Filter won't start...help?

[themusician]

I just finished cleaning my tank, and now I can't get my filter to pump water. It makes noises like it's trying to, but the water never rises high enough to actually keep a steady stream going (I hope that makes sense). This has happened before, but I was able to get it going by constantly pouring water in the reservoir area of the filter until it started going on its own. This time, no dice.

It's a Penguin Bio-Wheel filter (not my first choice, but my Aquaclear burned out and this was my backup). Any tips for getting it going?

And if I can't get it going, A) will my fish be okay until this evening (about 8 hours) when I can get a new filter on there, and B) I would want to go back to using Aquaclear but I don't want to cycle the tank again...how could I utilize the existing bacteria on the Penguin filter cartridge?

[Northernguy]

It sounds like you havent cleaned the impellor and impellor port for a while.I do it every other week on mine and they are old.Never had a problem!

[themusician]

Would you happen to know how to access the impeller on this particular filter? My Aquaclear had a removable motor so I could get to it easily. This filter seems to be all one piece and I can't see how to get to the impeller.

EDIT: I tried rinsing out all parts of the filter except the media. I got a bunch of plant material out of the tube part that goes in the water, but not enough to clog it, I don't think. I took out all the media and rinsed the body of the filter with fast running water but nothing came out. It's still not working. I have to leave for work in about 45 minutes which is enough time to pick up a new filter, but unfortunately not enough to come back home and install it.

[PostalPenguin]

If you take the media out of the filter and just hang it in your aquarium it should work as a temporary fix until you get home. Maybe place it above an airstone so there is some water movement.

I think I have the same filter but without the biowheel and to get to the impeller you just pop out the intake tube. Pull it straight up and it should come out and reveal the impeller.

[Northernguy]

I have never owned the whisper.Just the ACs and I love them.
There has to be a way to clean it out.

[bushwhacker]

take the top off the filter lift up the intake tube and reseat it its probaly not in place i have that same filter and have to do that after cleaning it

[themusician]

Okay, I finally got it to run, thank you all for the advice. I located the impeller, but as far as I can tell there is no way to access it short of taping a q-tip to a pencil (which is exactly what I did!) and sticking it down the hole with the intake tube removed. I poked around for a while and removed a very small amount of gunk, but I'm not sure the fact that it's functioning now isn't just coincidence! Nevertheless, my fishies don't have to go filter-less all day, so they thank you.

(and you can bet I'll be buying a new filter anyway just in case this happens again!)

[fishlover49]

I pull my impellers out of a Whisper with a tweezers.