Worried about BBA break out....

Hi Guys,

My Aqua Medic OR2500 pump has been making a hell of a raquet. The straw that broke the camels back was when a non-aquarium-hobby friend of mine came over and asked if I had a generator running........ ;-)

So, I pulled the pump apart, ensured it was clean etc etc, and put it into a bucket of clean water for some experiments.

Turning the pump on with absolutlely no load was fine, the pump was nice and quiet.

But, as soon as I even wave my hand in front of the water outflow, the pump starts making a buzzing sound. The harder I push my hand over the outflow, the louder the noise.

Funny, my cheap $40 Aqua One pump doesn't do this. I can completely cover the water outflow on it and it won't make a sound.

Anyway, in use the pump makes a raquet as the CO2 venturi is running the tone of the buzzing kinda changes etc etc.

I wrote to Aqua Medic, and they wrote back to me and acknowledged that there was a problem with the pump impellor being too loose. Currently I am trying to wrap some teflon tape around the shaft but I'm not having any luck as the impeler is already a tight fit over the shaft, so I'm not sure where the vibration (I guess it's vibration) is coming from....

Has anybody else had a similar experience...not necessarily with the same brand of pump, but any other pump of the same type??? I would be very interested to know....

So, the pump is off at the moment, I don't have an alternative pump, so, CO2 is off as well.

Now I'm worried that while it might take a week or so to get this sorted and up-and-running again, I'm going to get a massive BBA outbreak.

Am I up-sh*t-creek here or, short of turning the lights off, is there something I can do to prevent a break out? I'm thinking not.........my tank has finally started looking good but I'm sick of the noise!!!!

I'm starting to think AM is actually just overpriced crap.....but I could be wrong??
Maybe I'm just unlucky here?

Scott.

 

When I wrote to Aqua Medic about the problem, they wrote back with this:

I have emailed the online store where I bought the pump, but haven't heard back from them yet. But that's cool, I'm sure they will get back to me soon.

I tried out the teflontape option, but the shaft already is a perfect fit inside the impeller - putting the tape on their will most certainly prevent it from turning properly. I've mentioned this to Aqua Medic but haven't heard back from them again yet. I look forward to hearing from them, I want to get this solved obviously. Maybe I have discovered a new issue with the pumps?

Thanks for the advice on the tank. I'll do my best with the maintenance etc. If I get a bit of BBA I won't stress too much, once the CO2 is good again, with a bit of trimming I am sure I can get back on top of it.

Scott.