Cannister filter mulfunctioning

Our canister filter is quite noisy today: the intake tube is making a sucking sound and there are bubbles near the intake in the tube, the canister itself is making noises as if someone were playing a drum inside, and the filter briefly stopped outputting water today, though when I hit the prime button it started again. What should I do?

 

Hmmm sounds like their is air in it.

1. Turn off the filter for about 2 minutes and see if it fills with water. If nothing happened, try primeing the filter and see if anything happens.

2 if that doesn't work there might be an air leak I'm not sure how you could check on that but the black tube that water seals the filter might need vaseline.

3 if all this doesn't work I would try taking it apart and cleaning it .

Also what kind of filter do you have and how old is it

 

I wonder whether the air could have been coming in through the surface skimmer due to the water level being lower due to water evaporation. I have a Sunsun filter, and it is new.

EDIT: Alternatively I could have not tightened parts enough I think. I've had this filter two weeks now, and I had what seemed like the same issue on Saturday when the filter stopped functioning, and in hindsight I think there was air in it then as well. I shall troubleshoot it this evening (at work now). Thankfully I have a reliable sponge filter too.

 

Hmmm sounds like a mystery. What do you mean by skimmer the intake?

 

It's a feature that I think may be unique to Sunsuns or anyway not common in most filters. I have seen it referred to as surface skimmer (it's not the same as protein skimmer for saltwater though). What this Sunsun feature looks like it is another pipe connected to filter intake, and it bops on the surface creating additional surface disturbance, and some dirt off of surface or duckweed for example gets to this tube off of surface. To be honest I am not sure I fully understand this feature, but it is there and has an opening at the surface, and I wonder whether air could get in through that if water level has dropped too low due to evaporation.

 

So on Saturday I removed the skimmer, and the filter worked until this evening, then drum roll sounds in cannister, bubbles in tube, filter stops again. I got it to work again. My theory is that somewhere near the intake air is getting in. What I don't understand is why it works for days at a time, and then malfunctions. sigh.

 

Hmmmm I would assume an airstone is no where near the intake. Hmmm. As a last resort if the filter has a stop valve I would take it and separate the air hoses and the filter. Than remove everything from the filter and set it in treated water than submerge the filter body under water. Than take the tubing and do the same but keep the ends above water. If there are any bubbled that's where an air leak would be. Also the air leak may be very small and builds up and than causes noises.

 

Skimmer = spray bar. Same thing, different names. You could try contacting the supplier and they might work with you on replacing it. I remember Jaysee saying the ebay sellers are really good about that, though I'm not sure where you got yours.

 

I got mine on eBay. I will contact the seller next time if the filter malfunctions again. Call me an optimist, but I kind of hope that my futzing with the intake this evening perhaps resolved e issue. Anyway, it's working for now.

I really need to resolve this issue before we go on a one week or slightly longer vacation. the vacation is still about two months away, but when we leave, I cannot expect the neighbor to troubleshoot the filter for me when she comes in to feed the fish.

Question: does anyone know whether in an emergency if the canister filter malfunctioned at the beginning of a 7-10 day vacation, since I also have a sponge filter in this 29 gallon tank, and the sponge filter is rated for 40 gallons, would this sponge filter be strong enough to keep the fish alive and healthy enough until I return? Most likely at the time of my vacation I will have 1 bn pleco, 8 danios, 6 cories, 3 platies, a bunch or MTS and pond snails. Although I may not have stocked all of those yet by that time. I am assuming that I would need to give my neighbor the instruction that in the event if the cannister filter stops before I return but the sponge filter keeps running, then do not feed the fish at all until I return to reduce the bioload - would that suffice?

 

yes if your filter did happen to malfunction I would tell her not to feed them. Also before I leave I would throughly clean the gravel

 

I don't have gravel. I have sand, and yes I will run the gravel vac over the sand before I leave, which is something I do every week anyway. I have the MTS that are aerating the sand, plus by then I will likely have the cories digging in the sand, so I think that will be fine.