The Puffer Forum

It seems the flow rate for my canister filter has gone down quite a bit over the last day or 2. I took it apart the other day and cleaned the filter media since it was clogged a little with sand. My questions are;

Could it be clogged again?

Is there any way i could keep this from happening? (Maybe remove some of the filter media?)

It's a Rena xp1. The media inside from top to bottom is: filter floss (approx 1/8 inch thick), some biobeads, inch and half thick bag of carbon and at the bottom is an inch and a half thick sponge. I'm hoping to have my tank at full Marine SG soon and won't have to use the canister anymore.

Thanks in advance for any advice! =D

Did you clean the impeller?

I'm not exactly sure how to get to the impeller. =/ It's all encased in the top section of the filter. I'll inspect it tomorrow morning and see if i can figure it out. I'll also find a video on how to take it apart.

I have no problems getting to the impeller on my Eheims, you should be able to clean yours.

I'll definitely do some research on this filter and get it properly cleaned tomorrow for sure

Cleaning the impeller didn't seem to help it much. It doesn't have a terrible flow but it's definitely not what it was when i hooked it up.

I had another question. My tank will be Marine soon (I'm approaching 1.020) and i was wondering if i could rig the canister some way with one of these (link below) to create a "ghetto" protein skimmer until i can afford a nice one or until i get lucky enough to find a used one?

http://www.amazon.com/Hagen-A240-Fluval ... 702&sr=1-1

A surface skimmer is nothing like a protein skimmer. Totally different piece of equipment. You won't need the canister for SW.

you may have air trapped in the cannister

if you are at 1.020, ditch the filter and put LR rubble in the can or just ditch the thing entirely.

That canister with rubble, will get clogged with detritus quickly.

So, should i shut off the canister and make sure it's completely full before i turn it back on? As far as i know, it's totally full.

Not familiar with your filter but after my canisters are primed and running I always knock on the side to get excess air out. With it running just hold it in place so it won't move and hit it with your other hand. You'll probably hear it if starts purging any air.

I'll give that i try for sure.

LR is better for SW than a biological canister. BUT you cannot just dump the canister and add fresh (even cured) live rock. There is always a transition period.