# Its filter changing day!



## Rossco (Sep 15, 2012)

greetings! I have just had one heck of a time changing the filters in my fluval 404. Spent the last hour trying to get it started again, cleaning up the mess, etc. I can just imagine the Fluval engineers sitting around a table discussing the design of the 404. 'how can we make this as difficult and messy as possible? I know! Lets design it so when you remove the lid 10000L of dirty water comes pouring out! oh how about once you repalce the filter or charcoal the unit wont pump again? how about not haveing a power button? lets make it so after all the water comes pouring out, you have to hold the suction tube up in the air and using a funnel, pour water in to replace all the water that came out.... and it still wont work, and peoples carpets gets stained with fish faeces? or maybe we'll make the hand pump out of the flimsiest plastic so it breaks right away when you pump it?'

yeah.Happy 2013 everyone


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

well just my 2 cents.... guessing it doesn't have any...but a couple valves installed on the hoses might help reduce the messiness and ease of repriming issue. Also a large enough rubbermaid tote, 5 gal bucket or something of the sort... to set the filter in, when taking apart, might help reduce the mess even more..but thats just what I'd do if I had those particular problems.
Also ..to my knowledge very few canister filter have power switches. My Rena and Ehiem didn't , but they were plugged in to a power strip that did have a switch and I just used that as a on/off switch.


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## monkE (Aug 4, 2010)

i hate cleaning my ehiem pro3 filter... it's huge, and although it's easy to clean with the prefilter they have, priming it is a nightmare every single time i have to do it! I feel your pain buddy, all my previous canister filters were messy to clean.. i was actually chuckling while reading your post! lol sorry man. Hope you find a better way


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## Rossco (Sep 15, 2012)

I put the 404 into a large bucket before swapping out the filters, and still my carpet got soaked. I feel a power button would be very beneficial here, as most of us use power bars but dont want to shut off the bubbler, light, heater or whatever else we have plugged in everytime we change filters. sigh. I actually installed a valve on my output tube from the 404, but forgot to use it. d'oh!


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

The problem with the fluval is that the lever is a dual function, shutting off value and pop the adaptor out together. I found that (for other canister), if I lift the lever to shut off the water from coming down and going out, then I unplug it, I have the least of spillage. But fluval's design won't let you do that. The next best thing is unplug, shut the value and pop the adaptor, then take the unit to an ulitity sink then clean. Next thing is not to fill it up after you clean. Take the empty unit and plug in the adaptor and the water should come down unless you have a leak with your valve.


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

Rossco said:


> I put the 404 into a large bucket before swapping out the filters, and still my carpet got soaked. I feel a power button would be very beneficial here, as most of us use power bars but dont want to shut off the bubbler, light, heater or whatever else we have plugged in everytime we change filters. sigh. I actually installed a valve on my output tube from the 404, but forgot to use it. d'oh!


Sounds like you would benefit from a controller as well. Reef Keeper lite or something similar, set it up to leave lights/heater/bubble power on in standby, hit standby and do what you need


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

i HATE flurval to im using ehime and rina xp right now i dred filter cleaning day to none of them are great but anything is beter than flurval lol


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Never had a Fluval myself. but I love my Rena. The quick disconnect seals off both hoses at the same time, slide it out and carry the filter itself to the sink and open there. After cleaning, no need to add water....just reconnect the quick disconnect fitting with the clamps loose, gravity starts to fill it right away..... clamp it when the water gets to the desired level and plug in...good to go everytime with hardly any water spillage and no priming issues. Tilt it back and forth a couple times to get out the remaining air & good to go till the next cleaning.


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## Smallermouse (Jan 28, 2012)

uh oh... i recently bought a fluval canister filter... but have not changed the filters yet.


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

I ran 3 of those filters before but did not seem to have encounter the problem. I learned by mistake that before taking a filter a part in a running tank: always check to understand that no water will be drained from the tank. Even with an Eheim with an obvious shut off valve, I have still forgotten to turn that off first.

As Charles mentioned the newer Eheim does not allow you to take the drain hose off until the valves are fully closed. Guess what, I had popped the whole head unit off before not paying attention to what I was doing.


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## Rossco (Sep 15, 2012)

I think my next canister will be an Eheim or Rena


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## Scherb (Feb 10, 2011)

not sure what you mean. did you remove the power head without closing the shutoff valve ? and to prime as Charles said just attach the hoses and open the valve on a empty canister, wait for it to fill and done. couldn't be any easier.


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## discusdude (Jan 29, 2012)

l have several Fluval canister filters, l love them, easy to clean, no mess 1/2 hour and its back up running. my heaters and filters are on a different circuit. l found that l wanted the lights and air pump still going when l clean. so a different circuit made that a must. l just unplug the filter turn off the water flow and disconnect the hoses from the filter, using a towel to catch any water from the hoses (very little). how easy is that, no mess. carry it to the laundry sink clean it refill it with tap water, and take it back, re-hook-up the hoses start the water flow and plug it in. done. they are all that easy for me. l'm using a Fluval 404 and a 405.


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## Scherb (Feb 10, 2011)

discusdude said:


> l have several Fluval canister filters, l love them, easy to clean, no mess 1/2 hour and its back up running. my heaters and filters are on a different circuit. l found that l wanted the lights and air pump still going when l clean. so a different circuit made that a must. l just unplug the filter turn off the water flow and disconnect the hoses from the filter, using a towel to catch any water from the hoses (very little). how easy is that, no mess. carry it to the laundry sink clean it refill it with tap water, and take it back, re-hook-up the hoses start the water flow and plug it in. done. they are all that easy for me. l'm using a Fluval 404 and a 405.


Exactly. i have filled the canister then reattached the hoses with no problem but for people that do the empty canister trick works great, i also have my filter and heater on it's own cord so i just unplug one cord and go. when i have a full power bar i put tape on the filter and heater cords so there easy to identify.


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## Rossco (Sep 15, 2012)

I am still new to this fish thing. I got my first tank in late august or was it early sept?


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