Why is my Flistar producing micro bubbles?

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Jeremy S

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Jun 26, 2002
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I bought a Rena Filstar XP3 canister filter to help polish the water in my heavily planted 75-gallon tank. I set it up this morning expecting the tank to become nice and clear by evening but all day long the filter has been filling the tank with micro bubbles. I can’t figure out where they’re coming from since all of my connections have clamps on them and the filter isn’t pulling in any air from the tank. I’m just using the spraybar without the Venturi Valve so it has no way of taking in air. Is there anything I can do to try and stop the flow of micro bubbles? The tank is so filled with bubbles that it looks almost cloudy and it’s hard to enjoy the plants and fish. Thanks so much.
 
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You probably have a little air trapped in the canister. This happened to me when mine was new. I gently rocked the canister a little to get it out. You don't have any break in the seal, or it would also be leaking water. Also make sure that you don't have an airstone below or near the intake.
 
I've been dealing with this for a while myself. I used vaseline on the main o-ring and the priming cap thingy (where the funnel goes) and it still blew bubbles. I tried unplugging it and burping the lid by unlatching one of the clips. That worked for about 2 hrs then it started blowing bubbles again.

The other day I replaced the segmented intake tube with black pond tubing and replaced all of the stock plastic hose clamps with stainless ones. I haven't seen bubbles yet, 4 days and counting! Unfortunately, my powerhead is acting up now! :mad:
 
DOH! Check that, I've got bubbles again! :rant: I shook/tilted the canister, lubed up the seals and it's still doing it!!! It's nowhere near any source of bubbles.


Wait a minute, :idea2:. It HAS to be leaking from the top(main) o-ring. I was under the impression the canister was under pressure. NOT! Try un-latching one of the clamps WHILE IT'S PLUGGED IN. Nothing happens. There is a vacuum inside the canister and that's what holds the cover down while it's unlatched. If there is a leak anywhere in the gasket it's gonna' suck in air! I think:rolleyes:

I'm going to check it out. I'll post back later.
 
I have 6 filstar canister filters. I've had the same problems in the past. IMO, it's probably the magnetic impeller that is creating the air bubbles. The impeller can whip the water into a temporary froth. This is usually caused by pressure build up on the inlet or outlet or a restriction on one of the hoses.

To fix the problem, I opened up all the holes on all my spraybars with a drill.

Also if the hoses are bending around corners and such, be sure there is no kink of any kind in the hose.
 
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chefkeith said:
I have 6 filstar canister filters. I've had the same problems in the past. IMO, it's probably the magnetic impeller that is creating the air bubbles. The impeller can whip the water into a temporary froth. This is usually caused by pressure build up on the inlet or outlet or a restriction on one of the hoses.

To fix the problem, I opened up all the holes on all my spraybars with a drill.

Also if the hoses are bending around corners and such, be sure there is no kink of any kind in the hose.
Click to expand...


Hopefully, you're correct here and I think I agree. I used vaseline on the main o-ring and the o-ring surrounding the impeller area. I shook/tilted the heck out of the unit and got as much air out as I could. 1 hour later it was bubbling again.

I then examined the flow out of the output (I don't use the spray bar) and it seemed lame. There weren't any kinks in the hose so the reduced flow meant 1 thing, clogged media. I then opened her up and removed a Mag 350 filter sleeve that I put in there when I switched to the Rena. Also, I rinsed the stock Rena filter pad. The flow at the output was almost doubled after the cleaning!

Well, it's only been 15 minutes since the cleaning so I can't say for sure yet, but logically that seemed to be the problem.

I think the clogged media was causing enough restriction to make the impeller cavitate and form bubbles. I just put a bunch of carbon (more restriction) in there last night and the bubbles were really bad today. I'll take that as another sign.

I know this isn't my thread but I hope this helps.

BTW: Thanks chefkeith!
 
I know when I had my Mag 350 Pro set up in my 29 gallon to cycle, I only had enough room along the back for the two HUGE bio-wheels, so I just ran the output hose straight to them and tossed the other output thing to the side. It made a crazy amount of those tiny bubbles from the bio-wheels. Now that it's running on the 75 gallon, I have plenty of room to set it up correctly and now no more bubbles. It's a lot quieter too.
 
Spraybar

Drilled out the holes on spraybars one drill bit size larger than existing holes and added an additional hole, worked for me. :thud:
 
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