Funny sounds coming from my filter?

Question

hi, i i know ive asked a serious amount of questions on keeping an aquarium, I'm kinda shy at asking the pet store. but now ive herd weird tapping/clicking sounds on top of the regular humming sound.

my filter is a elite in the shape of a stingray. it doesn't make bubbles like it did at first either, do they always make bubbles?

but its still agitating the water as normal.

is it normal to make these click sounds and do they always make bubbles?

Answer 1

oh i dont know.sounds fishy to me!!!!

Answer 2

If they are fully summersed in the water then they won't neccessarily make bubbles.

Filters will often rattle when they need cleaning (that's how I always know when it's time to clean mine) You should aim to give the filter a clean about once every 4-5 weeks. You need to wash the filter pad out in some old tank water that you are getting rid of (to preserve the good bacteria) and make sure you give the impeller a rinse aswell (that is usually what causes the rattling noise as it gets clogged up with waste.)

Don't be afraid to ask for help at the pet shop, that's what they are there for and I'm sure they will be more than happy to help.

Answer 3

My filter will rattle around sometimes after I clean it.

It's because the intake tube isn't secure in the impeller housing.

I'm not sure what your model looks like or how it works, but for mine, I just lift the intake tube out of the water [when the filter is turned off] and drop it back in, wiggle it around to make sure that it's in there securely. Plug it back in. See if that helps.

I can't be sure of the bubble thing though.. Mine's never stopped doing it.

Answer 4

I love your questions :0)

Get yourself a blunt table knife, pull the cover from the top either shoulder of the motor in the middle and it drops down. At the bottom it is clipped on with two little hinges, pull them apart and it come off.

The tail has a black foam sponge in it and behind that is a house shaped bit of foam. Either side in the middle is two kidney shaped canisters with carbon in. (How am I doing :0)

Take your blunt knife and prise the top off the water outlet, it's just plugged in the hole. Stick that bit under a tap and swirly the snail or a relative will appear in the sink. Check the tube left open when you removed the outlet, might be more swirllies in there, if so rinse them out.

Don't touch the filter medium, just put it back together, stick it in the tank and start it up again.

These filters don't perform very well, but I've got the same six gallon tank you've got :0)

You might consider a junior box filter and small air pump at a later date, but for now you are still on track.

Edit: They do no harm, it's a filter that sucks up through a bigger hole at the bottom than it pushes out at the top, so snails get stuck along with other bits and pieces, the sound is them rattling about in the outlet. When too many get caught in there the flow drops and the bubbles disappear. I use mine to create surface movent in a 20 gallon tank that has an external filter.

Answer 5

no it should not be making clicking sounds clean it thoroughly in the tank water then do a 30% water change see if that helps, if it doesn't then it means the motor in the filter is on its way out as in it needs replacing but to replace a motor in a filter will cost more then to just go out and buy a new filter hope this helps u out and good luck