Okay, I own 2 CFS 500 with the circumference media mod done on both as well as improved hold-down hardware to avoid lid cracking.
A couple months ago one got very noisy and I realized sand had worked its way in to it (I blame the sometimes overactive pleco in the one tank...) and ground down the ceramic shaft the impeller turns on to almost nothing. I replaced the impeller and shaft, and that unit (while still a bit noisy -- I suspect there's not much to be done about this) is working correctly again.
My other unit was not used in a tank with sand and has never had issues. However, recently it started to push far less water than it should, sometimes only a trickle. These pumps are beasts, so something is very wrong here.
My media is almost brand new (it was replaced since this issue started) and the pump itself is not obstructed in any way, nor is the tubing clogged, I've checked it all.
When it gets really bad I'll pull everything apart, clean it (never finding much of anything, honestly -- certainly nothing that would explain this behavior) and sometimes it starts working again for a few days, a week... but never that long. I'll walk by the tank a few days later and notice a film on the surface or almost zero water movement. Sometimes cleaning doesn't work. Sometimes I take it to the bathtub, plug it in to test, and water shoots to the ceiling (as it should) but bring it back to the tank (where the tubing is all fine, not obstructed!) and it refuses to even prime properly.
I don't understand what's going on here -- do I need a new pump? If I do I suspect a new filter is in order, since I don't think you can even get the pumps separate... I am in a very bad place financially right now, so if this thing dies on me there's a good chance I'll have to give up my fish.
A couple months ago one got very noisy and I realized sand had worked its way in to it (I blame the sometimes overactive pleco in the one tank...) and ground down the ceramic shaft the impeller turns on to almost nothing. I replaced the impeller and shaft, and that unit (while still a bit noisy -- I suspect there's not much to be done about this) is working correctly again.
My other unit was not used in a tank with sand and has never had issues. However, recently it started to push far less water than it should, sometimes only a trickle. These pumps are beasts, so something is very wrong here.
My media is almost brand new (it was replaced since this issue started) and the pump itself is not obstructed in any way, nor is the tubing clogged, I've checked it all.
When it gets really bad I'll pull everything apart, clean it (never finding much of anything, honestly -- certainly nothing that would explain this behavior) and sometimes it starts working again for a few days, a week... but never that long. I'll walk by the tank a few days later and notice a film on the surface or almost zero water movement. Sometimes cleaning doesn't work. Sometimes I take it to the bathtub, plug it in to test, and water shoots to the ceiling (as it should) but bring it back to the tank (where the tubing is all fine, not obstructed!) and it refuses to even prime properly.
I don't understand what's going on here -- do I need a new pump? If I do I suspect a new filter is in order, since I don't think you can even get the pumps separate... I am in a very bad place financially right now, so if this thing dies on me there's a good chance I'll have to give up my fish.
