Aquaclear 300: floating filter/basket

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zanytomato

zanytomato

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Jul 31, 2007
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Hmm.. so last night we wake up to this strange noise, and get up to discover that the lid of my Aquaclear 300 had popped up and the filter basket had floated up. I go to push it back down, only to have it float back up again! This is not a new filter (I'm not sure how old it is as I got it with my 33 gallon second hand), but aside from this weird development, it seems to work fine.

I took it all apart, cleaned it as I usually do, and still it floats! I've had to resort to putting a heavy-ish book on the lid to keep it from continually floating up with enough force to pop the lid off again.

The basket itself has the usual sponge, the porcelain chips (I can't recall off the top of my head exactly what those are), and a bag of coral that I always have in there for water stability.

I've been using Aquaclear filters for awhile now, and have a regular maintenance schedule-- this is the first time that I have enountered this. This particular filter, as I say, I got second hand-- about 4 months ago.

Anyone have any ideas? TIA.
 
zanytomato

zanytomato

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Jul 31, 2007
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Hmm, well I decided to put a new sponge filter in, and that seems to have done the trick. My guess is that enough gunk was built up within there that the water flow was instead producing enough pressure to force up the basket. I thought I put a new sponge in when I got the set up... but now that I think about it, I think I was planning on replacing it later, one the cycle was re-established.

All seems well at the moment-- nothing floating but the plants that should be! ;)
 
R

Reddog80p

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Nov 18, 2006
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zanytomato said:
Hmm.. so last night we wake up to this strange noise, and get up to discover that the lid of my Aquaclear 300 had popped up and the filter basket had floated up. I go to push it back down, only to have it float back up again! This is not a new filter (I'm not sure how old it is as I got it with my 33 gallon second hand), but aside from this weird development, it seems to work fine.

I took it all apart, cleaned it as I usually do, and still it floats! I've had to resort to putting a heavy-ish book on the lid to keep it from continually floating up with enough force to pop the lid off again.

The basket itself has the usual sponge, the porcelain chips (I can't recall off the top of my head exactly what those are), and a bag of coral that I always have in there for water stability.

I've been using Aquaclear filters for awhile now, and have a regular maintenance schedule-- this is the first time that I have enountered this. This particular filter, as I say, I got second hand-- about 4 months ago.

Anyone have any ideas? TIA.
Click to expand...

The only time my basket rises is when my polyfil is pretty dirty, and the flow is restricted. It never pushes the covers of tho. I just notice my ceramic rings are sitting higher in the filter.
 
R

Reddog80p

Permanently Dechlor'd
Nov 18, 2006
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zanytomato said:
Hmm, well I decided to put a new sponge filter in, and that seems to have done the trick. My guess is that enough gunk was built up within there that the water flow was instead producing enough pressure to force up the basket. I thought I put a new sponge in when I got the set up... but now that I think about it, I think I was planning on replacing it later, one the cycle was re-established.

All seems well at the moment-- nothing floating but the plants that should be! ;)
Click to expand...
you could always just clean it in tank water squeezing it a few times should do the trick. I've had my same sponges for months.
 
F

fishorama

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Jun 28, 2006
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I use 2 ac sponges with the biomax & some floss in between. Like Reddog, the only time I've had any floating media is if it's pretty clogged. I don't know if I've EVER replaced a sponge except the ones with severe pond snail infestations.

I do tend to have a problem with AC & whisper filter covers vibrating in an annoying way. I either weight them down or take them off & often misplace them, it's most bothersome at 3 am, LOL.
 
ChiaJesus

ChiaJesus

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May 20, 2008
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zanytomato said:
Hmm, well I decided to put a new sponge filter in, and that seems to have done the trick. My guess is that enough gunk was built up within there that the water flow was instead producing enough pressure to force up the basket. I thought I put a new sponge in when I got the set up... but now that I think about it, I think I was planning on replacing it later, one the cycle was re-established.

All seems well at the moment-- nothing floating but the plants that should be! ;)
Click to expand...
In the future, you should consider just rinsing off your sponge in aquarium water and squeezing the gunk out, then putting it back in your filter. Sponges last a long time. By replacing it completely, you will have lost a lot of your good bacteria.
 
zanytomato

zanytomato

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Jul 31, 2007
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Vancouver
Thanks for the replies, everyone.

Usually I do just squeeze the gunk and give it a wash in a bucket of tank water, but that didn't seem to do the trick this time :S I had a spare sponge that came with the set up I got, so I figured what the hey (who knows how old the one that I got with the tank was.... or what had happened to it before me :D ).
 
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