Loaches Online Forum

I added a bag of fine sand to my loachie tank, and first the powerhead succumbed to the grit in the water, then both of my hang-on-back filters died - not totally but the impeller (guess that is the name) - part that pulls the water - came apart and isn't turning. Any suggestions?

Sorry to hear it.
It's always a good idea to turn off your filtration before adding sand, and then wait for it to settle before you turn it back on. If the sand is really fine and the filtration will pick it up into the water column you also need to cover your intakes to keep it out of the motors or you get dead motors in short order.

now my question is, what do I do about filters?

1. Save the biomedia from the filters you have (sponges, or bioballs, or whatever) in the tank water or in water from the tank in a bucket (less messy that way).

2. Go get new working filters. If you get the same kind you can easily replace the stuff you took out.

3. Put the saved biomedia into the new filters.

4. Make sure the sand can't get into the intakes and to the motors.

5. Plug them in.

If someone else knows how to fix filter motors maybe they will speak up. I don't know if a burned out motor is fixable, so this is what I would do.

One other alternative is to go to a decent sized lfs that sells parts and bring the motor from your emperor filter with you. See if they sell impellers, or just the motors. Don't know if that would cost less than getting a whole new set up or not, but I know that upon occasion I have replaced just parts of my Hang on the Back (HOB) filters ...

hth

Have you tried cleaning the impellors and restarting the pumps? Maybe the motors aren't burned out. It could be that the impellor is just jammed from the sand or needs replaced. As shari2 said, you can sometimes buy the impellors at good fish stores.

Hmm...your more serious problem may be the tank.

Some of your bacteria was in the filters, now not working, some was in the sand, now covered by new sand. You well may have a nasty ammonia spike before long.

Maybe a good idea to put the filter media into the tank (spread around)and dont feed the fish today.

Which filter?

I think she's using an emperor biowheel and an undergravel with powerhead. Definitely put the biowheels in the tank to keep them alive...

shari2 wrote:I think she's using an emperor biowheel and an undergravel with powerhead. Definitely put the biowheels in the tank to keep them alive...

This could be bad. I noticed that undergravel filter tends to accumulate the bacteria below the ground and if the powerhead is off, ammonia or nitrites will show up fast (happened here)

Bro if youre "smart" enough to add a bag of sand to a full tank with running filters you shouldn't even be around water, let alone sand. Those things can be dangerous when you're not alert.

That was a little harsh - the sand was cleaned and added over 2 months ago. No, the filters weren't RUNNING.

The powerhead died about 2 weeks later, and the 2 Bio-wheels (I am poor, I got them on sale, so I had 2) died consecutively.

I have been using partial water changes.

I had tried putting some filter media into the intakes of the filters but it didn't seem to be doing much good.

I just went out and got another filter - slightly larger, sadly, they didn't have any more of the cheapy smaller ones (so much for the re-use theory) but I added some of the filter media from one old one.

I suppose that I might deserve that comment somehow, but it kind of stung. And I am female (Emily).

Emily dont worry, you didnt deserve the comment. thats just normal for Angelfish. i hope you get everything sorted out soon.

Hey Emily,
I agree that the post above yours was harsh. Consider the source...

ecitraro,

To avoid this and for peace of mind, you should still consider another prefilter at the intake. This could be a patch of pantyhose secured with a rubber band, a filter sponge cut to fit, or whatever you can think of. Such a prefilter will increase maintenence (you'll need to clean the prefilter to ensure good flow), but again a cheap solution for your consideration.

Joe