What am I doing wrong, every time I clean my fish tank the filter dies?

Question

So I'm about to head out and purchase my 4th filter for this tank. It seems like every time we unplug the filter for a full cleaning, when we go to plug it back in its dead. It's very frustrating! Any ideas?

Answer 1

If it is a hang on back filter, are you refilling it when you plug it back in?  If not, you may be burning out the filter.  Try pouring water in it when you start it back up.  It will make weird noises for a minute or so then should work.  Try that in one of your old filters; it might still be usable.  Good luck.

Answer 2

you can try leaving the filter running submerge in the sink remember that fresh tap water kills most fish if you have a high amount of minerals in the water it may be blocking the intake and for gods sake remember you pay for what you get buy a better pump.

Answer 3

here's what u do.dry the filter.then open the filter and when it doesn't work u should aways check if the filter is clean if not  clean it it should start working

Answer 4

I've had problems with filters that won't restart after they are unplugged or after an electricity failure.

Most of the time, I can get them back running, by totally dismantling the filter, cleaning the impeller, put everything back together and physically spin the impeller with a chopstick.  Then I fill it with tank water, hook up the input siphon and plug it back in.

Seems like it just needs an extra push to get it back to spinning.