A friend of mine just got a used tank and a bnch of equipment and he gave me a bio wheel he didnt need so I gave it a good cleaning and checked it out. Everything looked good so I hooked it up and began to prime it and as soon as it started flowing the impeller would stop. I can hear the motor running so I know its not that. I tried a few more times and the same think kept happening so i took off the intake tube and kinda jiggled the impeller around and it started moving again, I unplugged the filter and reassembled it and tried once more thinking it wasnt in there right and got the same results.

Am I not putting the impeller and intake in just the right way or is somthing broken? I use bio wheel filters on other tanks and never had this problem.

Thanks in advance.

Oh yea one more thing. The filter may have been used in a saltwater tank by the origianal owner and it was loaded with sand before I cleaned it. Maybe sand got into it?

Sounds like the impeller is either bent or pretty scratched up. You can order a replacement impeller for about 15.00

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On one of mine, I have to wiggle and adjust it intake part to get it to start pulling water. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it takes so long I start thinking I need a new one. Yours may be worn beyond repair if too much sand got in there.

I might have missed it, but what size is it? If it's a small one, the replace cost is not much more than an impeller.

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I took a better look at it and its clean inside where the impeller sits. I cant get the impeller to stay centered it has a little play to it and once it starts spinning it wobbles around and gets stuck. The model is 350b I have a 250 model in the tank now and it provides more than ample filtration so I dont have a need to buy a new one but it would be worth fixing if not too expensive.

does it get turned by a magnet? make sure the impeller piece is still attached to the magnet piece on the driveshaft. Mine became separated and the motor would turn the magnet and shaft but not the impeller, superglue rejoined the two pieces and my filter works again. The impeller also wobbled like crazy while broken.

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yea it is magnet powered. The impeller set up comes apart into 3 peices. The blade, shaft, and the magnet. I can slide the magnet on and off the shaft. Is that normal? Or should I superglue the magnet and shaft together?

the impeller and the magnet should be a solid piece.It should move freely on the metal shaft though.

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55 gallon FW community
20 gallon Goldfish
10 gallon firebelly toad