Filter Life-Span

[themusician]

How long should/does a filter usually last? Is Aquaclear still considered to be one of the most reliable brands of filters?

(asking because my Aquaclear recently bit the dust after only about 10 months of "service"...trying to decide whether to buy a new one or stick with the cheap backup filter I have going now)

[bluekrissyspikes]

i've only been in the hobby for just over 2 years, but i've yet to have a filter kick the bucket on me. one is working kinda messed up right now though, but it's about a year and a half old but it's because my fish keeps attacking it.

[MrDrums]

Jeez, it's hard to say. I had a cheap filter that ran in a 20 gallon tank for years and years. My current filter I have had for a year.....may be luck of the draw, but on the other hand you do get what you pay for. Cheap is cheap, and you do take a chance. May be worth it to get something more reliable.

[cocoa_pleco]

ive heard of people with good brand filters like fluval have the same filter running straight for 15 years, i know a guy who has had the same fluval running since 1983. with cheaper brands, you are probably getting a short lifespan

[themusician]

Is Aquaclear considered to be a "cheap" brand? I thought I did a lot of research before buying it, but is there something I should be looking at instead? It's for a 20 gallon tank.

[cocoa_pleco]

aquaclears a good brand

[Sniffles]

I agree aquaclears are a good brand. I have them on all my tanks for back up,one of my 70's is at least 6 years old.

[terrapin24h]

i think your AC failing after 10 months is a rarity *at best*. You may even want to play the lotto for a bit. They have a reputation here and with other fish-people i know to be a top end filter. That being said, now that you have to buy a filter, might be a good excuse to go canister ;)

--chris

[Lady Hobbs]

Is it running at all? Like, can you hear it hum or anything? If you hear nothing it's probably the motor but if it's making a racket it could just be the impeller.

[Red]

try taking the impelller out... i have to because i have lots of pets and the impeller gets wrapped around with hair and other stuff

[themusician]

Is it running at all? Like, can you hear it hum or anything? If you hear nothing it's probably the motor but if it's making a racket it could just be the impeller.

A week or so before the filter died, it wouldn't turn on after I did a tank cleaning. I discovered through trial and error that if I pushed down on the impeller it would start spinning. It seemed that the motor was running but the impeller wasn't connected. Once it started running it seemed to be fine, but I put on a backup filter just in case.

Several days later I came home from work to find it not running again. The impeller wasn't spinning and the motor was HOT. I immediately unplugged it and I've been running the backup filter ever since.