Fluval C-Series issue

[marko d]

I have been running a Fluval C3 since May of last year. It has been a really great, reliable filter so far.

Just last week, however, I noticed that the stream that shoots over the bio-screen had gotten significantly weaker. I took the filter off and really gave it a good once over and cleaned out any gunk I could get at. A little bit of stuff had built up in the shaft that the stream runs through. Things appeared to be working as was, or even better.

Just today I noticed again the stream was really weak, barely coming out. Main outflow seems normal. After tinkering with it a bit, it's as though it might be an issue with the connection of the motor and the intake pipe. If I push the intake a little bit out of the filter it seems to pick back up. But if I push the pipe down all the way, like it was/should be, the flow gets worse.

Anyone with a C-series experienced anything similar?

[tiggity]

You can remove the impeller cover, the big black plastic divider and clean the openings, you may have a clog there somewhere

[marko d]

Thanks for your reply, tiggity. By the shaft the stream runs through, I did mean through the black divider. Still weak though. Maybe I need to clean the impeller it self better. When I push the adjustable intake over to the less GPH side, the stream is nice, like it used to be. But then the overall outflow goes down to little more than a trickle, and I lose any current and surface agitation.

Thanks again for your response! Still am liking the filter, may just have to live with less flow over the bio-screen.

[Bluek24a4]

Make sure everything is snapped in and lined up correctly, such as the U tube part itself. Also if the filter pad is dirty it will slow down the flow too.

[marko d]

Blue, thanks for your reply as well!

You know it's never a proud moment when you have to use one of these:



Stage 1 filter backwards. Fine side toward back of filter. How in the *(&@ did I manage to not notice that?!?!?

I feel so dumb.
Like, real dumb.

Hey I've only been keeping fish for 1.5 years!
Edit: Turns out the pre-filter was also an issue. While it seemed that the flow hadn't decreased when I first started using it, it is now being a hindrance apparently. Looks like the pre-filter is gonna have to go.