Has anyones aquaclear HOBS ever overflowed? I have 50 gallon HOB AC with just a sponge and carbon, no ammonia remover, it looked like the carbon was going to flow out of the compartment into the tank and the water level rised with the carbon and was dripping fast down the side of the filter, good thing i caught it went I did or I would've had a big mess. Any similar experiences with an HOB.
Has anyones aquaclear HOBS ever overflowed?
- Thread starter daboyprince23
- Start date
yup
i came home one night to hear the sound of rushing water that sounded a bit different than the normal overflow
when i rounded the corner into my basement fish room there was my african fry grow out tank 50% emptied i thought the tank had cracked or something and i freaked until i got to the tank an realized that the filter basket hat kiltered itself up
since then i have made it my policy to include a regular checking of the filter baskets every day or so just to make sure plus i make sure to do a regular clean of the filter/canister so as to keep any of them from building up an bacteria atom bomb
i came home one night to hear the sound of rushing water that sounded a bit different than the normal overflow
when i rounded the corner into my basement fish room there was my african fry grow out tank 50% emptied i thought the tank had cracked or something and i freaked until i got to the tank an realized that the filter basket hat kiltered itself up
since then i have made it my policy to include a regular checking of the filter baskets every day or so just to make sure plus i make sure to do a regular clean of the filter/canister so as to keep any of them from building up an bacteria atom bomb
daboyprince23;2690674; said:
HAHA, this brings back fond memories.
About 9 years ago I had a AQ50 on a 55 gallon tank, and the media got dirty and caused the 2 foam blocks I had in there to float up which caused the water to flow over the foam and onto the floor.
Since I had added extra tubes to the intake, the intake was near the bottom of the tank so that nearly ALL of the 55 gallons ended up on the floor. Man it sucked majory. Luckily that was a rental house LOL.
From the Hagen line all I use now are the 110's/500's. They have little plastic notches on both sides to help hold the media basket holder down. I am not sure if the smaller versions use those.
In my experience with the AQ is that once the sponge gets really dirty it will want to rise. This is the only complaint I really have with an otherwise great filter.. uh and I hate that they rattle alot.
It will usually show you signs that it needs to be cleaned prior to getting that far. The media basket will rise and you should hear the lid rattling if you pay close enough attention. Matter of fact I need to clean one of mine today as it has been rising for 2 days 
The only way the filter can overflow is if it's angled improperly.
If you use the black plastic multi-sided piece that goes on the bottom of the filter to tilt the filter so the back is higher than the front it can't overflow, that's why it included with the filter. If you've lost that piece just stick something between the bottom of the filter and the back of the tank.
If you use the black plastic multi-sided piece that goes on the bottom of the filter to tilt the filter so the back is higher than the front it can't overflow, that's why it included with the filter. If you've lost that piece just stick something between the bottom of the filter and the back of the tank.
Bawb2u;2692017; said:
No I think you missed the point. The filter baskets lift up causing the water to flow up and over the filter regardles of the angle. Keeping it clean will help prevent this from happening though.
heavyhitter;2694306; said:
No, I understand, I think you're missing the simple physics. Water takes the path of least resistance. If the back of the filter is higher than the front of the filter, the water will flow to the lowest point which will be the tank. Even with the baskets lifted there is plenty of room for the water to flow around or under it. The sides and back are built higher for this reason. I've been using Aquaclear filters for probably 20 years and have had some seriously gunked up but have never had one overflow onto the floor.