Air locking??

[magicmagni]

Anyone ever have this problem before? Toward the middle of the day when the tank is getting saturated with O2 I notice the tiny air bubbles coming out of the outtake on my Eheim 2028 and it starts getting noisy on and off. It sounds like air is hitting the impeller, but it's tolerable. By the end of the day though the air must be building up inside and it will sometimes stop all together. Then I have to turn it off and press the priming button to get it started again. There is an external reactor in-line I'm wondering it is filling all the way up with air and causing the problem?? Anyone know how I can fix this?

[Wasserpest]

Some ideas... I think the "vaccuum" (negative pressure) within your filter (from the inlet to the impeller) is causing this. Anything you can do to reduce this might help. Clean your media (more frequently), or reduce what's in there if it is too much. Make sure the inlet strainer isn't clogged with debris. If it often clogs, consider constructing a different one with a larger surface.

[magicmagni]

I checked the inlet and it was clear. I actually just cleaned the filter and replaced the floss a few days ago. It hadn't been doing this prior to cleaning it out. Yesterday I took it apart again and checked that everyting was correct and it looked good. It's really quite odd, but since a few days ago I've seen so much more pearling in the tank. The co2 rate is the same it's always been though so it's hard to say why I'm seeing so much more- though I'm not complaining- except for this filter issue. :-(

Jeff

[Wasserpest]

Sounds like that's what caused the problem then... Maybe cleaning the filter got you a much quicker O2 saturation (less filth, more water movement, better CO2 distribution).

Another thing you might try is to check the placement of the inlet. If it is placed above heavy pearling plants... really sounds obvious, but see just for kicks if it makes a difference if you place it as far away from plants as possible.

[Georgiadawgger]

Originally Posted by Wasserpest

Sounds like that's what caused the problem then... Maybe cleaning the filter got you a much quicker O2 saturation (less filth, more water movement, better CO2 distribution).

Another thing you might try is to check the placement of the inlet. If it is placed above heavy pearling plants... really sounds obvious, but see just for kicks if it makes a difference if you place it as far away from plants as possible.

That's what I had to do. I have my intake strainer as far deep as possible toward plants that don't pearl as much as others (P. stellata broadleaf). I was noticing that o2 would be litterally sucked in by the intake and end up in the reactor mixing with the co2. No airlocks though.

[magicmagni]

Originally Posted by Wasserpest

Sounds like that's what caused the problem then... Maybe cleaning the filter got you a much quicker O2 saturation (less filth, more water movement, better CO2 distribution).

Another thing you might try is to check the placement of the inlet. If it is placed above heavy pearling plants... really sounds obvious, but see just for kicks if it makes a difference if you place it as far away from plants as possible.

It's not above any pearling plants. It's actually hidden behind a large stump and about 3/4 of the way down the tank. This makes it hard to see what is going on, but you got me thinking and I remembered that there is an air stone going nearby. It seemed that the stone shifted over a few inches over time and was now almost under the inlet. The filter was probably sucking in the bubbles. I'm thinking that was why I was seeing sooo much pearling and then the air locking. Moved the stone all the way to the corner and so far so good.

Thanks for the help. I'm glad it was something simple.