Pump Problems and Heating Issues

[froggsong]

you lost me there, lol...

[beckdg]

fluval fx5... big canister filter for large tanks. the pump is so strong it pulls oxygen out of the water. everyday it has to let the gas go up the output tube and the siphon action fills it back up... then it cuts back on.

anyway... it's a common thing when you restrict the input of a stronger pump. on weaker pumps they simply don't pump as much... or at all.

[froggsong]

It seems to be a tiny bit slower than it was, but nothing like it was before. I think it will work for now. If it dies on me again, I'll just use a different pump or filter.

Thanks for the help, friend, I appreciate how quick you were to respond.

[froggsong]

So that can be a problem even with an in tank pump? This one isn't a canister, it's just a pond pump I pulled out of the case to use to power what was going to be a very tall water feature.

[beckdg]

i would think it would be more of an issue since... where would the air go but in the impeller housing. i believe the fx5 has a bottom feeding pump for this reason... so the air collects at the top.

of course orientation and design of the pump itself would make all the difference also.

[froggsong]

hmmm... you're right. It's too bad I couldn't get it to work with the impeller housing facing up... If I had more pipe to use I could have done it, but's it's got a horizontal orientation atm.

[beckdg]

might be a good idea to put filter sponges AROUND the intake and then the sock over it. that way it's unobstructed and when it gets mucked up in the middle it can reach outward within the pocket you've created.

make sense?

[froggsong]

no. sorry... I'm having trouble picturing that...

You mean make a filter box for it, right? Just out of foam or whatever (I bought an extra one of those furnace filters to use for filter media, so I can use that if necessary).

If I don't do that, when it does start getting clogged (I know it will, and much more quickly than if I made a filter for it), I CAN just pull that piece of pipe out of the other one and clean it. I would like to make a filter box for it though. Preferably one that I can easily change media in.

[beckdg]

i'm talking about making a gap between you stocking and the pump. when the flow directly in front of the intake (where the gap and the stocking is) it'll want to pull more from the regular filter media.

p.s. i see you're trying to get your post count up... good for you, lol.

[froggsong]

stupid internet connection... ::growls::

ok... I feel totally stupid atm. I'm sure I'm just saying all this for my own benefit, but I'm going to actually explain how I have the pipes set up, then you can tell me if I'm thinking along the right lines for what you're talking about (I apologize for the stupidity, I've pulled my back again somehow and the pain is very distracting).

Ok, so I have a piece of conduit that I'm using for the intake pipe. It is an 1" pipe, and it curves 90 degrees. One end of the pipe is 1", the other is bigger and a 1" pipe fits snugly inside. I have the small end of the conduit attached to the pump, and the larger end has a piece of 1" PVC fitted into it. The piece of PVC has a few holes drilled into it (it's the only piece I had) and a tube made of that filter media inside of it lining the end of the pipe and the holes.

There is another piece of conduit on the outflow, same size, but a 45 degree angle. The small end is on the outflow from the pump and the large end is where the water comes out.

The pump has a horizontal orientation, with a slight upward bend to the long pipe so it doesn't get nestles into the sand ands start sucking it up.

I didn't put the stocking back on, yet (if I even do).

So, what you are saying is to make a box or tube out of filter media, with the stocking on the outside, right?

Basically like those little skimmer boxes they put on the ends of HOB filter intakes, correct?