Was just wondering if a lot of people have had thier aqua clear filters over flow on them. I currently own two aqua clear 200's and want to make sure that this doesn't happen to me. So far they seem to work quite well for me. Is there some reason why they overflow? Thanks for any and all input.

I am wondering if you are asking because you saw my post about them, or if you had heard it else where.

Anyway - in case you heard it elsewhere - YES. Mine have overflowed. Too many times. I will not use them except in an emergency. I am very disappointed in them.

Your post was actually one of the reasons that I asked that question. I was basically just curious if this was very common of it was just a flaw that some of them had. Particularly as I am not to thrilled with the idea of two 20 gallon tanks over flowing on me.

how odd that they overflowed, i have an aquaclear 300 for about 2 and a half months with no problems whatsoever

In general they wont overflow, but ANY filter can get a little clogged and overflow sometimes. The issue is how that filter is set up to deal with it. A whisper or emperor, for example, will just overflow back into the tank, which means it isn't doing the best job of filtering but it wont hurt anything. An aquaclear will overflow OUT of the filter.

I really do believe they're good filters, but I will never buy one, at least until I have my own house. I don't want to ruin an apartment that I don't even own!

I have Aquaclears for over 5 years now, some of them running for all that time, and none of them overflowed on me, ever. Of course, if you dont wash out the sponges in there on a regular basis, they will be clogged up, and you will run into a problem. I wash mine out once every month, and this schedule works well for me. I just noticed a few days ago that I had forgotten one of them to clean since we moved to Kissimmee, which was over 5 months ago!! He is still running like nothing happened.
I have never had any problems whatsoever with them, still running on all their original parts, never got any louder or less effective. Like little Energizer batteries!

I use 5 different aquaclears a 200; 3 150's; and a mini on various small tanks and they don't overflow - if you you do regular maintenance on them so they don't get clogged. Also watch for overfeeding and or food going directly to the filter. They are excellent filters - keep tanks crystal clear - very highly rated. The only problem I have is they occasionally make a sucking up sound. They aremuch better than the filters on the eclipse tanks I used to have but which were much less efficient. If you get one - get one that is rated well above what is recommended for tank size i.e. I use 2 150s on a 20 gallon. Works great.

I've been using 2 AC's for over a year with no problems. I dont clean out the impeller often either but i do think if you have live plants you should probably clean the impeller out more often. I know another person who has used the same AC for 12 years (no live plants) and this has not happened to him either.

In some cases, the sponge in the filter can get very clogged, and the pressure of water coming in will push the sponge and basket all the way up to the top and it will knock the top off. Water may then spill out over the edge from the media stack.

The problem is very easily solved: two pieces of scotch tape on each side of the lid.

My custom Aquaclear 300 stack consists of:

Bottom: 1/3 cup Eheim Ehfimech in a 6" x 10" 800 micron bag
1st Middle: Aquaclear 300 sponge
2nd Middle: 1 cup Eheim Ehfisubstrat Pro in a 6" x 10" 800 micron bag
Top: 1 1/3 cups Seachem Purigen in Seachem "The Bag" (180 micron)

And over the intake screen, I have one Fluval 104 sponge wrapped around it and held in place with 2 rubber bands. When water flow slows, I take it off, rinse it, and replace it.

Hope that helps!

Seems like most people have had the same good experience with these filters that I have.
Pelvis-Popcan - Thats a very complicated setup you have there. If you don't mind my asking do you still use the basket to hold all that, or did you get rid of the basket? Also why do you have a sponge over the intake tube, is that meant to be some sort or prefilter, or is it something else altogether?
Thanks.

I don't see how it's any less "complicated" than using the pre-made stuff that Hagen sells for them. The basket holds it fine. I cut a couple of plant stakes to form a "x" on top to hold it in position. The sponge over the intake tube is a prefilter and keeps the Aquaclear sponge from clogging prematurely. I clean the whole thing once a month.

I've been using an Aqua clear mini and a 150 for 4 months straight and never had any kind of overflow problem. Using them with goldfish they just require a bit more cleaning. I use an old tooth brush to scrub the gunk out of it.

Pelvis-Popcan mind if I ask you one more question. I had actually never heard of the Purigen before. I was wondering if you've found it works better than charcoal? (sorry I know this is somewhat off the over-flow topic)

It really does work as advertised. The manufacturer claims it "polishes better than a Diatom" and I must say the tank really does look like a Diatom filter just ran through it, and I know because I have a Diatom!

I'm not an old hand at goldfish keeping, but
I have a AC 300, AC 150, 2 Whisper 30's and
a Penguin Bio-filter. Oh and a Whisper junior
that I have been using during the past 6 months
without a single problem. I shared your concern
sometime back and I asked the same question.
I received almost all positive responses from
the kind people on the message board.
If in the future I have any problems I will
surely post them for you. I also have all of
my tanks on my second floor and would hate
to wake up one morning to find that I have a
new pond in my living room......

My first filter was an aquaclear 150 that was like a million years old, it was a dinosaur filter LOL! And it never over-flowed on me, or it's previous owner.

The key here, is to clean them, like was mentioned above. I just thought I'd throw in my two cents about the filter that ran forever, and never had a problem.

I always try to buy AC.

Jessica

I think the key to them is having them adjusted right. There's a little tab under the filter that changes how much the filter is tilted. just make sure that you have it tilted towards the tank and not towards... i'm guess your wall.. no matter how clogged your media is it will always flow into the tank... you'll have a really dirty tank but thats better than a really dirty floor...

RINSE YOUR MEDIA

Thanks for all the responses everyone, the filter cleaning is not a problem since I clean it every week, and replace some of the media (not all of course) every two weeks. I noticed the black tab on the back which was rather helpful in my case since I live in an apartment and don't want any water ending up in the apartment under mine.