The other day I bought this filter for my 30 gallon planted and now it's making noise. It seems to be coming from the impeller, and I will look at it after the kids go to bed. For now I just wondered about others experience with this filter.
Thanks, Patrick.
I don't think there's any snails, as I have a tiger loach with a snail fettish. I have read a few reviews on marinedepot.com that complain about the noise.
Have you ever used an aquaclear. I have a model 50, which claims 200gph. It is 1/2 or less the decibils (*sp) of motor/impeller noise.
Anyhow, I just went to pull it apart, and it seems to have quieted up somewhat. I am beginning to wonder if I didn't miss a piece of maufacturing debris when I rinsed it (it's only four days old). Hopefully the impeller will survive, but if it stays at the current level of noise, I will wait until I change the media.
Mine used to make TONS of noise. I've been through several. THe only reason I still keep one is for the biowheel. I feel completely comfortable when changing the filter to rinse the thing out with chlorinated water because of the wheel (kept at a safe distance of course until some tank water is allowed to flow through the filter again for a bit).
It seems like the penguins have a breaking-in period almost. Or sometimes a tiny piece of debris will get the impeller making all kinds of noise making it shift just a bit to the side. Or sometimes if you don't have the shaft seated just properly it will make a ton of noise. Or if you have it it in a sand tank it may kill it (like my first two lol). That first one went full-stop like 30x a week. Good thing I had a powerhead...
If mine stops now (which is rare) I just grab the whole impeller shaft and pull it up and down violently while its still in operation. It usually makes a grinding noise for a second or two then its ready to rock again.
One small piece of advice...get a black background on that 30gal, it'll look 150% better. Suddenly most of your equipment will become nearly invisible..
When you get a chance pull the impeller out and just make sure the impeller is perfectly straight. Check the bushings at both ends, and when placing back in make sure it goes in straight. impeller makes noise when its out of alignment.
Thanks for all the great input. It now sounds about as loud as the aquaclear, so I am relieved. I'll be sure to check the impeller and bushings at cleaning time.
Tmercier83, I know... the tank looks pretty sick without a background, not to mention the absense of plants. I read some posts yesterday suggeasting black or dark blue, which is probably what I will go with. I'm also waiting for my new plants to arrive from liveaquaria.
