filter flushing huge dirt on clean

Some help here guys

There was a thread posted a few days ago on the dolphin external canister. We were wondering what sequence of baskets ought to be used...

The appreciated answer was more than likely the physical filter material at the bottom and biological material on top... made sense and thanks for the input

Doing my weekly maintenance I cleaned out my canister which looked like it was operating all as per normal... had good flow out of it for the last few weeks.. I know this because the spray bar is pointed up for decent airation and I can see the water flowing.

During cleaning I did not notice a significant amount of "detrius" in the sponges and filter media...this was not a concern as I have two powerheads in the tank both with filter tubes attached...

I cleaned out and reassembled, primed and started up.... WOW a huge burst of brown material/water/gunk then poured out of the spray bar !!! clouding my tank in minutes... what could this be ??

I can only assume that the pump on the canister was not properly connecting with the baskets and somehow the waste material sucked up then built up on the impeller or inlet/outlet parts ?? This still does not make sense as the water continued to flow !!! very strange and concerning as I have had issues with algae... although all my water parameters have been good over the last few weeks (i have a second trickle filter running from one of the power heads so this could have masked the canister filter not operating)

Any help would be welcome as I dont want this to reoccur ... involved another water change and thourough vacume.

Is there any way to see if a canister filter is operating correctly as I cant see this

 

This used to happen with my submersible.....I always let the outlet run into a bucket before i put the filter back in the tank. This stops the brown stuff from spraying out when I put the filter on.

Hope this helps....

 

It happens to me as well. I just leave it and let the filter suck is back up again. From what I have summized is that when the canister is off, debri in the canister settle at the bottom of the filter, and as soon as you turn it on, it get's shot back into the tank.

Within 20 minutes my tank is cleared of all this gunk.

 

Guys thanks. Good to know this is not so out of the ordinary but I am astounded by the volume of dirt flushed. It can only come from the "head" of the canister as the rest was cleaned. I still seems wrong.

This was the only time I tried to pump out the water from the canister before opening it. Could this be a reason ?

 

See my post on filters,this is not gunk from the filter itself but it is gunk that accumilates in the pipes,the only way to solve this is to remove the pipes when cleaning the filter and flush them with hot water,I sorted the c1300 it filters bottom to top(also take the impeller out and clean)
Thx

 

Interesting as I noticed my pipes were clouded !! I think I am going to take tankmasters advice and run into a bucket as this cannot be good.

What do you think it is ? Physical material after being broken down into nitrates ? Should not be organic one would think

Odd no one else has posted anything on this

 

Just clean the pipes when you clean the filter and you will have no problems,I know this is a issue sometimes but its worth it ,If the pipes are transparent shine a flashlight on them and you will be amazed whats lurking there,I will post a pic of it,did not clean the pipes when cleaning the c1300 for the first time and exactly the same happened as with yours,also I placed some filter wool (see post )around the baskets to stop bypass

Picture of the pipe

 

Those pipes are clean compared to mine. My tube use to be clear. It's now a "musty greyish brown colour."

How would you clean a 1m length of pipe?

 

Really hot water and add some bleach let it sit for a while,if its really stuffed up go to any irragation shop and buy a new piece,remember to rinse it properly

 

There are brushes available for pipes, but the easiest is to make a pull-through, using weed-eater line and a piece of bottle brush or you could even fold the line double around a small piece of scrubbing pad, push the two loose ends through the pipe, and pull it through! Very similar to cleaning a barrel.

You can also make a smaller one with a piece of bottlebrush and a curtain wire, by turning the bottle brush into the hollow curtain coil wire, like the hook. This is very handy for HOB filters and spray-bars.
Hope you can use this
gert.

 

Boer maak `n plan 123...

What you will need x1 male to male stereo jack you can buy them cheaply at any audio shop in 1m, 1.5m, 2m and 3m. x1 elastic band preferably one of those thin long ones they use around petshop bags. Then a cut piece of dish washing cloth you can buy those at the local PnP into a square piece, now wrap the piece of cloth around the one end of the stereo jack and check that it will fit semi snugly into the pipe (You must not have trouble fitting it inside the pipe as it might get stuck.) Then wrap the elastic around it till its firmly in place. Now take the other end and thread it through the pipe, now gently pull it till the other end goes into the pipe and pull it through the pipe a couple of times till its clean wash the little cloth as needed.

Sometimes I even surprise myself.​

 

Are we not turning a molehill into a mountain here?

 

I have the same issue with my canister. One observation though, and with this I do not say it is not gunk from the pipes as well, but I can switch my canister off and then on again a while later and this will not happen. If it was gunk from the pipes it will also happen when you just turn your filter off and then on again.

The only time it happens is when I clean my canister. I normally take the impellor out and clean the impellor and the area where the impellor fits as well. So definately no gunk coming from there. I also fill the motor compartment with water a couple of times and slosh it around. A lot of gunk comes out of this area. What I have figured is that the gunk comes from somewhere in the motor area where I cannot reach properly. I would guess it is from the bottom of the motor part, since I turn the motor upside down to rinse it and the water will therefore not reach this area. Then when you switch your canister on again it gets flushed out.

I normally also use a bucket to catch the first couple of litres when I switch it on again.

Gert where do you get small enough bottle brushes?

 

"Gert where do you get small enough bottle brushes?" - I always keep my eyes open when visiting older LFS's, as one can always find some real bargains. Eheim used to supply a set of brushes, and lately I have found a small brush at Crazy stores. Try a baby shop or chemist for small brushes.

 

My pipes do not look good at all... I initially thought this may be algae and thought nothing of it as it had no ultimate impact on the tank but after this incident clearly it is detritus but I cant really see myself going through the hassle of a big cleanout.... I think just unplugging them and running into a bucket is the best approach...

It is still a mystery why this happens ... clearly the filter will run with more power after cleaning and the air flushing through the system will shake the stuff up but I am surprised with the vollumes involved, odd that this is not pumped out with regular flow and use.

AquaS

This makes most sense to me frankly...