Fortunately I was unable to sleep tonight and was on my laptop next to my tank when at about 4:30 this morning I heard my AC 110 grind to a halt. I immediately knew what had happened and unplugged the filter and removed it. When I got it to the sink and pulled the motor off and examined the impeller there was nothing wrong with it. I plugged it in to see if it was working, which it did, so I rinsed out the motor housing and wiped the slime coat that was on the impeller magnet and put it back together. I reinstalled it and its doing fine now.
My question is... What in the world could have caused this? There was very little debris in the filter when I pulled out the motor and what was in it was nothing that would have jammed up the impeller. Does anyone have any ideas as to what could have caused this?

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75 Gallon Planted

My betta's little filter did that occasionally. It was plugged in behind the dresser that his tank sat on, and whenever we jostled it too much it would dislodge the plug and stop the filter. Could something like that have happened to yours? Maybe the plug was loose and gravity pulled it just enough to cut off the electrical current?

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Creatures great and small, I love 'em all! But mainly the fish.

Did you by chance get a small power hit? The only time I have had one of the AC filters stop is there was a small disruption in power that I believe did something to the magnetic field (induction) that makes it turn. Flipping your power strip on/off real quick will sometimes duplicate it.

I hate when that happens and the sludge comes back down the tube like a half flushed toilet

I get that once in a while, with the ac70 If there is a quick shortage it will still drain the water so if the motor was really hot it could have been lack of water and placement of U tube into motor sometimes if your not dead on the suction it won't suck enough

If you rinsed it out and placed the impeller back in it probably popped the spring back up and made it propel smoothly. I use to get it often and it's frustrating not to mention the cost of the motors only to find if you lift the impeller and snap it back into its magnetized slot and it DOESN"T SPRING BACK all you have to do is take it out and do it again until it springs back. In recent months it has saved me tons of cash. A toothbrush and stems from plastic plants also helps to get the green and brown kooties out of the nooks and crannies of both the tubes and motor.

...then again sometimes if you turn it off for a while and plug it back in i works as if nothing ever happened ...maybe it just mine they could be haunted or possessed

Could it possibly have been a tiny snail (a baby pest snail) that got caught in the impeller and then shot back out? Or even a shrimp maybe? Sometimes critters get stuck in filters and jam them up pretty good! XD

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20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981

After I read your reply I started to think about it and when I pulled the filter out of the water I remembered the siphon breaking and a lot of the crap that had collected on the inlet had splooged back into the tank. What ever was in there probably shot out when that happened.

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75 Gallon Planted

Aha ...the case of the slimy sludge...

Another thing that helps is getting a plastic turkey baster from the dollar store and use it to push up the slime from the tubing when you get the slime boogers holding back the suction, the baster helps me alot when my Discus are breeding as well because I can push food particles they've missed within their view.

A Turkey baster is a very underestimated essential tool for those of us who practice fish husbandry/wifery.

Has the case been closed or should we wait to break for lunch...anyone else for Chinese Take-out?

I'm New here so if I have crossed any lines or offended anyone pls let me know as I just am getting use to all the little icons .

What should I be doing with all those icons welcomes,thanks,etc...are they vital to manage.