Need an Aquaclear Expert

[Shangrila]

I have 2 Aquaclear 30s. The water in the filter box appears to be bypassing the sponge and media and returning to the tank unfiltered. It gets sucked by the intake tube and into the left side impeller chamber then that chamber fills to the top of the basket on the right side, spills over the top of the basket and falls back into the tank via the spillway. Some water might be making its way thru the sponge but most just bypasses its way back into the tank. Could this be right? I have a 110 running on another tank and the water in the left chamber comes just to the top of the basket but dosen't spill over into the right side. The 110 has holes in the side of the basket that look like they let water go from right to left without being forced under and thru the sponge. How the hell can this be efficent? Does anyone he know exactly how these filters work?

[acitydweller]

The sponge may be saturated and need a cleaning..

filters serve to move water around porous surfaces where bacteria live. Its just doing a less efficient job when bypassing the media.

i generally only run Aquaclears with sponges and no other media... some i double up on sponges...seems to fit the bill

[discuspaul]

Seems like acitydweller may have hit on the right button here.
How long has it been since you cleansed the bottom sponge in that filter ? It may be so full of crud it's not allowing any water flow though it.

[Shangrila]

Both AC30s are brand new(1 week in service). The 110 has been running for about 5 months on another tank.

[ge2655]

You can also try slowing down the flow by sliding the intake tube towards the sponge chamber.

[Shangrila]

Originally Posted by ge2655

You can also try slowing down the flow by sliding the intake tube towards the sponge chamber.

The 30s bypass on low or high flow. I almost think that they are made to bypass for some reason.

[thinBear]

The overflowed water seems already got filtered. You can feed some small soft objects into the water intake and check if they got trapped.

this is what i think, but not for sure.

[tiggity]

I have a AC20 and noticed that bypass when I 1st got it brand new. I messed with it a few times and eventually gave up on it and left it alone. Filtered fine. A few months later, got a AC50 brand new and also had the same bypass but filtered fine. Unless I'm doing something wrong, I think it's ok

[herns]

Originally Posted by Shangrila

I have 2 Aquaclear 30s. The water in the filter box appears to be bypassing the sponge and media and returning to the tank unfiltered. It gets sucked by the intake tube and into the left side impeller chamber then that chamber fills to the top of the basket on the right side, spills over the top of the basket and falls back into the tank via the spillway. Some water might be making its way thru the sponge but most just bypasses its way back into the tank. Could this be right? I have a 110 running on another tank and the water in the left chamber comes just to the top of the basket but dosen't spill over into the right side. The 110 has holes in the side of the basket that look like they let water go from right to left without being forced under and thru the sponge. How the hell can this be efficent? Does anyone he know exactly how these filters work?

Replaced the sponge.

[Shangrila]

Originally Posted by thinBear

The overflowed water seems already got filtered. You can feed some small soft objects into the water intake and check if they got trapped.

this is what i think, but not for sure.

Looking at this picture(especially the one on the right) it seems to make more sense. The water that looks like it is being bypassed is actually returning to the intake port to be refiltered. Kind of a cool idea actually. Thanks.