Loaches Online Forum

I just recently finished my river tank manifold which can be seen here.
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariu ... hp?t=59017
I followed the same idea on the loach website except for I have one powerhead and no tube going down the middle, just a rectangular frame of 1/2 pvc. the powerhead is a marineland 1140 that pumps 300gph. At first it pumped great but now its seems to have weekend and the airation (which can be controlled by a valve on the intake hose) is now spotty and come in little weak bursts. At first it was a solid stream of bubbles and the current was much stronger. Now it seems to only works correctly when I do water changes and the water level is lower. Is there something wrong with the pump or do I need another pipeline going down the middle of the tank? Any ideas would be appreciated.

Try cleaning the filters. If it doesn't work, you'll probably have to take out the powerhead and run it in a bucket or something to see that it's pumping like it should.

Check my comments here regarding R/T manilfolds with only peripheral tubing design:

http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?t=20031

Your filter sponge or the powerhead's intake strainer might be blocked. As regards the air you'll probably find that you need to provide a pressurisede air feed to the powerhead venturi from a small air pump when being used low in the tank.

Martin.

it was the filter. I used sand as my substrate and when I cleaned the filter it looked like the dust from the sand when it was settling. I havent cleaned it since setting up the tank but that fixed all my problems. I use one of these filters.
http://www.amazon.com/Hagen-Fluval-Edge ... 02LL32RY/2