Dway Posted April 3, 2021 Share Posted April 3, 2021 Hey everyone. I bought one of co ops sponge filters a few weeks ago and during a water change noticed the flow all but stopped. I figured it needed cleaned. Prior to this there were a ton of large bubbles coming out and now almost none at all. I cleaned the sponge very thoroughly in tank water sever times and it’s pretty clean now but the bubble production only slightly increased. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acenorm Posted April 3, 2021 Share Posted April 3, 2021 The sponge doesn’t have anything to do with the bubbles, its the flow of the air pump. You could have a pump going bad or possibly the line is crimped somewhere not allowing the air to flow as much as it was. If you have an air stone connected, that may be becoming clogged. I would start there first. Hope that helps. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dway Posted April 3, 2021 Author Share Posted April 3, 2021 Additional info: it seems the bubbler is clogged some how but I did by the never clog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dway Posted April 3, 2021 Author Share Posted April 3, 2021 I just added additional info that it seems the air stone is maybe clogged. The pump seems to be running just fine. Is there a way to take apart the never clog air stone to check for blockage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acenorm Posted April 3, 2021 Share Posted April 3, 2021 You can unscrew it. The tighter the smaller the bubbles that will come out. How old is the pump? I had one that ran like it was fine but put out little air. I believe the diaphragm had a hole in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dway Posted April 3, 2021 Author Share Posted April 3, 2021 The pump is pretty old maybe a few years but seems to be working fine. I can try unscrewing it a bit but I really don’t think the pump is the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dway Posted April 3, 2021 Author Share Posted April 3, 2021 Any other ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwayne Brown Posted April 3, 2021 Share Posted April 3, 2021 Try taking tubing and attaching it to the pump then stick the tubbing in the water and see if any air bubbles come out. If they do great your pump is fine if not your pump is broken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dway Posted April 3, 2021 Author Share Posted April 3, 2021 Pump is working fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dway Posted April 3, 2021 Author Share Posted April 3, 2021 Maybe just an under powered pump? 3 hours ago, Acenorm said: 3 hours ago, Acenorm said: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acenorm Posted April 3, 2021 Share Posted April 3, 2021 (edited) An underpowered pump wouldn’t change because of a water change as you mentioned above. Did you check to see if the tubing came off the pump and air is escaping? There are only 4 parts to the set up of a sponge filter. Pump, tubing, air stone and filter itself. 2 of those supply the air, the pump and the tubing. The problem has to be one or the other. As I said earlier, tubing could be crimped or getting cut off by the lid or something or partially came off the pump. Second thing is that the pump has a problem and may be time for a new one. It could have been coincidental that the pump had a problem during a water change. As @Dwayne Brownsaid above, get another piece of tubing and hook it to your pump and put the other end in the water to make sure you are getting air still. Double check all connections of the tubing as well. Another thing I thought of does your pump have a valve to change how much pressure comes out? Edited April 3, 2021 by Acenorm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwayne Brown Posted April 3, 2021 Share Posted April 3, 2021 @Acenorm I completely agree I forgot to suggest looking for valve. @Dway I would do the tubbing test because that will help us decide what part of the filtration system is the problem. If you could do that and post an update that would be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dway Posted April 3, 2021 Author Share Posted April 3, 2021 It is pushing air but just a little. When I installed it it had large bubbles and was really pushing a lot of water. Now it’s just a few small bubbles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acenorm Posted April 3, 2021 Share Posted April 3, 2021 I say the pump went bad than. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dway Posted April 3, 2021 Author Share Posted April 3, 2021 I added a new pump and seems to be running much better. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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