# SunSun Canister Noise After W/C



## gSTiTcH (Feb 21, 2013)

My Marineland makes all kinds of racket after I take it down for maintenance. Other than that, it stays silent. I have a CO2 reactor on the inlet side, which holds water. When the tank is refilled, the CO2 reactor serves as a primer as well - no pumping.


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## Solcielo lawrencia (Dec 30, 2013)

You need to tip the canister side-side and front-back to allow the gas to escape into and through the impeller.


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## dmagerl (Feb 2, 2010)

My marineland does the same thing. I just tip the canister side to side to get as much air out as I can and the noise goes away by itself after a few hours.


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## Virto (Dec 6, 2012)

Does sound like there's air in it.

For what it's worth, I perform roughly 70% water changes on the 46 which has a SunSun 302 on it. Priming the pump the first time sucked, but I always take the water down under the intake when I change.

When the change is done, I just flip the switch and the canister goes right back to work. It will make cavitation noise while it refills both the intake and output lines, but is back to silent within a minute.

It should be noted that I do not open the canister to check the media with every change - cracking open the seal will probably cause you to have to re-prime the pump manually.


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## sowNreap (Jun 10, 2012)

Just unplugging to do a water change doesn't cause my SunSun 304a to make noise upon restart. I usually do 50% water changes weekly. I unplug it before the water gets to low usually only a couple inches from the top. 

When I open it up to clean it, that's another story. It will always will make noise upon restart. It can take a couple hours to quiet back down. No amount of tipping or rocking of the canister seems to help. Luckily I usually clean it just before dinner so I end up leaving the room & by the time I come back it's quiet again.


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## lapiana29 (Dec 27, 2013)

I also do a 50% weekly and my sunsun makes a little noise on startup but I juat let it go and after a few it goes away on it own. Probably air but does not last very long. 

Sent from my GS4 using Tapatalk


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## 32Bit_Fish (Jul 8, 2012)

Thanks for all responses. It seem I'm not the only one has this issue. The noise I mentioned is definitely the air inside the filter. I guess That's the work I need to do after each water change.


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## nayr (Jan 18, 2014)

lower your intake far enough you dont loose the siphon when you do a WC and its not a problem; alternatively you can do two smaller 25% WC's instead of one big 50%.

I dont shut any of my canisters down when doing a Partial WC; the fish can deal with the waterfall from the outflow for a few mins while I am refilling... No air gets sucked in because the intakes are in the lower 1/4 of the tank.


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## 32Bit_Fish (Jul 8, 2012)

nayr said:


> lower your intake far enough you dont loose the siphon when you do a WC and its not a problem; alternatively you can do two smaller 25% WC's instead of one big 50%.
> 
> I dont shut any of my canisters down when doing a Partial WC; the fish can deal with the waterfall from the outflow for a few mins while I am refilling... No air gets sucked in because the intakes are in the lower 1/4 of the tank.


The inlet and outlet tubings are not a solid piece. The air will get in through the gap. I've tried not to shut down the filter while doing a W/C. But the filter started making noise as soon as the water level started to fall. In addition, I've drilled a small hole on the top portion of the inlet tube to prevent flood in case the canister started to leak. My intake is at the very buttom of the tank, almost touching the substrate.


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## etk300ex (May 1, 2013)

When you shut it off, pull up the lever to shut off the flow as well. This will keep your hoses full so when you open it back up it will restart the siphon by itself.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

When the hole was drilled in the intake it gave a way for air to enter. Bad modification thought. Can you repair the mod by filling it with silicone? Or a temporary solution may be to hold a finger over the hole until the water level is above that point?


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## 32Bit_Fish (Jul 8, 2012)

etk300ex said:


> When you shut it off, pull up the lever to shut off the flow as well. This will keep your hoses full so when you open it back up it will restart the siphon by itself.


Let me try this. Thanks!


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## 32Bit_Fish (Jul 8, 2012)

PlantedRich said:


> When the hole was drilled in the intake it gave a way for air to enter. Bad modification thought. Can you repair the mod by filling it with silicone? Or a temporary solution may be to hold a finger over the hole until the water level is above that point?


This is one of discussions I found on this board. It's a good way to prevent 75 gallon of water siphon out of the tank and causing major damage to my home if there is a leak in the canister filter.


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## gSTiTcH (Feb 21, 2013)

nayr said:


> lower your intake far enough you dont loose the siphon when you do a WC and its not a problem; alternatively you can do two smaller 25% WC's instead of one big 50%.


For what it's worth, two 25% water changes does not equal a 50% water change. The re-addition of the first 25% of the water will dilute the water in the tank, which will reduce the amount of waste in your effluent for the second 25%.


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## nayr (Jan 18, 2014)

32Bit_Fish said:


> The inlet and outlet tubings are not a solid piece. The air will get in through the gap. I've tried not to shut down the filter while doing a W/C. But the filter started making noise as soon as the water level started to fall. In addition, I've drilled a small hole on the top portion of the inlet tube to prevent flood in case the canister started to leak. My intake is at the very bottom of the tank, almost touching the substrate.


Gap? Odd I dont have the issue; but then again I didn't drill any unnessicary holes in my inflow.. 

So as I understand you created an anti-siphon hole in your inflow and now are complaining that your filter does not maintain siphon? when you had a Eheim 2028 many years back did you foolishly poke holes in its tubing too? or are you just trying to make it look like its a SunSun problem you created all by your self.

I recall the thread where people were discussing drilling holes in infow; I also recall someone warning against it because your canister will loose prime at every WC... You might get a small rubber band and put it on your inflow pipe, when doing a WC push it down over your lil anti-siphon mod.


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## 32Bit_Fish (Jul 8, 2012)

nayr said:


> Gap? Odd I dont have the issue; but then again I didn't drill any unnessicary holes in my inflow..
> 
> So as I understand you created an anti-siphon hole in your inflow and now are complaining that your filter does not maintain siphon? when you had a Eheim 2028 many years back did you foolishly poke holes in its tubing too? or are you just trying to make it look like its a SunSun problem you created all by your self.
> 
> I recall the thread where people were discussing drilling holes in infow; I also recall someone warning against it because your canister will loose prime at every WC... You might get a small rubber band and put it on your inflow pipe, when doing a WC push it down over your lil anti-siphon mod.


Well... The filter is making noise while the water level is well above the anti-siphon hole. So why does the anti-siphon hole relevant to the problem?


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## nayr (Jan 18, 2014)

So before you drilled the hole your SunSun was sucking in air durring a WC? Does it suck in air with a full tank? Ive got 2 sunsun's and neither suck in any air; even durring 50% WC's.. perhaps your inflow pipe is cracked.. Are you using the surface skimmer? If so point that down deep before you start.

Either way with that anti siphon hole your going to get air in your filter regardless if your inflow pipe is airtight or a leaky siv.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

32Bit_Fish said:


> This is one of discussions I found on this board. It's a good way to prevent 75 gallon of water siphon out of the tank and causing major damage to my home if there is a leak in the canister filter.


Yes, I remember the discussion. The problem is that not all information is good information. I thought at the time of the discussion that it was a way to solve one potential problem but create another. 
What I think might happen is when the water is below the hole, air will get in the line. When the pump is turned on this air will get drawn to the impeller and stop or reduce the water flow making it hard for the pump to fully pass the air on out. 
How much air and how quick it clears may depend on the location of the hole and how large the hole. 
We could guess all day whether it is a problem but since there does seem to be a problem with air in your canister, maybe the quick way is to stop up the hole with something temporary and run the filter for a bit to see if the problem is still there. While I think the hole is a problem, it could also be air getting into the line in a totally different way. I like to look for the easy troubleshooting test first. You may just be the one who finds if the modification is a good idea or not!


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## nayr (Jan 18, 2014)

32Bit_Fish said:


> The filter is making noise while the water level is well above the anti-siphon hole. So why does the anti-siphon hole relevant to the problem?


Before or after a PWC? If its after a PWC the anti-siphon hole is the reason your canister is full of air.. Any time the water level drops below that anti siphon hole your filter is going to need to be purged of air just like after you cleaned the filter.. the anti siphon hole works by injecting air into your filter, thats how you break the siphon.

After cleaning/installing/loosing siphon typically canisters need to run for a lil bit to get all the air out, sometimes shutting them off and giving them a good shake every once and a while is prudent to ensue no air is trapped inside. This is normal behavior for canister filters. Filling the water level above your anti siphon hole will not make the noises subside until all the air has found its way out of your filter.

Whats not normal is loosing the siphon on your canister every PWC; your going to have to live with one solution at the expense of the other with this modification you made... I fear premature pump failure is alot more likely than your canister catastrophically failing and emptying your tank.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

This is one of those solutions that seems to come around every ten years or so as new people discover it. If you think about how simple it is and then ask yourself why it is not common practice, the reasonable person has to come back to the idea that there is something missing in the idea. It certainly is not such a great idea that nobody has thought of it in the first 40-50 years of canister filters. It's just been tried too many times to be a good idea.


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## etk300ex (May 1, 2013)

etk300ex said:


> When you shut it off, pull up the lever to shut off the flow as well. This will keep your hoses full so when you open it back up it will restart the siphon by itself.


This wont help if the anti siphon hole gets exposed. Nayr last post is spot on.


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## 32Bit_Fish (Jul 8, 2012)

I guess I just need to get a new intake tube to resolve this issue. Or if there are silicone I can use to cover the hole.


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## nayr (Jan 18, 2014)

Silicone would be fine, get the GE brand 100% Silicone form your local hardware store... 

You might even get Hot Glue or tape to work in a pinch.

If its any condolences Canisters are not likely to leak; and those that do are typically slow leaks that are found long before they come close to emptying the tank.. Alot go undetected for long enough they result in mold issues for the owner, quite the opposite from a full blown flood.

Put your canister in a A Kitty Litter Tray with a Water Leak Alarm and avoid doing any maintenance to the canister prior to leaving the house for an extended period (ie, clean filter after work not before)..


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## 32Bit_Fish (Jul 8, 2012)

Would this work?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/DAP-2-8-oz-Silicone-Aquarium-Sealant-00688/100128841


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## nayr (Jan 18, 2014)

I'd use this instead: 
http://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-2-8-oz-Silicone-Sealant-GE-57/202038072


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

That would likely work but for practical purposes, in this case the hole is pretty small so the amount of silicone will be small. Even if the totally wrong type that has chemicals to prevent mildew were used it would be only a small pollution problem if you let it set up before using the filter. 
To avoid the wait while silicone cures, I might go with something quicker. Maybe a small piece of packing tape over the hole and superglue at the edges to make it more permanent? 
A 1/4 inch square of aluminum foil, glued on?


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