Media Basket Popping Up in AC100

i have an AC100 power filter without the lid, and it seems like whenever my water level reaches the bottom of the black trim around the top of the tank, the basket in the filter that holds the media (i currently only have a sponge and ceramic cylinders in it) will pop up, exposing just about all of my ceramic rings to the air, probably killing a lot of my bacteria. i can push it back down but when i come back after some time it will be popped up again.

anyway, why does this keep happening? i was thinking that maybe since the water from the output is falling a greater distance when the water level is lower that it pulls more water out from the filter housing, kind of like how a siphon will pull more water when the height difference is greater. but i don't really think the height difference of less than an inch would cause the flow to be so strong in my filter that it pushes the media basket up.

do you think my sponge is clogged and needs to be rinsed?

any ideas on how to prevent this?

i have done that the past 4 times the media has popped up and it still continues to do it. it only does it when the water reaches a certain level. i can't get a real thorough cleaning in on the sponge using just a bucket of tank water and a toothbrush. it really only cleans the surface of the sponge. the basket isn't clogged either. any other way to get a deep clean on the sponge other than swishing and squeezing?

jbradt said:

Squeezing is your best bet IME. Cleaning the media has always solved the problem for me. Do you have the basket locked into the plastic nubs on the side of the basket compartment?

Click to expand...

yup i sure do