Equipment Review and Discussion :: help!

[RESnTX]

I did filter and tank maintnance yesterday afternoon. When I got up this morning I didn't really notice anything wrong til I heard Buddy having trouble getting on his dock. Took me a minute to notice the tank had about 2 to 3 less inches of water in it. Then noticed my feet were wet. The filter was slowly leaking out water for the last 12 hours. I have a fluval 305 and have never had this problem before. I hooked it back up to see where the water was coming from and it is leaking out of where one of the handles is connected. Any ideas of how or what I can do til I can get another filter or have time to order parts for this one?

[N4784N R4613]

We just went though this with another Fluval! What is up with these things! It is probably the motor seal ring. It is a little rubber gasket that goes around the lid. It is either out of place, needs to be lubricated, or is to old to salvage, and needs to be replaced. Take a look at the seal, see if it is in place, if it is, then see if there is any damage, or cracks in the seal. While you have it out, you should lubricate it with vaseline, or dish washing soap. If none of this works, it might be that the handle, or case cracked while you where putting it back together.

Here is the other topic with a leaking 404...
http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14326

[octpusgirl8]

Oh yuck, that's an unpleasant thing to wake up to! I'm not sure what you mean by handles, do you mean the clamps that hold the lid on? You might want to try taking the gasket out and cleaning it and the rim of the canister and lid, and coating the gasket with vaseline. See if that does anything.

[RESnTX]

Thanks for the suggestions. Sorry I missed that previous question about the same thing. I did mean the clamps/handles. While I had it opened I did check the gasket and it seemed to be in place. I moved it around a bit and made sure it was still pliable. I will try the vaseline when I get home from work tonight and see if it helps. If not, I will look into a replacement for it. THanks again.

[SpotsMama]

Oh my! How aggrevating!

By the way, I set my XP3 in a large rubber tub underneath the aquarium stand. If the canister ever leaks and it's a slow leak I may be able to detect it before the water spills over the tub. Just a suggestion for future reference.

[Kingpin Gwin]

Yeah,
Like I said in a previous post:

My 404 leaks from the handle areas almost every time I change the media. Sometimes it takes 3 or 4 tries of re-assembling the top before the leak stops.
It can be very frustrating

Our filter is inside a wooden stand/cabinet, and the first time it leaked on us, we didn't notice untill we started to smell midew from the wet carpet!
I have this deep plastic dish thing I place it in now, and I continuously check on it for a couple of days after every media change.

[RESnTX]

On the way home from work I picked up some vaseline, per Octpusgirl's instructions. Lubed up the seal thingy and when I put it back together it fit much tighter. This time before placing the filter back under the cabinet, and on the carpet, I put it inside a rubbermaid container first. I really should've been doing that this whole time. I swear i must have had 5-6 gallons of water lost. Did I mention I live in an upstairs apartment? Talk about panic....anyways, thanks for the help and I'll keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't leak again.

[octpusgirl8]

Glad to hear it seems to be working better. I think everybody would be wise to put some kind of container under the filter just in case. I'm going to be keeping my eye out for something the right size. Hopefully your leak was slow enough that it didnt drip down into your downstairs neighbor's place!

[N4784N R4613]

Maybe something like this is worth the money...

http://www.internet-security-inc.com/ca ... _id=848131

It is like a smoke alarm, only for water. Pretty cool, I will probably get one for my 240 gallon tank. I really don't want that much water on the floor.

[RESnTX]

Very interesting device. I'll have to read up on that. WOW 240 gallons would be horrible to clean up. That's a HUGE tank!