Marineland HOT Magnum 250 problems

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fresh_fish

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Jul 11, 2008
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i have been experiencing problems with my filter recently and while i know this is a shot in the dark, i am hoping someone here may be able to help.

the filter is about 10 years old and was used for a couple of years before being stored for the next 8. i set up my tank and have been using the filter for the past three months without issues until last week. the output decreased significantly so i cleaned the filter thoroughly but that only lasted for a day or two before the output was low again. i repeated this cleaning cycle a couple of times and the output has dropped everytime after seeing initial improvement.

i had suspected that pond snails getting to the bottom and causing friction on the magnet were the cause but doubt that now. i have no manual for the filter but am pretty sure i have all the gaskets in the correct places.

if anyone has experienced this with a Magnum HOT before and can help, thanks.
 
While I do not have this filter, I am curious if there are any rubber seals or o-rings that may have dried out while it was in storage?

I assume you do not see any obvious issues..
 
I think this is a common prob with the magnum filters. I have a magnum 350 that has always had such slow outflow that it would not turn the biowheels that came with it.

With that being said, another cause could be how much filter media you have in your filter. Is it packed to tight, is there to much fine filter material (ex polyfill)? Did you check to be sure your intake tube isnt blocked, of which I dont think this is a prob since it works OK on initial start up, but there could be something acting as a plunger in it..
 
i use a few hot magnums and my flow decreases when the micron cart the one that looks like a round pool filter (white with blue rubber top and bottom) gets clogged up. do you use the carbon container or micron cart in the filter? if you use the micron filter i would take it out make a 25% bleach water mix and let is soak a day in that then rinse it WELL before reusing it in the filter. if that doesnt help its time to replace that filter cart with a new one. i also use a foam sleeve over my cart it help pro long the life. as for gaskets i dont see that as the problem i think its your filter cart itself. * did you check to make sure a snail hasnt got stuck in the intake tube and might be causing a blockage slowing your flow? i have had that happen 1 time strange but them snails can get into anything. if you use the carbon container maybe your packing it to tight with small carbon? i dont use the carbon container i just use the micron cart in all of mine.
 
There is a small by-pass tube on the center main tube. If that gets clogged it will effect your flow.You may also want to pull out the impeller and open the impeller housing. Sometimes that gets gunked up.
 
if you think it's the filter itself and not a clogging issue run it with no media and ck the flow. Add the empty media basket and ck the flow. Then add media+basket and ck the flow. That will give you some kind of idea on where your problem is. So if it runs slow empty you know it's the filter internal parts or plumbing.
 
if your using the filter cartridge (white thing) thats why. I had the same problem with my 250. I took it out and used the other one that comes with it and wrapped it in blue filter pads. When I had it hooked up I never had the problem again
 
thanks for the ideas everyone. i am using the basket with a mix of (old) activated carbon and calcium carbonate and i while i don't think that is the problem i will test without if necessary.
excuzzzeme said:
There is a small by-pass tube on the center main tube. If that gets clogged it will effect your flow.You may also want to pull out the impeller and open the impeller housing. Sometimes that gets gunked up.
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the first time i cleaned the filter i cleaned a few snails out of the 'by-pass tube' and i will check that again. i was actually wondering what that tube does.
 
Hello,
new here. Also experiencing decreased flow out of my hot magnum. I thought it was my micron cartridge just getting dirty, and i needed a second one (so I can put a clean one in while i clean/soak the other one) So I put the new micron in, fill it up and the output is really strong, until it shoots out all the water in the canister, and then it kind of pulses...strong, weak, strong, weak. All of my intake/output tubes are clear. I just replaced O rings. I'm thinking it might be where the intake tube meets the canister top. How would I go about fixing it?
Thanks-
 
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