Re: [APD] Aquatic-Plants Digest, Vol 78, Issue 10

[Caddy579 at aol_com]

In a message dated 5/13/2010 12:06:35 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
aquatic-plants-request at actwin_com writes:

>I've also occasionally had pumps fail in such a way
>that  the shaft mounting gets damaged and the shaft is able to "wobble"
>(note  that's the *shaft* that the magnet/impeller assembly slides onto,
>not  the magnet/impeller assembly itself) in the pump housing. The  wobble
>permits the magnet to contact the inside of the pump housing  which
>causes noise and wear. I would suspect you'd have noticed if that  was
>the case, but I've seen some that appear to be OK unless you look  really
>close and do a "feel with the finger" test. Sometimes these  are
>repairable (notably the Rena units that use little rubber shaft  supports
>that can be replaced), sometimes not (like the Aquaclear units  that have
>the shafts epoxied in place).



I suspect this must be the windings. The impeller doesn't rotate in  the 
motor housing, it tries to turn first in one direction and then the other  and 
rattles in place. I soaked the impellar and the bay of the pump in vinegar  
but neither helped.
 
 

>Regarding the filters, I've had good luck with the Aquaclear  units
>myself. They tend to be reliable (I've been using them for some  20+
>years now), and AFAIK they still sell filters for every unit  they've
>ever made in that series and have only changed the color of the  plastic
>from brownish to grayish.
 
I replaced 3 of my Tetra WDF's with Aquaclears as my tanks need to have  
the water stirred. Most other filters require a preformed cartridge with  
charcoal in them which of course will suck out all of my trace minerals.
 
> Eheim seems to be similar in that parts seem
>to stay  available for a very long time. Any canister should be easier  to
>service though since they generally permit the use of "loose"  media
>which you can acquire from different sources if one should  become
>unavailable in the future. The canister filters will let you put  your
>heater in-line, outside of the tank too.
 
Thanks, I'll have to check them out. All the stores around here seemed to  
have were Fluvals.


>Also, and this might be most useful to you, the Aquaclear  filter media
>(the foam cartridges) are readily available at many/most  pet stores, and
>it's easy to cut the stuff with scissors to use it in  other filters.
>I've done this frequently to make little custom  filter/strainer
>assemblies -- just get one of the big foam cartridges  and cut it as
>needed to fit what you have. The carbon and "ammorid"  filters are more
>of a problem since they use bagged media, but you  might be able to fit
>one of the smaller ones into your existing filter.  Personally, I use
>only mechanical media so I don't run into issues with  carbon filters or
>other media of that type.

-Bill


Thanks, Bill. I used to work for Warner Lambert and got both the 150 and  
the WDF 3000s at cost in the company store. I got them in the 80s and early  
90s and it would seem that the wet/dry craze of back then seems to have  
passed. I do miss those WDF 3000s, actually I have about 4 of them here that  
work but Tetra doesn't make the replacement cartridges  anymore.







Gerry Skau
All The World's A Stage, But The Play Is Badly  Cast---Oscar Wilde
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