emperor 280???

[bennett]

since a couple w/c's ago my back canister has been too full w/ water. The left section is filled above the media cartridges and the right section overflows into the aquarium so all the water does not get filtered through the media. Why is this filling up so much? I've tried letting it empty out, filling the canister w/ aquarium water & it still fills up too high. For the first 4-6 weeks I had this filter going it never did this. What's the deal? could I be filling my aquarium too much after w/c's so the pressure is too great for the filter? LEt me know your thoughts
Thanks
B

[GulfCoastDiscus]

Have you tried cleaning your filter media. It could be clogged. Use tank water to rinse out the filter media.

dan

[Carol_Roberts]

Dan is correct. Your filter media (sponges) are full of mulm. Rinse them thoroughly in a bucket of dechlorinated, warm water. Squeeze, Squeeze, Squeeze ;)

p.s. I have a well - no chlorine, so I rinse mine right under the faucet. It may take several buckets of water until the sponges squeeze clear water.

[oodi]

In addition to rinsing and squeezing, banging them against the side of the bucket also helps remove the mulm that builds up in the sponges and inhibits water flow.

Judi
:)

[bennett]

will do...how often should I completely replace these cartridges?

[Carol_Roberts]

Oh . . . . you are using those blue cartridges containing carbon. Does it contain two? Replace those with sponges.

Go buy whisper sponges (or any brand aquarium sponge). Replace a cartridge with a sponge each week - you have a bio wheel to help maintain bio filtration. I filled my Empeoror 400's with sponges when I was still using them. As they died I replaced them with Aqua Clear's.

You will never have to buy replacement cartridges again. rinse and reuse sponges forever ;D

[Jason]

I wasn't happy with the emporor filters either, I'm sending mine to Al for his school projects...too dificult to fit a pre-filter over the intake

[bennett]

carol -
there are (2) "cartridge" filters in the canister, the first (closest to the tank) is a greyish color (I believe this is full of carbon filtration media), the emperor directions say not to replace this one but the second is the blue sponge w/ a black plastic back that contains carbon filtration. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're suggesting to replace the blue filter cartridge w/ just an aquarium sponge and rinse that out once a week? Leave the grey plastic cartridge? Thanks for your suggestions.
B