# Aquaclear 50 overflowing



## JustAGuy716 (Aug 28, 2012)

Have you checked that it's level. I had a 20 that overflowed until I adjusted it.


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## koiboi (Sep 4, 2011)

Justaguy is right. This is usually the cause of overflow problems with these units, if they're not clogged.


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Have you tried running it with nothing in the media basket? Just to be sure it is not the problem.
My first thought was to make sure it was tipped forward enough, but I see you have covered that problem. 

Those are the 2 ways that my HOB filters (not just Aquaclears) have had problems.


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## sapphoqueen (Feb 9, 2010)

mine do it too but try to adjust the sponges medias to the position they dont cause overflow  i'd make like this and now it's at full power and no uncontroled flow at all


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

Is the media basket actually lifting out of the filter or are you referring to the water flowing over the media basket partition?

the former happens due to clogging or when the media packed density supercedes the amount of flow necessary to balance the amount of water flow entering the filter.

Try running the filter with the sponge only to see if the water overflow occurs again. this should only take a few moments to see.

if you are densely packing media into the filter, consider changing out the sponge to the one used in the ac70/110. the sponge is more coarse allowing greater water flow.


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## takadi (Dec 13, 2010)

It is actually the latter that happens. I actually suspect that duckweed is causing the media basket to get prematurely clogged before the sponges do so therefore the water overflows. I just cleaned it yesterday and already I can see the water creeping up near the rim. I've tiltled the filter all the way forward and that doesn't seem to help. I'll try removing the media basket to see what happens


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## takadi (Dec 13, 2010)

So it turns out it keeps overflowing because it is getting clogged, but not by dirt and mulm, but by dying duck weed. Cleared all the duckweed out and it's been going strong so far


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## Bruce_S (Jul 26, 2012)

I use a smaller AquaClear sponge with a hole in it as a prefilter. Keeps bigger stuff (and smaller livestock!) from getting into the filter or clogging the intake so easily.

~Bruce


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## mr.bigglesworth (Jul 6, 2012)

Intake prefilters will not help. I tried the same thing with my AC110, duckweed is small enough to get through the sponge and in 2 weeks killed my AC110. That was just the start, duckweed also killed my first eheim 2217, duckweed killed 6 powerheads of various brands, and suffocated over 600$ in fish by preventing oxygen exchange.

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## ZenDen (Dec 21, 2008)

*AquaClear Overflow*

The most likely cause is that the filter body is not level. The water should overflow into the tank before spilling elsewhere unless the rear edge is equal to or lower than the height of the spillway. There is a little piece of plastic with different length sections that will hold the filter at different angles. it snaps into a hole on the bottom of the filter housing. This is normally rotated to make sure the filter is not tilted backward. If this piece is missing, tape a small piece of wood or plastic to the filter side that rests against the tank to adjust the angle.

I have four of these filters in various sizes and have not had an overflow problem.

Good Luck,

Dennis


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