One thing that I have noticed while using ACs is that they do not seem to be able to start well on their own after being shut down. Given that there is a good chance that power will be unreliable where I live over the next few months I was wondering if anyone had any advice on AC filter priming. Is there anyway to get these things to start back reliable or would one be better off using an air driven filter (sponge or box filter). This would be for a 5-10g betta tank.
AquaClear prime after power outage
- Thread starter tuvok
- Start date
penguin
I know the Penguin filter is great about restarting. The only thing that will make it lose its prime is to drain the tank to below the input tube, so all the water in that falls out.
The airpump driven sponge filter may be fine for this, also.
But, with a betta in 5 or 10 gallons, if there are no other fish, you can also go with no filter and do 50% water changes each week. We keep a betta in a 1/2 gallon vase, no gravel at all for that just traps wastes, with a bit of java moss in it (takes in ammonia and nitrates). Bubba likes to lay on the moss pillow and the red fish looks great with the bright green, but you do need decent light without heat so window has to be not too close.
I know the Penguin filter is great about restarting. The only thing that will make it lose its prime is to drain the tank to below the input tube, so all the water in that falls out.
The airpump driven sponge filter may be fine for this, also.
But, with a betta in 5 or 10 gallons, if there are no other fish, you can also go with no filter and do 50% water changes each week. We keep a betta in a 1/2 gallon vase, no gravel at all for that just traps wastes, with a bit of java moss in it (takes in ammonia and nitrates). Bubba likes to lay on the moss pillow and the red fish looks great with the bright green, but you do need decent light without heat so window has to be not too close.
tuvok,
When I do maintenance on my AC110's, I always pull out the intake to drain any water that is in it. I feel that the filters prime faster that way believe it or not.
I know we've had power fluxes here in SoCal, but I never noticed my AC's having a hard time priming on their own once the power came back on.
When I do maintenance on my AC110's, I always pull out the intake to drain any water that is in it. I feel that the filters prime faster that way believe it or not.
I know we've had power fluxes here in SoCal, but I never noticed my AC's having a hard time priming on their own once the power came back on.
I've never found anything to help ACs reprime. That's why I don't plan to get anymore. Keeping them clean should help, but even then, they can't be counted on, IME.
Jim
Jim
Swimfins
This is as good as it gets.
If there is enough water in the reservoir, they'll restart, it needs water in it to make suction, but if the reservoir drains completely, it won't.
All you need to do is get a cup, and fill the intake chamber full of water. The reason is when you take the power out, all the water goes back into the tank from the intake tube. It stays at the level of the water, which may be lower than the intake chamber. Just fill the intake chamber up and start it. Then it will prime itself.
JSchmidt said:
I have had the same problem as Jim but only with my older models and it seems to be more with the smaller models (IE 150's 200's) but I never have had that problem with the larger 300 and 500's.
One thing that I have found is that with regular maintenance on the impeller and the shaft (good cleaning under hot water and a brush) say every month or two that this issue seems to go away. I find that if I don't clean them regularly that the impeller itself seems to rise a bit out of the motor shaft and comes in contact with the plastic protector which can stop it from turning.
I still think that the AC is the best hob filter on the market. IMO it has the most powerful and reliable motors. Unlike the marineland products that stop pumping all together once you get half way down the intake. The AC keeps going until air gets sucked into the tube. The AC is a tank.
I'm not a big fan of almost all Hagen products but I have to give them due credit on the AC.
Thank you everyone for the feed back so far. When I get a chance I will run a few tests to see how well my mini performs.
The problem with the preceeding situation is that it requires intervention in order to get going again. My concern is that there will probably be instances where power go out and comes back and no one is around to get it going again. It is conceivable that the filter could run dry for several hours without priming, a turn of events that I would prefer not to happen.
iovaykind said:
The problem with the preceeding situation is that it requires intervention in order to get going again. My concern is that there will probably be instances where power go out and comes back and no one is around to get it going again. It is conceivable that the filter could run dry for several hours without priming, a turn of events that I would prefer not to happen.
I also live in an area where there is a fairly high probability that power can be interrupted. I also am required to travel on business every so often, such that a power failure followed by the failure of a 'suction' filter's pump to prime could leave my fish without circulating water for two or three days! As insurance against this I run a submerged pump right in my tank which feeds a modular filter. As far as I know, the submerged pump approach or it's functional equivalent, i.e. a bulkhead fitting cut through the tank wall well below the tank's surface water level feeding tank water directly to an external pump without the use of a U tube, are the only 100% guaranteed self-priming setups after an extended power failure.