# First Canister Filter.... And I can't Prime it!!!



## mitchfish9

I just got the Fluval 206 yesterday and worked on priming for three hours!!! I just can't get It to work after trying multiple methods. I do just like its says and pump the primer(way more than 4 times like it says) with the white lever down and I just don't get any continuous flow down into the canister and I had to give up for the night and try again later today. There is nothing wrong with any of the checkpoints that could be a problem in the instruction manual.

Does anybody have a full proof way to get this thing started?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks


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## aznartist34

Have you tried pouring some water into the canister first?


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## HolyAngel

Yeah I didn't have luck with my marine land priming, had to fill it up first and it works fine.


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## sphack

Do you have anything inline with the filter? My fluval does not like to lift all the water back with the co2 and heater on the return.


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## Trickerie

Cap the outflow with your finger, and lower it below the in take. This usually helps my canister get some juice.


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## fplata

put you mouth on the output and suck as hard as you can, make sure you are lower than in imput on the tank


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## rrastro

+1
but make sure there's a length of tubing between you and the output nozzle so you don't get too much in your mouth


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## mitchfish9

Thanks for the responses. But I still can't get it. 

I filled it all the way up. But what now?

I sucked on it, plugged the output but nothing. And At what point is the power supposed to be on? Its supposed to be after the bubbles stop, but i cant even get water down the tube! 

I cant believe this.


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## Hoppy

The Rena Filstar priming method works with Fluval filters. Simplified, it is to start with an empty filter - no water in it. With the hoses disconnected from the filter, fill the inlet hose with water all the way to the top. Plug in the hoses and with the inlet and outlet hoses in the tank as they normally are, and the water trapped in the inlet hose will drop rapidly into the filter, sucking water up over the top of the tank, establishing a siphon. Wait while the filter fills with tank water - you will hear the flow, so when it stops the filter is full. Now turn on the filter and it should work fine. If it hesitates, then use the prime plunger briefly. I have done this twice and it worked well.


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## BS87

Are you not getting any flow into the pump at all? It sounds silly but I've tried priming my 406 without the aquastop levers pushed all the way down, needless to say i got no flow from the little priming handle. Also, i'm not sure if it's supposed to but don't wait for water to come back out the output. I just prime until large bubbles stop coming out and I can hear the water flowing into the filter. After that I wait a few minutes and fire it up.


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## sphack

I have a drain on the filter out flow that I use to prime. If you put the outflow going into a bucket instead of back up into the tank, there will be enough water height different to create a nice siphon with the filter off. When I completely drain my filter, I siphon about 2 gallons of tank water through the filter into the bucket. Once the major bubbles are out, I turn the filter on and use it to push the last of the bubbles out. 

Once the inflow and filter are full, turn the filter off; make sure you turn the valves on the filter to stop the flow so you don't lose the prime; reconnect to the tank; and power everything back on.


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## Perryboat

Try turning it upside down then slowly bring it to an upright position, you should see the air bubbles that were trapped inside the canister exiting thru the outlet.


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## mitchfish9

Thanks guys i got it. I did the same thing as before it just worked this time for some reason....


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## tanks4allthefish

I had the same problem with my sunsun and I had to finally fill it up then prime it and plugged it in. Worked like a charm after that.


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## Diana

I use a fountain pump (about 200-300 gph) to force water through the filter while it is not plugged in. When the bubbling stops plug in the canister. Keep the pump running into the inlet of the canister until you feel the canister doing the work. 
Usually this involves removing any intake cage or sponge. Work quickly to reattach these, or else a leaf or something can get in there and stop the whole works.


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## AquaDan

*Thank you*



Hoppy said:


> The Rena Filstar priming method works with Fluval filters. Simplified, it is to start with an empty filter - no water in it. With the hoses disconnected from the filter, fill the inlet hose with water all the way to the top. Plug in the hoses and with the inlet and outlet hoses in the tank as they normally are, and the water trapped in the inlet hose will drop rapidly into the filter, sucking water up over the top of the tank, establishing a siphon. Wait while the filter fills with tank water - you will hear the flow, so when it stops the filter is full. Now turn on the filter and it should work fine. If it hesitates, then use the prime plunger briefly. I have done this twice and it worked well.



Need to thank this person. I just bought a used 306 from petstore with tank setup. First canister for me and i watched just about every youtube video and instructions on how to prime. Spent over 4 hours last night i was about to throw it out. Browsed around this morning and came across this I think I primed it every different way possible to the point of wearing out the primer. 

With the hose valve up I dipped the intake in the tank water 4 to 5 times lifting it each time to drain into and fill the hose. connected the intake filter back up and clipped on the tank. opened the hose valve pushing it down. Bam. Instantly the the canister started filling with water and the air rushing out the return line. No Priming required. No more Hours spent blisters on my fingers from pushing that prime lever up and down. When the water stopped filling and the the air bubbles no longer came out i turned the filter on and it worked. Thank you Hoppy. This should be mandatory posted in the instruction easier to find to help people instead of all these videos and different ways of how to prime filter that just dont work. Thank you for reccomending this easy and effortless way to start this filter. Wish I had found it sooner.


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## PlantedRich

We sometimes get too involved in things and let it seem hard. Most of us know how to siphon. If not, stop now and learn as it is going to be needed if you play with water for very long! 
So when we know how to siphon, look at the tube from the tank to the can and see that it is a siphon if we have it full of water. That water WILL run downhill but we can do several things to mess that up. The water can't run downhill if whatever is in the can can't get out and go up to the tank. One way to block this path is to leave water in the canister or tube back up to the tank. 
So keep it simple. Have water in the incoming tube but no where else and then open the valves. When the canister finishes filling, the water will continue to fill the outgoing tube up to the level in the tank. At that point plug it in. 
If you find water does not run downhill in your house, give up as you are totally screwed!


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## NotCleo

Perryboat said:


> Try turning it upside down then slowly bring it to an upright position, you should see the air bubbles that were trapped inside the canister exiting thru the outlet.


You're a genius! Tried everything and my two year old 206 would not prime. Turned it upside down...Viola!!!! Thank you SO MUCH


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## Spike the BNP

OP, priming is easy if you fill the intake and keep the output higher than the water level as well as empty, the siphon will work the second you open the Aquastop. The key is to keep the output empty. Nothing will happen if you have water in the output, because you'll be fighting gravity.


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