Three questions about my AC50 ...

[mermaidwannabe]

Okay. I tried again. It's back on the aquarium. This time, things did click together as they should, although I had to fiddle around with that stupid U-tube to finally get it into place. Now that I know what they're talking about with its positioning on the deck of the impeller housing (thanks to your clarifications here), I knew where and how it was supposed to go.

Here's what has happened, thus far:

When I filled the media chamber with water, it also flowed into the side with the impeller. I plugged the unit in, and it wheezed for about three seconds, then the waterfall action began. That was with the flow control valve wide open (maximum setting), as instructed. Once that waterfall action began, there was no more expelling of air, even though I unplugged it briefly as someone here suggested to do, and, after starting it, I continued pouring water into the media chamber -- both chambers, actually -- as someone here also suggested. When I plugged it back in, the waterfall action started right up again without any further wheezing. And no matter how long I poured water into it, this waterfall continued uninterrupted, with no stopping to expel anymore air.

My question is this: Was all the priming it was going to do completed within that three-second period that it made the wheezing sound? Once the waterfall starts, is the priming finished?

Next, I have found that pushing the flow control lever over to the right produces only a barely noticeable reduction in flow. It slows so slightly that unless one is paying attention, it doesn't appear to have slowed at all. When I turned the lever back to the maximum setting, the flow increased so slightly it was barely noticeable. And this was despite moving the lever all the way to the right and back all the way to the left, as far as it could do on either side.

My question is: Is there supposed to be a significant variation in the flow rate when that lever is moved from the extreme left to the extreme right, or is it normal for the change to be so slight?

My AC50 is only seven inches wide. I have noticed another full five inches of punch-out lid tab available to the left of it. An AC30 is five inches wide.

My third question is: Would it be okay to hook up an AC30 next to the AC50 and run them both together for additional filtration? That should provide a total of up to 80 gallons worth of filtration on my 20-gallon-high tank.

Finally, I am planning to remove the UGF, altogether. Can I do this right away, and should I put some Stability into the media chamber of the AC50? I scooped up some aquarium gravel into a nylon stocking (cut down to size) and placed in under the bio-max to seed the filter.

Is everything now running normally? Should I attempt to prime it any further, now that no more air seems to be escaping and the waterfall is pouring out smoothly and constantly, without any stoppage or interruptions?

Guess that's more than just three questions, but I need to be sure of these things.

Thanks -- mermaidwannabe

[dbosman]

Some filters take more than a few seconds. Mine usually take under a minute though. I wiggle the flow control lever from side to side to get rid of any remaining air bubbles. You apparently didn't have to. Great.

The flow control lever Should have some noticeable affect, but there isn't much reason to turn it down usually.

You can run another filter next to it but after the sponge is seeded, it won't really be doing much. Save it for the next tank, or leave it in place staying alive, ready for the next tank. ;-)

One thing you can do with your under gravel filter is put the intake of the Aqua Clear inside the lift tube. That will provide some upper layer skimming as water goes into the top of the lift tube and more biological filtration from the gravel bed. Some people hate that concept, but it still works and is ideal for freshwater shrimp.

[mermaidwannabe]

I take that to mean, then, that once the waterfall action begins, the priming process is finished, and no more effort is necessary in that regard. Am I understanding that correctly?

I noticed you said once the sponge is seeded .... The person who suggested I put aquarium gravel into the nylon sock to seed the filter said to place it beneath the bio-max (ceramic media in mesh bag). Should I have placed it on top of the foam sponge, instead?

The reduction in flow rate when I move the lever to the right is noticeable IF one is paying attention, but it isn't a drastic or even a significant decrease in flow rate. Just very, very slight. The waterfall only ebbs a tiny, tiny bit. Is this okay, or is something not quite right with that?

Is it okay now to completely remove my UGF? I will be putting Stability into the AC media chamber in a few minutes.

As always, I plan to continue doing my water changes and vacuuming the gravel, which has to be done regardless of the method of filtration.

Anything else I need to know about what I have done, here?

Thanks again -- mermaid

[Rue]

I have the AC 50 on my 25 g. Yes...the change in water flow is noticeable...you need to play with it to see what you want...I keep mine on 'full throtle'.

You can put the AC 30 on as well...but I think that's major overkill for a 20g.

[Taurus]

You shouldn't need an additional AC 30 on a 20 gallon tank. I run an AC30 and and AC50 on my 29 gallon tank because I have rather large fish in it for a 29 gallon tank.

Placement of the gravel under the biomax is correct because you want the gravel to seed the biomax. IMHO, it's ok to remove the UGF. But I would keep adding the Stability for a least a week or as directed on the bottle.

It takes an AC filter 30 seconds to more than a minute to prime and work all the air out of the intake and filter housing. I usually let the filter run for 5 minutes once prime is established and then go back and unplug the filter for 30 seconds or so to let the rest of any trapped air work its way to the top of the filter housing and then plug it back in. The just let it run. Nature will do the rest.

[mermaidwannabe]

Here's an update:

I noticed that as long as the cover is on the unit, the flow control lever slides all the way to the far side of the opening in the cover, itself, but doesn't slide the tube all the way to the far side of that elongated circle. I have to take the cover off to slide the tube all the way over to the opposite of that raised circle wall, and THEN the flow decreases substantially. And sliding it all the way back increases it substantially. But it won't go over far enough with the cover on the unit. The opening in the cover isn't long enough to allow that.

I took it back off the tank to further adjust the U-tube and seat it better. When I refilled the unit with water and plugged it back in, it did the wheezing sound for a full 10 seconds this time, before the waterfall action began. I took your advice, Taurus, and let it run for about five minutes (waterfall in full flow), then unplugged it for 30 seconds, and plugged it back in. No more air escaped, and the waterfall immediately started up as though it had never been turned off.

Again, my question is: Once the waterfall action has started, is the priming finished? It did not sit there and wheeze for 30 seconds to a minute, and once the waterfall started, there was no more stopping for further expulsion of air.

IS THIS OKAY ?????

Can I now just let the waterfall action continue without doing anything further, and can I conclude that the unit has primed and it only needed to do so for that 10-second period?

I really need to know what to expect, here ....

I am also wondering why the opening in the cover for that flow control valve isn't long enough to allow it to slide all the way to the other end of that elongated circle to effectively decrease the flow? Has anyone else found it necessary to remove the cover to slide it over as far as it needs to go to reduce the flow?

-- mermaid

[mermaidwannabe]

The AC50 appears to be working. The waterfall is flowing smoothly and constantly, and it's silent as a whisper. It hasn't really done any of the things you folks have told me it should for the lengths of time you've told me it should be doing it, but the water is still flowing and as far as I can tell, the thing is working. Maybe it's just that each unit has it's own individual method or length of time for priming, and in some cases, maybe there is so little air trapped that it really doesn't need to prime much, at all. And maybe that's okay for that particular unit.

I just don't know what else to conclude, here. It seems to be functioning.

I've noticed in the various responses to my previous thread that each person has had their own issues with their individual unit, and this just may be my issues with mine.

As long as that waterfall continues to flow vigorously, there's really nothing to worry about, right? That's the bottom line, or am I mistaken about that?

I will continue to add Stability for the next 7 days according to label directions. And the UGF comes out.

Thanks, everyone, for trying to help. If there is anything else I need to know, please inform me.

I'll upload a pic as soon as I can.

-- mermaid

[Lady Hobbs]

You need no more filters on that tank. Anymore will give too much current for the fish to swim in there.

I pour water in my filter box until it's full. When it starts dumping water, it's done.

You can simply pull that UGF out. You'll get some gunk that the filter will pick up or it will settle down again until you vac next time.

I had 3- AC110's. I notice very little difference from low range to high range. Almost none, in fact.

[mermaidwannabe]

That's what I thought. Thank you, Lady Hobbs.

Who knows, a different unit might have taken longer to prime -- I suspect it depends on how much air is trapped in there to begin with. If there isn't much, it's not going to need to expel much.

From time to time, I'll have to clean that filter as well as its media. Who knows? Maybe next time it will take it longer.

As long as it's flowing, it's filtering, I would assume.

Thanks again, and have a great Christmas!

-- mermaid