Aquarium Nightmare

[mteel7237]

I have a 75g with 6 discus. Came home Friday and one of my hoses on my Magnum 350 canister filter had somehow came off. At least 50g of water on the floor. Fortunately, all my discus survived (they were swimming on their sides with the lack of water depth).

Has anyone else had this issue before with the Magnum? The setup instructions were not real clear. So, I assuming that I did it wrong. I just had the hose pushed down over the plastic outtake tube at the top of the canister. I went to the local hardware store that day and purchased a couple of metal clamps.

I thought my fish-keeping days were about to end, but the wife took it well. The rug I had near the aquarium contained most of the spill (some of the water made it's way downstairs). That night I couldn't even sleep. Had to keep going downstairs to check on everything.

[Second Hand Pat]

I hate that walking on egg feeling. Here is to hoping the dang hoses stay on like they are suppose too.

[zchauvin]

Lol, I wonder about those hoses on my eheims as well. To me there should be some kind of clam not just ridges to hold the hoses on. Not sure about magnum as I have no experience with them.

[discolicious]

mine has threaded rings that you tighten upward, over the hose after you fit the hose on the valve. It tightens and grips the hose.

[Hsunami]

Heres what i use to make sure the hosing stays put. So far working Great! No leaks no nothing

http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq248/C0rnsnakes/DSC_0650.jpg


Bought it at home depot for a dollar. Very helpful to have.

[Jhhnn]

another way to limit water disaster is to keep the suction and discharge of canisters very near the water surface in the tank, even to drill holes in the rigid part of the tubing not far below the usual water level. The water loss from any sort of leak from the hoses or canister is minimized...

[Jhhnn]

mine has threaded rings that you tighten upward, over the hose after you fit the hose on the valve. It tightens and grips the hose.

That's how my cascade filters work, too...

[ericatdallas]

another way to limit water disaster is to keep the suction and discharge of canisters very near the water surface in the tank, even to drill holes in the rigid part of the tubing not far below the usual water level. The water loss from any sort of leak from the hoses or canister is minimized...

That sounds like a great idea! I hadn't even considered that. I did think to move the intake higher, but due to the sponge filter (I don't want it suspended high), it's about half way up. So not a total water loss, but still half the tank isn't going to be pleasant either. So let me make sure I understand... you drill a small hole in each hose? It'll lose some suction, but not enough to be too noticeable and if the water drops below that point, the hose loses vacuum and the siphon stops?


Heres what i use to make sure the hosing stays put. So far working Great! No leaks no nothing

Bought it at home depot for a dollar. Very helpful to have.

Hmmm... that's an interesting idea too... I'll have to check if that's workable with my filters as I have a few of those laying around anyway. Good insurance policy.

[Hsunami]

Hmmm... that's an interesting idea too... I'll have to check if that's workable with my filters as I have a few of those laying around anyway. Good insurance policy.

It shoudl work with all canisters that have the inbound and out bound tubing. Just turn the dial thing so it tightens around the bottom of the tubing then add that ring. They sell it in all sizes too. I have them on my FX5 tubing too. I thought of the idea after my tighter didn't really tighten and there was a small pool of water when i got home one evening. Added those metal rings and been zero spills and leaks. Works AWESOME highly recommended for everyone actually.

[Darrell Ward]

Never trust those plastic type hose attachment fasteners of any kind, ever! Even the fancy plastic screw down hose barbs that come with Eheim water pumps. I've had those allow the hose to blow off too. Always use metal ratchet type hose clamps that tighten down with a machine type screw. They never fail.

[Jhhnn]

That sounds like a great idea! I hadn't even considered that. I did think to move the intake higher, but due to the sponge filter (I don't want it suspended high), it's about half way up. So not a total water loss, but still half the tank isn't going to be pleasant either. So let me make sure I understand... you drill a small hole in each hose? It'll lose some suction, but not enough to be too noticeable and if the water drops below that point, the hose loses vacuum and the siphon stops?

Yeh, that's how it works. The holes must be below the normal water line in the tank & large enough to actually break the siphon, rather than just letting in some air. It's easy on the discharge ( return to tank) side. If you're not willing to raise a sponge prefilter up high, then drilling the tubing above the sponge will compromise its effectiveness. I just put the prefilter up high in my BB tanks- the discus are really the only ornamental part of my tanks... Can't have everything...

[strawberryblonde]

Never trust those plastic type hose attachment fasteners of any kind, ever! Even the fancy plastic screw down hose barbs that come with Eheim water pumps. I've had those allow the hose to blow off too. Always use metal ratchet type hose clamps that tighten down with a machine type screw. They never fail.

I just had that happen to me a few weeks ago. Only problem was that I didn't realize that the hose blew off because the motor wasn't working properly anymore and pressure was building up in the canister itself. Sooooo, I secured the hose back on and starting mopping up water only to have the seals fail on the canister. More water everywhere...lol

Holes drilled in the tubes in the tank would have minimized my carpet damage nicely. Wish I'd thought of that one.

[ericatdallas]

ok... no more procrastinating on replacing that gasket either :P

[Darrell Ward]

A bit of Vaseline on those rubber seals before installation helps them to seal better, and helps keep it from becoming brittle.

[ericatdallas]

Yeah, I do that, but I bought the filter used so I don't know how it was treated before I bought it. I've been using it for a year with no problems, but a little preventative maintenance for a $4 part never hurt anybody :)

I recently replaced the impeller stem because it snapped.