anewbie
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Posts posted by anewbie
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On 1/28/2024 at 6:24 PM, Pepere said:
Your first post referenced it pumping air and cust support reccomended changing seals…I guess I presumed from reading that, you were seeing air vent out the outlet into the tank as well..
The sound the filter make is the same sound it makes when trying to expel air; that doesn't mean there is air to be expelled. I don't actually see air.
On 1/29/2024 at 9:08 AM, Biotope Biologist said:I also have a bare bones sump. My cheap pump from amazon started pumping inconsistently so I upgraded to a Nyos Viper 2.0 I believe they are new to the market. Expensive for what it is, but my water level in my sump hasn’t moved at all yet. And it is so quiet.
Nothing beats a sump. And they aren’t as complicated as the reefers make them out to be. Mine is refugium style and I have used it to grow out WCMM fry 3x now. It was going to be a shrimp grow out as a food source for my gobies but only one actively hunts them 😅
The pump i use are the jebo dcp pumps; these have been on the market forever (have a track record) and are dead silent. Your pump look very simlar to the sicce ac pumps (they have 5 year warranty but are kind of loud). The biggest problem with a sump is if you don't have a drilled tank and don't want to drill it then adding the overflow box - you can do these hang on the back overflow box but they are more prone to cause problems. This 120 i have is not drilled - which make using a sump more problematic. There are also hang on the back sump but those put the pump in the tank and pump the water up (this is different than hang on the back overflow boxes). Sumps aren't super complicated but you have to do it right or you will get a flood when something goes wrong (power outage; dead pump; clogged hose; ...); none of this is complicated but it still has to be done right. I've not see a hang on the back overflow box that i think i would trust but there might be one out there.
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On 1/27/2024 at 8:47 PM, Tony s said:
I love the look of neon tetras, but for the life of me, I can't keep them alive. Jason Adams at prime-time aquatics has said if you want a school of 10, you'll need to buy 20-30.
the genetics are just trash here.
i usually go for wild caught tetra though to be honest i've had good look with the ones aquahuna sell. I haven't purchased neon in a long time since all my aquariums are large and i go for the prettier (imho) cardinals. In a 20 i'd look for green neon which will give you neon in a small package.
On 1/29/2024 at 7:19 AM, Pepere said:While Neons and such can adapt, I believe Neons are predominantly wild caught.
I
That was true in the past but these days most neon and cardinals are tank raised in large farms. You can get brazil and columbia cardinals (don't know about neon) if you look for them but they are less common. 20 years ago most were wc because the industry didn't know how to mass breed them.
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On 1/28/2024 at 5:39 PM, dasaltemelosguy said:
That may be enough. In high fidelity work it is not uncommon to plug all of the devices in what is known as a "power conditioner". It's really just a big power strip with noise filters but the better ones have the same device that is in a Variac to boost the voltage as losses of a few volts are inevitable. Especially when many devices share the strip. Some designs won't work at all on a strip because they have power tolerances so tight, they cannot even suffer a few volts loss without problems. That chugging is a classic motor speed control problem as well. What you've just done may be enough but of course, it may not be but it's a good test, nonetheless. It also may be subject to the time of the day as peak usage sees house power down slightly. It's much worse in the Summer as you can imagine. I've seen huge home theater installations where the picture literally changed size when the AC kicked on! That is deregulation and is what is going on with the FX6. I use one large Variac for all six FX6's but for one or two, a Variac this size is plenty:
Glad you posted; i was pretty convenience it was mechanical and not an air leak but had no clue about the how the motor functioned - which is complicated by the logic to pump out air. I will note the problem started after i moved so your explanation makes a lot of sense - i also had other devices on these cheap ge protector fail (a heater and light) but at the time i did not think it was a direct problem with the protector since it was also a new house - i've been getting a little flicker on led bulbs and now i wonder if it is also a voltage issue. As for ac/heat - well it has geo thermal which reduces the current surge in that area. The electrician has to come out next week to finish up some odds and end and i've asked him to bring a volt meter with him so we can track some of this down - it is unclear to me if is the house wiring or just the surge protector. Also i don't consider a 5 minute test definitive so as I noted i'll post back in a few days if the problem comes back.
To be honest if it is a problem with the fx6; i liked the idea of that pond filter. The pump in the tank is a bit of an issue unless i can think of a clever way to cover it so frys and stuff and can't get into it; but overall it is a much cleaner design. I've been using jeabo pumps with my sump and i wonder if i could rig something up - basically a canister filter is just a sump that is a sealed box - there is no reason the pump can't go inside an acryalic box that is sealed with bulkhead - the only part is how to make the lid water tight sealed when close. Hum - anyone have a 30 gallon square jar 😉
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So i moved it from one of those el cheapo ge surge protector and put it in a linear extension cable and at least for the 5 minutes before i left the room it was behaving. I'll check tomorrow if it continues to behave and report back.
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On 1/28/2024 at 10:23 AM, BlueLineAquaticsSC said:
That’s a mbu puffer
No the fish below the puffer.
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On 1/28/2024 at 10:13 AM, dasaltemelosguy said:
I have six, FX6’s that have never failed or leaked. They all however have this problem in the video.
But this is not a mechanical problem. It’s an electronic problem.
A power supply for a motor requires that it have a redundancy of voltage so enough is always available for peak demands or in lower voltage environments. The FX6’s voltage regulation was apparently designed for 240 volts so when this is translated for American power, it’s set for 120 volts. However, it's not uncommon to see house voltages vary from 120v down to 110v or even 105v. It is here where the FX6 has barely enough power to keep the motor regulated.
Certain situations cause the filter to require more power; If the flow is restricted, if your house voltage is low, if the outlet is shared by many devices (dropping the effective house voltage), or if you use an extension cord or power strip (also dropping the effective house voltage), etc. If anything drops the house voltage enough, then this “chugging” can occur. It’s due to the motor pulling more current on the push cycles of its rotation and the voltage for that momentarily higher demand falls and isn’t available when the motor is at peak demands.
It can also be caused by the filter being run for long periods on lower voltage outlets or if a filter has been dormant for a very long time. Long term operation at less than 120v can deform the capacitors and make them less efficient and cause this chugging.
But that chugging will go away if you feed that FX6 with about 130vac vs 120vac normal house current.
Often, you’ll find the outlet with a chugging filter will have a voltage drop and read perhaps 105-115v from the drop caused by other loads or that circuit in your house.
However, a chugging filter can sometimes be “fixed” by operating it at a slightly higher voltage for 2-3 days. I’ve repaired two such chugging FX6 motors in this way.
The capacitors in the motor’s power supply tend to assume an internal shape over time from either running at a lower than optimal voltage or if left dormant for months or years. When this happens, the capacitors become less efficient at higher voltages and the overall power to the motor suffers a voltage loss. This contributes to the low voltage chugging problem, but often the capacitors may be ‘revived’ by a technique called “forming”.
A Variac is an autotransformer that can supply typically 130v up or to 150v and any value below this. By plugging the filter into a Variac and running it at 130v or as high as 140v, it “reforms” the capacitors in the motor’s power supply to perform at higher voltages making them perform more efficiently. Flow improves, noise drops, chugging stops and it uses significantly less house power.
I would guess that the Fluval was designed in the 240vac configuration and was converted for American house currents (120V). That would suggest the voltage regulators powering the motor are designed for 240/120 and many American households have less than 120v available on the wall and so that can destabilize the voltage regulation.
The room I have my system in has such a voltage drop. Only about 112v is available so I use a Variac to power my filters and the flow is strong, smooth, linear and consistent.
Since I have six FX6's, I use only one Variac for all 6 such that it made the addition of the Variac worthwhile. Otherwise, a $70 Variac per FX6 could make one think otherwise.
Still, in hindsight, I wonder if a decent pond canister would have been better. They are less than half the price of an FX6 with potentially enormous GPH’s. The submersible pump makes me nervous, but you can’t beat the $/GPH.
This is interesting. do you think it is worth buying one of those variac. I need to get a volt measurer. Next time i go downtairs (60 mintues from now); I'll plug the filter into the wall (it is in a power strip) and see if that helps. I have a watt meter somewhere - if i can find it i might give it a try (I think it measure both watt and volts).
That pond filter looks ok but a little rough for an aquarium - i mean i'd have to find a nice spray bar and the biggest negative to putting the pump in the aquarium is it will suck up frys.
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About 6 weeks ago i picked up 6 of these (wc): This one i'm 90% sure is the female as she has less colouring. Unfortunately the male(s) pictures did not turn out well as they are blurry so I'll try again next week. They are not quite breeding age; unfortunately unlike the Keyhole these guys never sit still making picture taking more difficult. They are in the 180 (72x30x18) with the keyhole. That tank gotta be over populated with something like 15 cherry barb; 7 keyholes 6 l.a. and tons of pygmy, orange laser and cats - not to mention the 15 kubotai rasbora. Oh well - when the keyoles and these folks pair off i'll move some of the others downstairs (maybe).
This is an interesting picture:
What we see here is a carolina bacopa. Never been a fan of this plant but never quite willing to toss it. Anyway what we are seeing is the transition from a high-tech aquarium to a low tech aquarium. It has taken about 6 months but it is finally sprouting some healthy leaves (very bottom) as the old piece is slowly eaten. The key point is the amount of time the plant has taken to transition. Folks tend to forget that plants move faster than rocks but just barely.
This is some rotala blood red purchased about 4 months ago; I suspect the seller grew it in a high-tech environment (co2 injection); and it is generally a plant that does much better with co2 but again we see after many months it is sending up new sprouts adjusted to the new enviornment. I suspect it would be more colourful if i floated it near the lights (and frequently i do) but i wanted to see how it did planted. Again this is after 4 months - it is growing and not melting but the speed is comparable to a fast stone walking home.
[sorry for the lousy photo - phone just refused to focus on the forground plant]
This tangle of mess is another pia; what we see is a huge mess of crowded crypts. I swore when i moved my crypts would stop being crowded and they would have lots of room - after all i was moving 50% of the plants from my 40B to a brand new 180 with 4x the space. Alas the more space i give them they more crowded they get. I really need some birth control for them. Oh well at least they are nice looking plants.
My last pia for this week:
What we see here and it is very very hard to see is a very badly behaving Krobia xinguensis. I've not had these before and i swear this set i purchased (5 fishes) are over weight - anyway i told them this was a holding tank and no hanky panky allowed but alas they just couldn't restrain themselves and a pair has bred and now have about 30 free swimming frys. Alas i'm not hatching bbs so unsure if they will get very far - i might toss in some gold pearl but usually it takes some live food.They are pretty decent parents but when i went behind the aquarium to get a good picture of the parents/fry the parents went crazy so i guess no decent picture of them - or the frys. This was taken from the front (it is a 120 so 4ft wide and 2 feet front to back). Hum. maybe i should hatch some bbs but not really setup for it right now. Anyway that aquarium has 6 pleco (1 l204; 2 l397; 3 snowballs) 5 krobia (the big male did not breed) and 14 angelfishes (it had a few cardinals but after the krobia ate 1/2 of them 2 hours after introduction i removed the others). They are like all mouth. The only other fish i have as bad as them are the l. thayeri - unlike the d and a these guys are again all mouth - just suck in anything that come near them - very much like the krobia.
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On 1/27/2024 at 11:28 PM, Arcticgypsy said:
I'm beginning to think that. I do love the look but from what I'm seeing, I'd mod it to a point I'd be better off just going with a basic tank. Will be using it to grow out baby Hillstream loaches. takes them a good 10 months or so to grow up enough to sell off to my LFS, so I want to make something that looks good...gives me an excuse to setup a 2nd tank lol
Keep in mind that while square tanks can be convenient in some locations; they aren't great for most fishes due to lack of overall swimming room. This is the aquarium i keep in my bathroom counter (where a square tank wouldn't work well); 10 gallon so the length just fits on the counter from front to back.
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On 1/28/2024 at 1:20 AM, nabokovfan87 said:
Intake and all that seems fine. I'm not sure what is leaking, but something is allowing a ton of air in there. If it's not the maintenance like then maybe the pump was just damaged somehow. There's a sponge under the output, right there, I don't think that's causing any issues. Let's say the pump had a gas bubble or something, turned on to push it out, then that led to the impeller getting damaged or something. The thing to do next would be to take it apart, verify the impeller and everything is clean/undamaged, then try to either replace the hose or inspect it.
Beyond that, I don't see any issues.fluval had me buy and install the maint kit; it included new seals and impeller so the impeller was replaced last week. The problem has persisted now for about 3 months.
The only thing i can think of is a micro hole in intake ribbon hose but if there is one i can't find it. Btw the sponge filter you pointed out is next to the out-take - can't see how it would impact anything but who knows.
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On 1/27/2024 at 8:27 PM, Scapexghost said:
I thought the issue was that it was broken not that it wasnt strong enough
A fx4 is an fx6; i'm presuming the fx6 doesn't actually have air in it but the 'smart motor' has gotten confused; though it could have air in it but it is not obvious where that air is entering. If a design gives me problem (my eheim has never had this issue but it is a simplier design); why would i buy another of the same problematic design.
20 years ago i had a canister filter that never had an issue for the 5 years i used it; this fx6 is barely touching 3 years. Anyway if fluval replaces it i'll see how that goes.
Also i would not use anything weaker than the fx6 on that aquarium. I believe the effective flow is quite a bit less than the rated flow - of course the eheim is probably only 1/2 its rated flow (though it wouldn't hurt if i would clean it; even if that never improves the flow).
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The flex looks nice but for what it is - it is limited and way over priced. I rather just go with a 10; a sponge filter or two; a small quiet air pump and then put money in a quality heater and light (how much depends on your budget and what you stock). At the end of the day it is your choice of course 😉
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I've used chemi-clean with success (one treatment - just follow directions to a T and add several air stones); there is really only one ingrediant for cleaning cyano so as far as i know all the treatments use the same chemical.
If you wait a couple of weeks i'm gonig to have to treat another aquarium next week (last one was 3 or 4 years ago); and i can let you know how it goes.
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ember and neon don't school in a 20 ; they are fine fishes - but the tank has to be fairly large to see schooling behavior. In my 8 foot aquarium my cardinals are finally schooling.
For something like a 20 high; you might try kubotia rasbora but to be honest even if they swim constantly a 20 just isn't much swimming room. Rather than a schooling fish (which really need a longer aquarium); i'd look for something like ember which mostly will just sit around looking pretty. Another option is green neon tetra (smaller cousin to neon tetra). I would stay away from larger fishes like cardinals and neon though i suppose you can do neon if there is not much else. Most domestic tetra commonly sold will be flexible with water hardness unless you are extreme - certainly in the medium range - tds 150 or so there shouldn't be a noticeable problem. If you are up around 300 or so i'd look at live bearers which prefer harder water.
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They are on the right side - i have to face the valve on the bottom to the door in the stand; this forces the out to be on the left and in on the right; the two hoses would otherwise cross each other. Looking at the picture you can see they are connected correctly.
On 1/27/2024 at 8:19 PM, Scapexghost said:What about an fx4
Why would i replace a weak filter with a weaker filter ?
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On 1/26/2024 at 5:40 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:
And so the stand building begins....
dang you do metal work. Where did all that equipment come from - all i have is a screw driver and hammer.
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On 1/26/2024 at 12:20 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
Basically it's straight up pumping air. So something is allowing air in at a very high rate.
Can you show the input / output? It's not the actual pump or canister it looks like. Emailing fluval that video might help you out as well get to the right path or let them know there's a product issue.
Unfortunately the intakes on the fluvals are pretty cheap. They aren't very high quality and you could have some weird issues there. Also verify the input is on the input side and output is on the output side. We all make mistakes, just have to double check it.
The only thing that seemed weird at first was the bend radius on that right tube. As the video continues, it looks ok and it was just a weird angle visually.
Random question, have you ever used the maintenance line to clean the filter or do you just drag it out filled up when you clean it? Is the cap on fully and tightly sealed?
maintenance line? You mean the bottom valve to let water out - yea i've used that. fluval support said they will send me a new one (i think); here are the pictures you asked (this isn't a show tank; i just use it to hold things until i decide what to do with them - right now it there are 5 krobia; 14 angels and 5 pleco; 6 angels are going to the pet shop soon - the krobia are sitting on wrigglers so not sure what to do about that but no one will go near them - they are fierce 😉
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On 1/25/2024 at 5:30 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
vibration or like.... the whole thing is moving / shaking? What I mean is, if you had your hand on the lid or pump itself do you feel the vibration or is the issue related to something causing say... the pipework to shake and that reverberates all the way down to the canister itself shaking around (like a washing machine imbalanced)
Basically the FX replacement is ADA Superjet / stainless steel canisters or you go to EHeim.Well that superjet looks impressive; but it is of course 5x the cost of an fx6. The vibration is what you expect when the filter tries to kick out air; the hoses shake and it makes a noise but the vibration comes from the canister filter motor - there is nothing around it that generates any vibration 'cept for a very small air pump. Hum - here is a video:
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On 1/25/2024 at 5:19 PM, Pepere said:
Well, air is getting in somewhere…have you checked all of the hose connections as well?
I purchased their 'maint' kit and replaced all the seals. There are only two hoses and if their is no leaking.
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Well the fx6 is only around 3 1/2 years old so it didn't last as long as your sun sun; something to consider.
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On 1/24/2024 at 7:18 PM, macdaddy36 said:
@Lots Of Loaches correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure you meant the 10 gallon you got from your co-worker had a SAE which you put into another one of your tanks?
I had Kuhli Loaches in a 10 gallon for around 2 months. The had lived in my 20 gal for 1.5 years and then I moved them to the 10 gal in attempt to get them to be less shy and after a couple months the Apistos got aggressive so I moved them back.
If the other fish had not caused a problem, it probably would have been fine. They are pretty large for a 10 gallon but they hide a lot and don't move much during the day. Rather than focusing on tank size, make sure to give them lots of cover in the form of logs, caves, rocks, plants, and other decor because that's probably where they feel comfortable and spend a lot of their time. Even now that I have them back in the 20 gallon they spend all their time in only 1/3 of the tank where I have lots of wood and a pile of rocks.
Do you watch them glass surf at night? They should be swimming the quite a bit when the lights go out - esp early morning around 2am.
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I have an fx6 on a 120 (48x24x24) and it goes rocking 24 hours a day (what it does to remove air); support sez replace the seals; so i replaced all the seals; it still rocks 24 hours a day.
Any suggestions for a good replacement ? Since this is a 'trash' aquarium i'd consider either canister or hob but i want pretty good filtration as it has some grow out angels (14); left over plecos (5) and breeding krobia (5).
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What is the fish above the keyhole ?
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On 1/24/2024 at 2:58 PM, Lots Of Loaches said:
I currently have 4 Kuhli Loaches (Pangio Kuhli) in a 10 gallon with a male Betta for company. The tank is heavily planted and they are doing great. I've had the tank running for over 3 years without any problems. I also have another 10 gallon that I was given by a coworker getting out of the hobby (her kids lost interest). It contained 3 Black Kuhli Loaches (Pangio Oblonga), 1 Red Eye Tetra, 1 Glow Tetra and a Siamese Algae Eater. Before I could make a decision which of my tanks to put them in and quarantine more Red Eye Tetras, the Kuhli Loaches decided to give me about (I forget the exact number) 50 babies. I think they were pretty happy in their tank considering they decided to breed.
I'm not a Kuhli expert but I don't believe mine are unhappy with the footprint of a ten gallon. Everyone experiences different results in this hobby so make your decision based on your best educated guess. Good luck with your tank!
You keep an SAE in a 10 gallon aquarium? You do realize as an adult this is a 5+ inch fish.
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On 1/24/2024 at 12:22 PM, Odd Duck said:
Random thought.
Since the judges were so, . . . judgy about the amount of fish in the tank last time. Maybe you could try startling them a bit so some are hiding for your next contest photo. That might get enough out of sight that they won’t mind. 😆
Wouldn't be easier to just paint them green so they blend in with the plants ?
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Good replacement for fx6 ?
in General Discussion
Posted
Oh well reported back too soon; problem was back this morning. I'll check the voltage from the wall before buying something. Also fluval said they would replace the unit but in their last email they wanted me to cut the cord BEFORE they send the replacement. Hum... what is the problem with this approach. Waiting for their response.