romance of canister filter

[mikehooi]

last week i bought a canister filter with the brand Diamond from a shop.
as soon as i run it the valve leak water.i bring back and change to SAVA canister filter which the shop say is taiwan made, the filter run for a night the next morning woke up,i saw my discus(red leopard,malboro) died ,and others gasping for air. i thought maybe my filter is not age but then i decided to open and see the filter inner organ....

guess wat...
the water inside was oily.....u can actually see the oil floating like ur laksa.gosh.......can u belive it....i wash the whole filter and is still oily,
i use carbon to filter it...do u think this will help?disaster.....cant contact the shop yet cos it still new year.somebody give me advice wat to do?

[tawauboy]

sorry to hear about the disaster.

when you ran the filter the first time, was the oily substance coming out from the filter? the oily substance is in the filter only?

have you tried to find out the source of the oily substance?
did you use lots of dish washing liquid to was the filter interior? you may have to resort to degreaser to remove the oil.

it would be better to get a refund from the shop. 2 faulty filters in a row...

[loupgarou]

the oil should probably be petroleum lubricant, i think in this case, it simply is excessive and a sign of poor qc. that's one of the reasons to stick to reputable brands.

[liuhao]

really a disaster. better stick to eheim or atman or hydro...

[mikehooi]

thanx guy for so caring

the filter i checked n found the source of the oil is the canister body(bucket) i use lots of detergent..mild one to clean the whole filter, i rinse it,soak it n do it all over for days. use a few packet of carbon at one time.now it safe for the discus. but there is something wrong with the fish now.even though i on the filter the fish will feel like lack of air and gasping for air at the surface,when i on the air pump there'e back to normal again.wats wrong???the canister absorb the oxygen?i cant go on like this,i will go crazy......cos this is a planted tank not a child tank which running air buble to make it look right.somebody tell me....pls...

the tank is 22gallon
ph 7.0
kh 3.0
temp 30C
canister filter
80 watt of FL

btw i plan to buy a fluval canister but i read a website that said canister is a just a low end technology so why waste on expensive stuff cos wat is matter is the media so decided for this cheapo SAVA filter.

[chua]

Hi,

I feel that the oil is not completely removed yet. When you run the canister filter, oil seep into the tank hence it cause your fish to gasp for air as its gill is affected. Once you use air pump, the fish becomes better. Do you see any oil on the surface of your tank?

And i don't really agreed with your last statement. Although the technology is easy, but some good brands like Atman is not too expensive. How much can you save thus it can prevent all your problem as well.

[loupgarou]

if your plants are not photosynthesising, your plants and your bio bacteria and fish are all consuming oxygen, you can run your air pump on timer at night.

[mikehooi]

actually that is not my statement.i read the website saying this.not me.
he is choosing between atman and eheim.

my intention is not SAVA.i bought a Diamond canister but it kaput as soon as i run it.so i bring back to change,trust me everything in the shop is 10-20%more expensive except the Diamond that kaput, the LFS guy then tell me SAVA is good,it has the eheim technology so i say yes. so the story goes....i wanted to bring back to change it but is CNY eve so i decided forget it,just accept my luck. the money i paid for this contaminated SAVA can buy a equivalent ATMAN on the same gallon per hour.so.....is my fault to save.....

but now what shall i do?take off the filter and wash again?there are no oil on the surface.shall i use more carbon?what is the degreaser?i m super tired of this filter but cant afford another cos i m still a student with tight budget.


somebody help........

[bclee]

Mike, you might be having a case of NH3 or NO2 poisoning. What is the timeframe that you took out the filter from the tank? (If the gills of the fishes looks brown instead of bright red, you are likely to be experiencing nitrite poisoning.)

Do a large water change, throw in some salt (1/4 tsp for your 22 gal should be sufficient), cut down on feeding and maintain the aeration.

Good activated carbon should adsorb the oil. That's a good move.

If the fishes are returning to normal after the aeration. Give it a week to see if it stabilises.

If you would like to change the filter, Fluval, Eheim, Rena and Hydor are some filters that have been used and proven.

BC

[mikehooi]

ok thanx again

if is a poisoning of this type(NH3,NO2) maybe is the filter havent establish yet.si does it mean the filter oil problem is not an issue anymore now?just wait the tank to cycle?

[mikehooi]

thanx for ur advice.
everything seems fine now.

thanx again.

[mikehooi]

now evrything is not fine......again.

last two morning i was suprised to c my tank temperature rise up until my thermoter kaput.i feel the water with my hand and it is very warm.i was suprised cos at night,no light is on.where the heat come from.

this morning is the same,very warm,i finally touch the canister head and it is very hot!!!so wat cause this?does this mean the canister filter need to reservice?the motor head got stuck???

gosh, anyone pls do give me some advise.

thanx

[|squee|]

Open up the cannistor, and check the impeller ( that thing that can be twisted, looks like a weather vane ) and see if there's anything in the circular chamber that it is enclosed in.

You know what? If I were you, I'd dump that cannistor right now, nad get a Eheim or Atman for a peace of mind. It has caused you so much trouble and time, and money.

[vinz]

I agree with Terence, get rid of the filter. If it overheat once (and in less then half year in service) it will do it again. The next time you might not have 2 days grace to discover it's overheating before it burns your home down.

When it comes to electricals, I rather spend more on a trusted brand then save and get something that might malfunction. And there are some brands from certain countries that I won't trust at all.

[mikehooi]

yeah agree with u both,actually i m very very regret to trust the guy who sell me this.i had been cutthroat by him,after sometime of buying i found out one thing that is the money i pay for this filter is same price of atman aledi for the same capacity.recently i go to CTY in penang i found out that the design is same for a few brand like nirox ,sava and another brand i forgot d.

if next time u c SAVA pls do think twice b4 proceed to buy.dun end up like me.


i will check the canister again when i reach home later
thanx,

[Green Baron]

I concur with the rest. Dump the canister and get one from a reputable brand. Even a 2nd hand from a reputable brand is better. You will have peace mind for at least the next 10 yrs !

[joestoys]

Bro, sorry to about your discus...

That why all my filter are eheim....x6 mostly 2nd hand but work perfectly well, keeping my finger cross.

BTW- is this a new tank, just setup, everything is new??? if yes, properly the water is not cycle yet. the tank is not totally clean


Or an old tank with aged water??? so what filter you use before??? you should run both filter the same time so the new filter media in the new filter, the BB can slowly build up before removing the old one.

[aquarius]

I recently spoke to a shop owner (don't want to mention the shop's name)and he told me that the quality of atman filters a few yrs back was good but the quality of present ones are not that good any more. He says that he's supplier received so many complaints about it that he gave up and started bringing in Dolphine brand - from japan. I initially had intention of getting the atman but after hearing what he said, i'm now a bit worried about getting the atman. Anybody who bought atman recently, experience any leakages, malfunction or problems??

[StephenL]

Yes, off-cos those guys in LFS will definetly said that to boost their sale of over-stock stuff, never trust them. the best is to find out from those reputed shops....
Mikehooi,
Guess you had to invest in higher range of canister filter such as ehiem...etc...rather than accepting what the guys in LFS offer. or
you can try to diy a wet-dry filteration, if your tank is 2 ft, you can try the external wet-dry filtration which really clears the waters and doesn't posde any problems to fish.
If you had a 4' or 5' tank, you can opt for an IOF wet-dry filtration which does the jobs equallt well.

[aquarius]

I have two eheim filter which i'm very very happy with the quality. Right now i need another filter for another of my tank but due to my tight budget, i'm thinking of getting an alternative like the atman. I guess after hearing what you said, i feel more confident about the atman instead of the dolphin brand. Than again, i might buy a second hand eheim filter from the bros at the forum.
Good quality but at a more affordable price!

Cheers