing out. I guess somehow was still in the tubes & was not caught by the sponge?

note - to put back the canister cover back on there are 2 sides - side1 left has the plastic suction cup for the siphon, side2 has the round plastic cover housing the impeller. I have to think I placed on correctly. Side1 over the sponge coming from the intake tube, side2 over the media basket side. that makes sense right?

so what the hell did I do wrong??
 
sushiray said:
Fluval 204 backup crap on clean out

Ok, I must be doing something wrong, big time. I have cleaned my 204 twice b-4 & all seemed ok. 3rd time was after feeding too much frozen brine so 204 filtered out a lot. when I finished cleaning & pumped/primed (using the siphon key) all of a sudden a thrust of crud came out of the return tube. all this brine which was not in the filter media. I can't understand what happened. but here is what I did so maybe someone can tell me what I did wrong.

I go thru my cleaning of the filter as follows:

1. lift water stopper lever
2. lift water flow lever to off
3. unlatch the top unit & separate from canister
4. remove canister with full water
5. pour water into drain
6. pull out media baskets & clean & rinse (lightly rinse biomedia only)
7. slide out sponge holder, clean/rinse thoroughly (it was filthy)
8. replace it all
9. reconnect latch
10. pump/prime

this is when the crud comes gushing out. I guess somehow was still in the tubes & was not caught by the sponge?

note - to put back the canister cover back on there are 2 sides - side1 left has the plastic suction cup for the siphon, side2 has the round plastic cover housing the impeller. I have to think I placed on correctly. Side1 over the sponge coming from the intake tube, side2 over the media basket side. that makes sense right?

so what the hell did I do wrong??
Click to expand...

sorry, not sure what happened on the font/color, hope you can read/see this now.
 
yes its just crud built up in your hose and when you start it up it gets a blast thru the hose and the loose gunk get blown out. it happens sometimes your doing everything correctly.
 
:rant2:After cleaning my filter and refilling the tank I will place the hoses in a bucket and open the quick shut-offs. Doesn't get it all but seems to help, always p***ed me off to see all that being spread thru the tank after cleaning. I use a 305 BTW. Good luck.:D
 
Yes...there is build up in the hose as well. To be honest, even though it blows out into the tank, I find that it cleans itself up quite quickly. If you really want, you would have to take out the hose and rinse that out as well, but I find that to be too much of a hassle. You can also put a mess over the filter return to catch all the debris.
 
Unfortunatly the easy bending of the fluval 1/2 inch corrugated hoses comes with a price in that the corrugations trap and collect debris and minerals and must be cleaned every time you clean your filter with a pipe cleaner as far as it will reach and hot water pressure.

If you don't want this to happen you can buy clear smooth bore reinforced 1/2 inch smooth bore plastic hoses from your local hardware store (Lowes) by the foot ($1) on reel. My Magnum 350 uses smooth bore clear 3/4 inch hoses and with the exception of the ends almost never clog going on 7 moths now whereas my Fluval 404 hoses need cleaning almost more then the filters themselves.
 
i have the same thing happen in mine i am looking to do what gunner said and upgrade to a smooth pipe like ehiem or similar i find it a real pain but then again i have it happen to my eheim pro too
 
Put your fishnet in front of the output when you turn the filter back on.
 
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