Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi. for the longest time i have been using 2 filstar canister filters. the xp3's. they have been cleaning my 180 tank with 4 sliders great. but now recently the water has been getting dirty after about 3 days (also getting green). the only thing is the filters are still running full speed and aren't dirty at all. i changed the water once a week ago and it is back to be dirty again. anyone know whats going on? and how to fix it.
thanks!

I'm not sure about the design of your particluar filter, but...

You may need to clean out the head of the filter with bottle brushes. Clean around the impeller, pull it out and clean it also. You could have buildup in your hoses that are restricting flow.

Basically, if your media is clean, look for restrictions in the lines, or a reason that the pump isn't pumping as well as before (dirty impeller or other impeller problem).

no the filters are running full speed, all the hoses have been cleaned and the impeller has been cleaned. it just isn't cleaning anything.

Maybe you should replace your fine particle filtering media....which is usually the white stuff. I replaced the white pads with the fluffy stuff that is more like cotton (actually some sort of poly type material). You can guy it in bags at most good fish stores.

lol. i have done that as well, i have also replaced the regular black filter pads and the charcoal.

if you're washing media out with tap water, you will kill all your biological filtration. Replacing all media in the canister at one time probably isn't a good idea either or you just throw away all of it.

Other than that, I have no clue what the problem could be.