Top fin 37 filter has no suction and makes a loud noise

[Guest]

I bought the top fin 37 gallon essentials kit I ordered 2 goldfish online they came so I was just putting in the filter and it doesn’t work the fish are inside the tank and I am panicking right now because I just can’t get the filter to work I have tried putting water in before but it still didn’t work the filter just makes a loud rattling noise and doesn’t suck up any water

 

[ppate1977]

Concerning just the filter, it sounds like an impeller issue.

 

[Guest]

What does that mean is it broken or can it still work?

 

[ppate1977]

Probably broken. Can you move the impeller? It's like a little fan on the end of a stick that spins in the filter.

 

[Guest]

Yes I can move it

 

[Jonmott]

Brand new tank? Make sure to do a water change to keep ammonia below .25 while your filter is down, any established media you can get a hold of?

 

[Guest]

But is there anyway I can fix the filter

 

[Kellye8498]

But is there anyway I can fix the filter

I have a quiet flow filter that has a motor not strong enough to self start after unplug or power outage unless the tank was completely filled to the rim. If your tank has some room for water you can always try that. It was really irritating so I ended up buying a canister filter about a week ago and threw the cartridge floss in to seed it because I can’t keep having a filter that was so hard to start. It would take several minutes of dumping cups of tank water into the filter to get it to start. So I would suggest trying to make sure that the tank is totally full to get it to start or just pouring cups of water in there and see what happens and if it starts. If not you may be able to return it to the store for replacement if it’s new.

Here is a thread regarding the filter you have and what people are saying about it:
Topfin Silentstream Power Filter 40- Keep Or Replace? | Aquarium Filter Forum | 349004