# Filter issue



## Spiffles (Feb 25, 2010)

So, my sister has had a gold fish in a bowl for the longest time. She's refused to move it, since she was afraid that the cats would eat it, and she didn't have room on the surfaces in her room for a bigger tank. I talked her into moving it into another room, and sprung for a 10 gallon tank with a lid for it. I bought the filter, air pumps, water conditioner, and all that other good stuff, but am having trouble with the filter.

To be straight up about it, I think I fried it right away. I've never kept/taken care of fish before, though, so I thought I would ask around.

I assembled the filter according to the directions, filled it with water, and then plugged it in. It ran for about 2 seconds, then shut off. After poking at it for a minute, I decided to disassemble it. I looked it over, didn't see anything wrong (at least to a very untrained eye), and put it back together, refilled it, then plugged it back in. The first time I did this, it started up for another 2 seconds. Then shut off. I've done this a couple more times since then, and now it simply won't turn on at all.

Has anyone experienced this problem, or could anyone tell me what I might've done wrong, or what I should be looking for to figure out what IS wrong?

It's a brand new filter, new out of the box. I want to make sure that it's dead as a door nail before I go out and buy another one. I also want to get the fish into the tank as soon as possible, though, and I can't even start that until I've conditioned/cycled the tank. Also should probably include that the filter is an external filter. It's a large box that hangs on the outside, with a pipe that loops down into the water.

EDIT: I also just took it apart again, and reassembled. Now it will turn on, but no water will come out. I have the tube/pipe submerged, so not sure what that means.


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## JohnnyD44 (Dec 5, 2008)

First off Hello and Welcome to the forum!!

Can you post a pic of your filter or tell us what kind it is??? Are you sure the propellar is properly inserted? Thre's nothing clogging the intake tube in the water?? above all a name and brnad would be helpful

2 other things....you're going to need to cycle this tank, since you have a new filter....you read up on that here...
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-aquariums/aquarium-cycle-252/

and the other being, that a 10G tank is a little small for a goldfish...they produce alot of waste and unless you overrun this tank with filtertration....you may want to consider going for atleast a 20G....most people will reccomend atleast 30G for a full grown goldfish...

hope some of that helps!

and again, welcome!


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## Spiffles (Feb 25, 2010)

Thank you for the quick response.

I do plan to cycle the tank, so no worries there. I'm also aware that a 10 gallon is pushing it for a gold fish. She's a little one, and I'll definitely be upgrading before she gets any bigger. My biggest concern was just getting her out of the goldfish bowl, until I can afford the bigger tank.

I believe the propeller is properly set into the base, but it's difficult to tell, since I can't actually see into the base while I'm working with it. It has a horse-shoe plastic casing around the propeller that fits onto a piece in the bottom, that looks like it's set in securely. I also unfortunately lack a decent digital camera, so I scanned the instructions.

It's an Aqua Tech Power Filter 5-15
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t32/Rikunanse/AquatechFilter.jpg

Either which way I figure I'll be buying a new filter this Sunday. I believe I'll need at least a 20 or 30 gallon filter for a 10 gallon tank. But, it'd be nice to figure out what's wrong, so that I don't make the same mistake with the new one.

At any rate, with the above diagram, as far as I can tell everything is set in properly. The company also told me that they believe the impeller is jamming, but I can't for the life of me figure out what would be blocking it. There really is nothing down there that would. I read somewhere that if ya try ta mess with/adjust the pipe that sets into the propeller area, that it will occassionally help it boot up. That, unfortunately, killed it. I'm working on getting it back on, but not having much luck.

Oh, and there's also nothing clugging the tube. The tube has a cage thing over the end, so nothing can get into it and clog it, and no animals have been placed into the tank/it hasn't actually been 'used' used, so it hasn't filled up/clogged.


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## JohnnyD44 (Dec 5, 2008)

If you plan on making a trip to buy a new filter....may I make a suggestion??

I've never used the filter you have....so I can't comment on how good/bad it is....

I CAN recommend my personal favorite...Marineland Bio-Wheels. They are widely popular and easy to maintain.

For your ten gallon tank with a goldfish, I would reccomend the either the 100 or 150(maybe 150 to handle the waste). The 100 runs up to a 20 gallon and the 150 runs up to a 30 gallon.
Aquarium Power Filters: Marineland Penguin BIO-Wheel Power Filters

I currently run the 200 series on my 20G and I run two(2) of the 350s on my 55G and now have a magnum canister to replace those(going planted)

I've only ever used Marinlenad products, they are great. There are tons of other filters, this one is just one fish in the sea.....but my favorite fish!


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## Spiffles (Feb 25, 2010)

Thanks a lot for the suggestions~
May I ask where I would fine these locally? Or would they have to be ordered from an online site?


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## PaperclipGirl (Feb 7, 2010)

One thing I found with my Aquatech filter is that the water level has to be up to the output area too. So, if the water level isn't high enough water never comes out of it no matter how many times I prime it. 

Just a thought.


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## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

Welcome to TFK!

Having a filter not even run out of the box like that is a bad sign. Even if you mess up and accidentally run it dry or something, you should get a decent amount of running time out of it before it dies on you. Sounds like something's faulty, to me. Honestly, AquaTech makes pretty decent filters for the price but they aren't exactly top of the line, either. They should still replace it for you if it's broken right out of the box, though.

The Marineland filters should be available most anywhere. Any good LFS should carry them, and Petsmart, Wal-Mart and Petco should have them as well. If you can get the AquaTech running (or get it replaced if it's broken) you might just want to get a smaller model Marineland Penguin and run it alongside the Aquatech instead of just upgrading to a bigger Penguin. Having multiple filters allows you to stagger filter cleanings (which is safer for your fish) and adds redundancy should one filter fail.


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## Spiffles (Feb 25, 2010)

Hmm. The water was an inch or two below the output area. I filled the tank the rest of the way, disassembled and carefully reassembled the filter. Something must have clicked, cause it works now! Thanks for the tip, PaperclipGirl! And also to everyone else for the help and advice.

I still plan on getting another filter, but now I'm wondering if I should upgrade to a bigger/stronger one or just run the two little ones? I'd like some more opinions on which would be better for the fish? I don't mind what requires more maintenance; I'll be helping a lot to take care of/keep up with the fish, and I have plenty of free time and patience.

I've begun cycling the tank and will be heading out for the extra filter on Sunday. Thanks everyone for the warm welcomes and advice!


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