Why the Power Filter Stops Working in Your Fish Tank

You will first need to figure out what type of filter system that you have. A undergravel filter system goes under the gravel. A canister filter system is located under your tank. A power filter system is hanging on the top of the aquarium. No matter what size the filter system is, they all have the same basic parts. You have now noticed that your filter system isn't working properly or isn't working at all. If your power filter system isn't flowing out as much water as usual it's probably because it needs to be cleaned.

You will want to unplug the filter system and bring it over to your sink. If the power filter isn't pushing out hardly any water you will want to take the lid off of the power filter and look at the carbon sponges. When is the last time that you changed your filter? You need to change your filter around once every 2 weeks, when you perform a water change. If too much gunk is on your filter cartridge, it will never flow properly. If you don't have a filter cartridge right now you will want to rinse off the cartridge in cold water and place it on the counter next to you.

You will now want to take all the parts off of your filter. Clean each part individually. You will first want to clean the lid. You can then clean any tubes that you may have which would include the intake tube. Be careful that you do not drop or break the impeller, which is located on the inside end of the intake tube. You will want to grab an old toothbrush to clean this tube out and remove all of the buildup from the inside of this tube. If you have any sprayer bars you will need to clean those as well. The bars shoot water onto the bio wheels if you have that type of power filter.

You will want to check the impeller to make sure that it looks fine. You will want to clean all the pieces in the filter system. Don't forget to rinse off the filter cartridges to get all of the grime off of them. If you cannot remove all of the waste off of them you can throw them away and purchase new ones as soon as possible. Now you will need to put everything back together after it's clean. You will want to make sure that the impeller reaches down to the motor which is below where the impeller needs to be. Hook up all intake tubes and place the filter back on your aquarium. If you plug it in and you start to hear noise, the filter was too dirty. If you plug it in and hear nothing, try to push down on the filter intake tube. Perhaps the impeller is not touching the motor. You may need to adjust the impeller to snap down into the motor as well. If you've tried everything, perhaps the motor is shot.