# Can't Prime my Filter



## Danja (May 21, 2012)

EDIT: I got it to work; turns out that they're 100% serious when they instruct you to cut the tubes. I called PetCo and they confirmed that I could return the filter if it didn't work even if I had already performed the vasectomy.

Since I can't delete this, I might as well ask my remaining question: How am I supposed to populate the filter with bacteria? On my old hanging filter I would just pour the bacterial medium from the bottle onto the filter cartridge. I supposed I could open up the new filter and do the same but I suspect it would be quite a wet experience. Can I rely on the pump to suck in the bacteria from the water?



Hello all,

My hanging filter broke so I went out in search of a new filter. This was my fourth that broke over the course of the last year so I searched Google a bit more intensely than before and found that hanging filters are easily destroyed by sand, which my aquarium uses. The sites advised to use a canister filter instead. I obediently went out to my local PetCo for a look. My aquarium is 10 gallons but I am moving in a month and getting a bigger tank (on the order of 30-50 gallon), so I looked at the intermediate options. The smallest thing they had (other than the nano pumps, which seemed too small and didn't have long enough tubes to reach the floor from my aquarium stand) was a Penn-Plax Cascade 700.

I asked the employee in charge of the fish section if I could use it in my 10 gallon and he replied affirmatively, saying that I would only need to turn down the intake and outtake valves. I purchased the pump, came home, and for the last two hours I've been trying to set it up. 

I followed the instructions as well as I could; as far as I can tell, the only thing I omitted was cutting down the rubber tubes (so that I could return the system if I had problems right away). I had some trouble at the end because the plastic intake tube is too tall for my aquarium; I currently have it only half-way submerged. Other than that I did what was instructed. However, when I started priming the pump, the water would not get sucked in. There's a manual pump on top of the apparatus that you're supposed to pump continuously; after a while, the water from the tank is supposed to siphon into the pump. I pumped and pumped, and no siphoning occurred. After several repeated attempts, I did what I used to do with my hanging filters when they wouldn't self-prime: I just opened it up and poured (purified) water inside. In this case it took a whole gallon but I filled it up as much as I could, tried to prime it again, and still no joy. I tried to plug it into the wall just to see if it would go, and so far the motor just makes a clicking noise.

Did I do the setup wrong? Is not cutting the tubes down likely to be the problem? Is it the fact that there's not enough water pressure from gravity where the intake valve opens? Help me out please; my fish have been without a filter for a couple days and I need to resolve this soon.

Thanks!


----------



## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Glad you got it to work.I myself dont use the bacteria in a bottle stuff.If you have a filter cart thats already cycled and is still wet,you can turn the intake and outflow off,unplug the filter,open the top and most canisters will have room under the very last basket,or even in a basket where you can place the cartridge.If its too big,then cut the floss part off and put it in,that should at the very least keep it partially cycled.

Oh and as a future note,when you have the filter on,never turn the intake down for the flow it will put strain on the motor.Always turn the outflow part down instead.


----------



## Danja (May 21, 2012)

Thanks a lot for the tip; much appreciated.


----------

