I set up a new penn plax canister filter for my 30 gal. freshwater and I cant get the dumb thing to work. I've primed the pump several times over the course of 4 hours and yet nothing works!!! I feel like throwing this junk away. I've tried filling the cannister full of water along with trying to pump water into the intake with a powerhead. I've made sure the propeller and everything was hooked up correctly 3 times. Please help!!!! any suggestions?:frustrat:
Freshwater filter
- Thread starter jahel318
- Start date
.. I can not help, but I can say most on this forum don't have much use for canister filters and ... :D .. this is a salt water.. and most reef tank... forum.. though several of us have years past experience with fresh water.. I used canisters with my fresh water tanks.. and I had the best luck with nothing but gravel in them. And fed them with the water leaving under the gravel filter arrays. I pumped the water to the canister with external pumps. ..but that was years ago.. and you may do it better now..
Ted
Living one day at a time
- Location
- San Antonio, TX
I am not familiar with that canister...I have a fluval 404 on my fresh tank and it has a priming handle that you have to pump.....can take a while. I always try and have as little air in the canister as possible, fill it up. Unfortunately you will probably just have to keep messing with it until it works.
RockStacker
Reefing newb
- Location
- CA-USA
With most canister filters, if there is even a little amount of air in the pump chamber it cannot start a proper siphon.
Most of the newer canister filters are equipped with a priming mechanism, usually in the form of a hand pump. You prime the canister first to make sure there is no air trapped and then you start the filter.
On my old canister filter, the only way to prime the canister after cleaning it was to start the filter for a few seconds - just enough to get water sucked into the overflow and then turn the unit off.
I then wait for the water to flow into the canister and completely flood the chamber. And then I start the filter again.
If you also have a bad seal on the canister cover or the intake tubes, this could also prevent the canister filter from working properly as it could be sucking in air into the canister while running.
When your canister filter runs, can you hear gurgling or can you feel any churning within the canister?
Most of the newer canister filters are equipped with a priming mechanism, usually in the form of a hand pump. You prime the canister first to make sure there is no air trapped and then you start the filter.
On my old canister filter, the only way to prime the canister after cleaning it was to start the filter for a few seconds - just enough to get water sucked into the overflow and then turn the unit off.
I then wait for the water to flow into the canister and completely flood the chamber. And then I start the filter again.
If you also have a bad seal on the canister cover or the intake tubes, this could also prevent the canister filter from working properly as it could be sucking in air into the canister while running.
When your canister filter runs, can you hear gurgling or can you feel any churning within the canister?
