Thinking of getting a Fluval G6 (media questions...)

[Christie_ZXR]

Mine's second hand sadly, although I was told it's still under warranty.

However...please don't laugh at me but I think I might have found the problem. When I put my new FE in I moved the filter over, and having had another look at it this morning, the out hose now has a loop in it. And I feel a tad silly. 😳 Looks like I'll have to actually clean the junk out of the other side of the cupboard and tidy everything up...

I know you said "please don't laugh at me", but.........



Sorry Christie, it had to be done. We have all done daft things so don't sweat it. My earlier flow problem was because I had put my Purigen bag in the top bio tray right by the flow grid ! DOH!

Glad its all sorted for you 🙂

Thanks for your sympathy!!

 

[Antipofish]

Hehe Christie, I expect nothing less in return 😉

 

[Antipofish]

Hi, to all you G6 users.... How often do you replace the prefilter cartridge ? After only 4 weeks, mine is filthy and is really fluffy from cleaning. I thought it ought to last longer than this ?

 

[Ady34]

Havnt changed mine since i bought them 7 months ago, i alternate 2.
Mine havnt gone 'fluffy' or deteriorated in any way, although they are always brown now!
Ady.

 

[Antipofish]

Havnt changed mine since i bought them 7 months ago, i alternate 2.
Mine havnt gone 'fluffy' or deteriorated in any way, although they are always brown now!
Ady.

Do you scrub yours inside and out with the brish thing that the filter comes with Ady ?

 

[Ady34]

Yeah, i brush immeditaely after removal in water, then leave to dry until the next water change and swap it with the running one.

 

[Antipofish]

Yeah, i brush immeditaely after removal in water, then leave to dry until the next water change and swap it with the running one.

Weird. Cannot think whats happened to it then. Do you find you get much dead plant material in yours ? I am also finding that when I restart my filter I am getting quite a lot of gunk flow into the tank via the return. Could it be my pipes are caked inside in muck ? Also is there a way of cleaning the Hydor external heaters ? Cheers.

 

[Gary Nelson]

Hi guys, I just thought I'd let you know what was causing my low flow rate after I gave my G6 a clean. After lots of testing and scratching my head it seems it was the 'thrust bearing' (well I think that what it's called) its the little washer that comes as a spare - part of the impeller assembly - when I removed the existing one and compared it to the new one the old one did look I fraction thinner.... Not much though!

When I replaced it and fired the filter up it went straight to full flow... Thank god.

Now my question is where do you buy these from as I'd like to think I have a couple spare I case the same thing happens again.

I've had a look on the net and cant seem to locate any?

 

[Antipofish]

Hi guys, I just thought I'd let you know what was causing my low flow rate after I gave my G6 a clean. After lots of testing and scratching my head it seems it was the 'thrust bearing' (well I think that what it's called) its the little washer that comes as a spare - part of the impeller assembly - when I removed the existing one and compared it to the new one the old one did look I fraction thinner.... Not much though!

When I replaced it and fired the filter up it went straight to full flow... Thank god.

Now my question is where do you buy these from as I'd like to think I have a couple spare I case the same thing happens again.

I've had a look on the net and cant seem to locate any?

If only I could even FIND mine !!!

 

[Ady34]

where do you buy these from as I'd like to think I have a couple spare I case the same thing happens again.

I've had a look on the net and cant seem to locate any?

Hi Gary,
pleased youve sorted the issue.
Im sure your stockist or any other stockist will be able to source them as they will be a listed spare.
Cheerio,
Ady.

 

[Ady34]

Weird. Cannot think whats happened to it then. Do you find you get much dead plant material in yours ? I am also finding that when I restart my filter I am getting quite a lot of gunk flow into the tank via the return. Could it be my pipes are caked inside in muck ? Also is there a way of cleaning the Hydor external heaters ? Cheers

Hi Chris,
i do think there is a temptation to try too hard when cleaning these pre filters, i now literally just run the brush through it about 10 times max in a bucket of water then leave to dry.
Little bits of allsorts of tank debris end up in mine! I try to manually remove any trimmings or 'fallen' leaves before they enter the filter to reduce organic waste build up through deterioration.
With regard the detrius return itll definitely be material from the pipes, i occasionally get some which im sures some pipe cleaners would sort out if i could be bothered..... its probably these details that seperate the very successful tanks from the rest!
I imagine a pipe cleaner would also clean the hydor too, but dont quote me on that as i dint know the inner workings and wouldnt like to think i suggested it and you wrecked yours!
Cheerio,
Ady.

 

[Antipofish]

Weird. Cannot think whats happened to it then. Do you find you get much dead plant material in yours ? I am also finding that when I restart my filter I am getting quite a lot of gunk flow into the tank via the return. Could it be my pipes are caked inside in muck ? Also is there a way of cleaning the Hydor external heaters ? Cheers

Hi Chris,
i do think there is a temptation to try too hard when cleaning these pre filters, i now literally just run the brush through it about 10 times max in a bucket of water then leave to dry.
Little bits of allsorts of tank debris end up in mine! I try to manually remove any trimmings or 'fallen' leaves before they enter the filter to reduce organic waste build up through deterioration.
With regard the detrius return itll definitely be material from the pipes, i occasionally get some which im sures some pipe cleaners would sort out if i could be bothered..... its probably these details that seperate the very successful tanks from the rest!
I imagine a pipe cleaner would also clean the hydor too, but dont quote me on that as i dint know the inner workings and wouldnt like to think i suggested it and you wrecked yours!
Cheerio,
Ady.

OK cheers mate. I am amazed to think that a degraded prefilter could give rise to a 40% reduction in flow. Im thinking it might be this damn o ring thing. And I did have it when I got the filter but cannot for the life of me think where it is. Now I have to search high and low !

 

[Antipofish]

sorry double posted so this one removed..

 

[Antipofish]

Re: Thinking of getting a Fluval G6 ..

Hi guys, well it was not the prefilter causing the issue. It was, I suspect, the impellor. I don't know if it should make any difference as they both look the same to me, but I swapped the rubber bushes at either end of the shaft and now its running at 100%. I also cleaned the pipes but to be honest they were not that dirty. All good now though

On a note worth remembering....

CHEAP PREFILTERS: I was at Maidenhead Aquatics, Hickstead, yesterday and managed to pick up a new prefilter cartridge for £19.99 !! From what I can gather this is a price point that M.A. have decided to adopt nationwide. Good news for us G club members. (The G3 prefilter is cheaper than normal too).

 

[Gary Nelson]

Re: Thinking of getting a Fluval G6 ..

Hi guys, well it was not the prefilter causing the issue. It was, I suspect, the impellor. I don't know if it should make any difference as they both look the same to me, but I swapped the rubber bushes at either end of the shaft and now its running at 100%. I also cleaned the pipes but to be honest they were not that dirty. All good now though

On a note worth remembering....

CHEAP PREFILTERS: I was at Maidenhead Aquatics, Hickstead, yesterday and managed to pick up a new prefilter cartridge for £19.99 !! From what I can gather this is a price point that M.A. have decided to adopt nationwide. Good news for us G club members. (The G3 prefilter is cheaper than normal too).

This is good to know - where did you purchase the 2 rubber bushes from? I think I need to change mine as flow is displaying only half on the gauge again 🙁 it did improve when I first swapped it for the spare thrust bearing though.
Everything is clean on mine as well, including all pipes.

 

[Ady34]

Hi Gary,
id consider contacting your supplier as there is warranty with these filters. If youve tried everything it may just need replaceing.
Ady.

 

[Antipofish]

Hi Gary,
id consider contacting your supplier as there is warranty with these filters. If youve tried everything it may just need replaceing.
Ady.

I didnt actually replace mine, sorry if it read like that. I swapped them round end to end. I dont know if they are the same item, or one is meant to go one end and the other at the other, but thats what i did. Course, it could have been a case of the whole impeller not being seated just right. Impellors in general seem to be damn finnicky things. Not just fluval but Calzone seems to be having issues with his Eheim too.

 

[Ady34]

I didnt actually replace mine, sorry if it read like that. I swapped them round end to end. I dont know if they are the same item, or one is meant to go one end and the other at the other, but thats what i did. Course, it could have been a case of the whole impeller not being seated just right. Impellors in general seem to be damn finnicky things. Not just fluval but Calzone seems to be having issues with his Eheim too.

I meant in Garys case the whole filter may need replacing as hes changed the 'thrust bearing' and tried everything else he can think of.
Ady.

 

[Gary Nelson]

Hi Gary,
id consider contacting your supplier as there is warranty with these filters. If youve tried everything it may just need replaceing.
Ady.

Yes I think I will have to Ady, it's only 7wks old - I had it from Sea Pets as an online order. I just hope they don't ask me to return it before a replacement can be sent though as I don't fancy having no filtration on my tank 🙁 besides half my media is from my old Ehiem which was nice an mature.

 

[Ady34]

Hi Gary,
you would hope that there are measures in place to overcome this type of issue and that a replacement filter be issued whilst yours is beeing looked at. This way you can add your existing mature media to a new unit without any upset to the tank.
I suppose its just a case of contacting them to see what the policy is on this, with it being an expensive item you would hope that seapets or infact hagen would be trying their utmost to help you out, fingers crossed, it must be very frustrating.
Cheerio,
Ady.