# URGENT: Filter has stopped pumping water



## LloydTheSnail

*URGENT: Filter has stopped pumping water [Solved]*

I have a 9 gallon tank with two goldfish sized fish and an apple snail. It was building up in algae recently, but my snail had recently discovered it and has started to clear most of it.

Last night I fed the fish, switched off the tank light, then accidentally switched off the filter. I then turned it back on, and while it makes its usual buzzing sound to indicate it was active it has not been pumping water. I've taken the pump out, and put water through it and some seems to trickle out the other side. 

I did a search and found that cleaning it may help and it could be clogged. I was going to clean the tank anyway as it was getting dirty and near the time of needing a refill.


The filter has been off for about 12 hours now, I'm panicking the bacteria in the filter has died
Should I clean the tank and do a refill even though the filter isn't working, to see if it is just a clog
The filter sounds like its working, but no water flows, to clarify
Could it be it has broken? Why would turning it off do this?
I am contacting the manufacturer as we have a 12 month guarantee, however I don't know how long it would be for replacement filter... what should I do in the meantime to make sure there are no fatalities, I'm really scared of losing my fish or snail :c

All help appreciated. :c


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## jrman83

What brand filter is it?


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## LloydTheSnail

jrman83 said:


> What brand filter is it?


I'll check when I get home. But why would it make a difference.


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## Gizmo

LloydTheSnail said:


> The filter has been off for about 12 hours now, I'm panicking the bacteria in the filter has died
> Should I clean the tank and do a refill even though the filter isn't working, to see if it is just a clog
> The filter sounds like its working, but no water flows, to clarify
> Could it be it has broken? Why would turning it off do this?
> I am contacting the manufacturer as we have a 12 month guarantee, however I don't know how long it would be for replacement filter... what should I do in the meantime to make sure there are no fatalities, I'm really scared of losing my fish or snail :c


Your fish will be fine for quite awhile with the filter off (days, in my estimation), unless it is a brand new tank with no established bacteria colonies. True, most bacteria resides in your filter, but there is still a healthy amount of bacteria in your tank's substrate and the bacteria in the filter takes days to die off completely. Two of the three main advantages of a filter are to provide current and surface agitation to promote gas exchange. You could easily substitute for this by buying an air pump, air tubing, and an air stone, and inserting an air stone into your tank to generate a bubble column. This will serve to oxygenate the water and provide some current.

You need to overhaul your filter. Unplug it, pull it apart, and clean everything except the filter media. Focus on the motor housing and impeller, and try to unmount both to clean them better. Set the filter back up, but don't turn it on until you prime it. This involves flooding the filter with water, especially in the impeller housing. Otherwise, you will "air lock" your impeller and it will not pump. An easy way to do this is to have a cup or pitcher of water in-hand when you turn the filter on, and pour water into the filter as it starts up.

If you turn on the filter and can hear buzzing but notice no flow, you may have to jog the impeller. Remove enough parts in the filter that you can access the impeller and bump it with your finger. I do this often with my Haagen AquaClear 50 and my Tetra Whisper 10. It's just a sign of wear on the motor, nothing to worry about.

Remember - the impeller can spin for awhile in air, but eventually the motor will overheat and burn up. That happens after hours though, so you should be fine troubleshooting for a bit.

If all the above methods fail, swap out your filter media for fresh stuff. Clogged filter media may be responsible for restricting flow. And don't forget to clean the inlet tube and prefilter on the inlet opening!


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## automatic-hydromatic

yup, sounds like an air lock

fill the tank up, hang the filter on the back, insert the filter media, and then as gtm says fill the entire filter housing up with water using a cup until it begins to run out of the filter outlet

then plug the pump in and it SHOULD kick in and start pumping water after a few seconds


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## jrman83

LloydTheSnail said:


> I'll check when I get home. But why would it make a difference.


 Well, some have known issues that people on here have dealt with before that you may now be dealing with. Trying to talk you through how to get it working would be much faster in getting it working, unless you're just bent on buying a new one before you get home.


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## LloydTheSnail

Thank you, I think it was air lock. I submerged the filter and it started working again. What I think happened is before when I did the refill I didn't do it fully to the level it was before. After the filter made that level smaller by consuming some of the water, and mixed with slight evaporation, the level had dropped so when I turned it off it seemed to not want to turn on again (well thats my theory anyway). 

I cleaned the filter in tank water and did a partial refill, with water ager, and a little biological supplement just in case. Its now working again!

Thank you so much, I was so stressed. :U


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