Fluval 406 with awful flow...

[blink]

Definitely clean, clean and reclean or just replace those white tall sponges in the red tray, I didn't see the photo before but I bet that's your problem.

[Hmoobthor]

okay okay okay.....

ur setup...hmm...IMO not so good.. I know you can do anything to a canister ..but if you don't know what to use..it will clogg and prevent water flow...

Mine 205 is strong as hell and I have it up to the lowest setting (lever)..

my setup...starting from the bottom up

1. Lots of fluval prefilter (to get all the debris and large particlue trap first..i full almost max)
2. middle one...fuval bio ball with matrix (half and half)
3. top: matrix fill good enought to have room for the fine filter ..fine filter sits ontop fo the blue holder ( I cut my own fine filter)


my last cleaning was on 7/10/12...yes i write down when i clean it because i can go even longer...its might be due in spring or next year

[sundragon]

Hey guys, Thank for all the suggestions!

1. I've set it up exactly the way the instructions say except I use purigen packs where the carbon goes and I'm substituting the Matrix for the bio rings. I think there may be too much matrix since it's a lot closer packed in than the 10 bio rings Fluval gives you(I hope that makes sense)

2. I'll use a 5G bucket and test with and without media...

Originally Posted by cichnatic

Another thing to try is running it without the intake strainer.

Didn't think of that but I have small fish - I checked it and it's clean - I'm running the stock one so it shouldn't be an issue - I also took out the little ball that sits inside to help with the flow.

Originally Posted by blink

Check the white internal prefilter sponges, when my 206 slowed down they were the culprit. Crap seems to really build up in them and I found them hard to effectively clean.

Originally Posted by NYREPS

Are you using after market pads on the top tray? If so some after market pads doesn't fit right and a tad bit smaller And it gets sucked up on the hole on the tray cover ,,,try putting the bio max on the top tray.

I was using two (one before and one after the purigen) - they were filthy with black sludge. I cleaned them out but I think I may just remove them all together because it was ridiculously clogged. It's almost as if the first sponge isn't catching anything - I honestly think this filter design is flawed with a lot of bypass - Do you guys have a lot of black sludge in your filters?

Originally Posted by blink

Definitely clean, clean and reclean or just replace those white tall sponges in the red tray, I didn't see the photo before but I bet that's your problem.

It's funny you mention those - they were spotless! Literally, just wet!
For the first sponge in the filter they were too clean considering the rest of the fine sponges were so thick with sludge. This is why I think there is a lot of bypass happening - The second reason I'm considering another brand.

[sundragon]

Originally Posted by HypnoticAquatic

ok if your not getting much diff in flow now then it sounds like to much packed into the filter. test it by removing the polishing pad and possibly some media, but if you have sludge sitting in the bottom that isnt good an makes me belive your sponges are not cleaned enough. from my experiance the coarser ones *tall ones* might need a bit of waterpressure to really get some of the gunk out then the sponges in the tray are fine and mostly catch silt. ill see if i can get a vid for a reference of my 406 for ya to see the water flow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orb95EY9Fjs
alright i did a video of my fully cleaned 406 with full media but no polishing pad. as others have said id do the test with a 3g or 5g bucket and time it then multiply to an hour and see what your gph is, it will vary with each tank with polishingpads,heaters,head height, etc. but i bet your right in line with where mine is. i took of the nossle to show u in the video as your lilys do basicly the same as it without the nossle*no build up of pressure to force water* just nice gentle flow. do the test with a bucket first an let us know where ur at.

hope it hleps ya

That does help a lot!

I think I've got about as much flow as you do - which makes me think this is what I should be expecting with more matrix.

The other thing is that the tall sponges are spotless, there was very little in them - no particles. I was doing quite a bit of squeezing - I have a feeling there is bypass happening.

[sundragon]

Tested after cleaning

5G bucket test:

Without media - 1:44 seconds to fill (to the internal line) = 173 GPH

With media (Biofoam, 2 trays of Matrix, polishing pads) - 1:53seconds to fill = 159 GPH

The bucket edge was about 6 below the position of the filter output on the tank so the tank numbers will be a little less.

I should have done the test before I cleaned

I'll am going to do this again in a few weeks when it's dirty and I add the Purigen packs back... Ugh

[blink]

Originally Posted by sundragon

It's funny you mention those - they were spotless! Literally, just wet!
For the first sponge in the filter they were too clean considering the rest of the fine sponges were so thick with sludge. This is why I think there is a lot of bypass happening - The second reason I'm considering another brand.

I don't mean to argue with you since your the guy on the sponge end of this conversation but I found with the tall sponges you have to soak them with water then hold by one end and swing/slap them against the side of the sink or bucket... a laundry sink helps here. Squeezing them got some gunk out but really didn't seem to get them clean for me.

Based on the colors in your photo they look like they have lots of embedded crud, mine looked like that and when I did the soak and swing routine there was gunk coming out of them for 10 minutes before I decided to swap them out for new ones. After new sponges my flow was restored, IMO it's worth a try, new sponges only set me back about $8 even at inflated Canadian prices.

[sundragon]

Originally Posted by blink

I don't mean to argue with you since your the guy on the sponge end of this conversation but I found with the tall sponges you have to soak them with water then hold by one end and swing/slap them against the side of the sink or bucket... a laundry sink helps here. Squeezing them got some gunk out but really didn't seem to get them clean for me.

Based on the colors in your photo they look like they have lots of embedded crud, mine looked like that and when I did the soak and swing routine there was gunk coming out of them for 10 minutes before I decided to swap them out for new ones. After new sponges my flow was restored, IMO it's worth a try, new sponges only set me back about $8 even at inflated Canadian prices.

Hey, it's not an argument You make a good point - I'll elaborate on what I did - I had tank water I put the sponges in the water and squeezed them till they didn't give off any debris - which didn't take much squeezing. The fine polishing sponges were the exact opposite - They were thick with sludge and made the water black when I squeezed them.

Edit As I said above I will redo this test in a few weeks when the filter is properly dirty - it was a few weeks, at most since I cleaned it last. I took out the purigen so I could medicate the tank. The issue is cleaning the debris that seem to settle in the tank even though there's quite a bit of flow and the obviously low flow in the first video.

[Bandit1200]

In my opinion and experience, the polishing pads are the weakest link here. It doesn't take all that much to crud them up to the point of completely clogging your filter. You'd be amazed at the stuff that will clog them up that you can't even see in the water column.

[sundragon]

Originally Posted by Bandit1200

In my opinion and experience, the polishing pads are the weakest link here. It doesn't take all that much to crud them up to the point of completely clogging your filter. You'd be amazed at the stuff that will clog them up that you can't even see in the water column.

One experiment would be to start servicing the filter monthly and replacing those pads to see if the flow keeps up.

[Delexboarfoot]

I may have just stumbled upon the cause of your woes. My 406 was suffering from similar problems. Whilst cleaning earlier to day, I noticed that the plastic impeller cover was warped into a U shape. I immersed the cover in some freshly boiled water to soften the plastic, then bent it back into roughly the correct shape. (Slightly over doing it so as it would sit tight when back in position.) and then run it under a cold tap to harden the plastic again. Instant improvement. I hope that this is helpfully to you.

[sundragon]

Originally Posted by Delexboarfoot

I may have just stumbled upon the cause of your woes. My 406 was suffering from similar problems. Whilst cleaning earlier to day, I noticed that the plastic impeller cover was warped into a U shape. I immersed the cover in some freshly boiled water to soften the plastic, then bent it back into roughly the correct shape. (Slightly over doing it so as it would sit tight when back in position.) and then run it under a cold tap to harden the plastic again. Instant improvement. I hope that this is helpfully to you.

Thanks! I'll take a look at that when I put the purgen back in the filter. Do you know what causes it?

[Delexboarfoot]

Possibly might be down to the filter running too hot. Low flow due to long a period between cleans causing motor to run hot. Tank getting too hot during summer. Maybe the cover just isn't man enough for the job. By the way when you put the cover in the hot water hold it by the clip so as this part of the cover does not get hot. 20 to 30 seconds in the hot water is all you need to soften the plastic.

[sundragon]

Here’s an update:

Stopped treating the tank so I had to replace the Seachem Purigen packs back in the filter.

Originally Posted by Delexboarfoot

I may have just stumbled upon the cause of your woes. My 406 was suffering from similar problems. Whilst cleaning earlier to day, I noticed that the plastic impeller cover was warped into a U shape. I immersed the cover in some freshly boiled water to soften the plastic, then bent it back into roughly the correct shape. (Slightly over doing it so as it would sit tight when back in position.) and then run it under a cold tap to harden the plastic again. Instant improvement. I hope that this is helpfully to you.

Per the advice - I checked the impeller cover - It didn't look warped. I cleaned it pretty well and used a little petroleum jelly on the rubber so it would seat better in the case.







I also removed the intake first long sponge because I have a theory there is quite a bit of bypass in this design and I'm going to test my theory:

The long sponges were clean (I squeezed them out in a bucket of tank water) no leaves, no solid pieces yet the "bio" sponge was covered with small snails and quite dirty. Furthermore, I found leaves stuck in the Seachem Matrix in the middle trays and on the "bio" sponge but none in the first sponges - at least some leaves should have been caught in the first sponge if they are doing their job, so here goes...

The flow seems okay - I want to see how well the filter keeps the tank clean and how it looks on the inside after a month. I'll test flow before and after a cleaning.

[seandelevan]

Glad I saw this. My 306 is having similar issues. On my 75 I have the 306 and a 305. The 305 (and my 405 in another tank have very strong flow) but the 306 is weak like in your video. I cleaned everything aka took my garden hose to it, and the flow did not improve at all. So a few days later I took out all my floss and those polishing pads out. The only media in it is the ceramic rings and those tall pre filter pads......and still a pitiful flow. So should I take the pre filter pads out?

Edit: Oh the 306 is only 6 months old. While the 305 I have had up and running for probably 6 years.

[longgonedaddy]

Originally Posted by sundragon

I honestly think this filter design is flawed with a lot of bypass

While I don't have the low flow problem you have, I do have a tremendous amount of particles settling in the aquarium, more than any other filter I have ever had. I agree with you that there is a lot of bypass with this filter.