NewBettaOwner

I have a new Eclipse tank. I like it. The only problem I have with it - terrible pump noise/vibration. I have been through 3 pumps and 3 magnet impellers already. I thought I bought a defective unit. No, the same problem: the pump works really well (no vibrations, no noise) for 20-40 minutes and begins to make a terrible noise/vibration. It gets louder and louder, lasts for about 5 min, vibrations stop and the pump starts to work well again. I have taken apart and cleaned the impellers (don't know why, they are brand new), even soaked them in vinegar (an advice from Marineland CS rep), but nothing works. Has anybody had the same problem?

chickadee

The only time I ever had a problem with excess noise or anything with any of my Eclipse tanks (I have had 3 5gallon Hex, 1 3 gallon, 3 12 gallon and now a 25 gallon Eclipse set-ups) was when I did not get the impeller set into the hole just right and it tried to eat itself. Then there was the time I put the unit back into the water and plugged it in and it was not quite all the way snapped together. Otherwise when it was clean and working correctly I have not had any problem. It does not take much for them to get off center (impeller) so you may want to make absolutely sure it is snapped shut after checking on the centering.

That would be my only advise. If it gets to be too bad, I would discard the filter unit and just substitute a sponge filter which I did in the 5 gallon tanks when I thought the flow was too strong for my bettas. (before I got told about the baffles)

Rose

I hope this helps and you can find a solution as I really feel that the Bio-wheel filter is the finest filter and easiest to keep the cycle going with there is.

pamd

I have a three-gallon and a six-gallon Eclipse, and nothing like that happens with either of them. Not much help, I know, but Rose's insights sound like real possibilities. The Eclipse tanks seem very well designed and built, so it seems unlikely you got three bad units in a row, although I suppose it's possible if you got them from the same store they were all part of a bad batch. Did you ask if anybody else had the same problem?

King_Snuggles

the only time my 6 gal makes noise is when the filter has uncentered itself. i just wiggle it and it shuts up.

NewBettaOwner

Thanks a lot for your help. Finally I found out why the pump was so noisy. I put a heater in the small open area next to the filter unit. Metal in the heater interferes with the magnetic impeller and dislocates it. That's why it vibrated and made so much noise. As soon as I moved the heater away from the pump everything went to normal. Can you believe that?

luna

COBettaCouple

That's an interesting one, but I'm glad you found the problem.

Welcome to Fishlore.