# Magnum 350



## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

OK I have been using the Magnum 350 for years now and I love it. I never have any problems and it is so easy to replace media and give it a good service.

One thing that makes me furious with the things is that **** chirping/scraping noise it makes from the impeller after you service it. I'm sure you who use it know what I am talking about.

Has anyone ever figured out a fix for the annoying noise?

On a side note does anyone have any other canister filter suggestions for someone that likes the Magnum 350 as much as myself? Like does anyone know of one that will give me the same functionality and feel as well as the quality of it never breaking down?


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## booba5 (May 3, 2008)

I have a magnum 350 and i love it to, i took the carbon basket and filled it with floss, and put in pot scrubbies instead of that blue foam, works waaaaaaaaay better... but to your issue, if my impeller makes that noise (which it does after almost every cleaning) i tear it all apart and clean inside where the impeller sits very, very well. After that it's silent, also, try shutting it off and shaking it back and forth to help release the excess air inside the canister.


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

I do the two in-line trick. I run one with a micron and switch that to Matrix Carbon once it does its job and the other I leave De*Nitrate in at all times.

I do the shaking trick but I was hoping that I could come across a permanent remedy.

I also clean the thing inside and out very, very well before I put it back together and the shaking is what most usually does the trick.

Thanks! I will keep at it till I figure something out or get another good idea.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

I have a few of them that I've been using for years... I'm quite satisfied with them...

They have a smaller media chamber than most other canisters, but that's the only fault I see with them.

I do know the squealing noise your talking about. I've found that as long as I thoroughly clean the impellor when I service the filter, and then make sure everything is snugly together... the squealing is minimal and disappears within half a day...

I've tried a lot of media combinations in them. My favorite is the micron Cartridge... with the blue sleeve over it... with 'filter fiber' outside of the blue sleeve... This does make for a thickly packed media chamber and reduced the flow rate considerably, but every drop of water that comes out of it is extremely crisp, clean water...

PS - In my experience there is absolutely nothing better for pushing water through a UV light than a Magnum filter well packed for micron filtration...


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

> PS - In my experience there is absolutely nothing better for pushing water through a UV light than a Magnum filter well packed for micron filtration...


YES!

When I lived in my old apartment I was still on the first floor and have not had any kids yet so funds were high so to say. I had a 46 bow front reef as my focal point and display in my apartment, (I would do it again but the new apartment has some very nice new carpet, the last was hard wood and kids are expensive but sometimes  just as rewarding as a reef tank). I would come home from work and if the old lady was still at work or something I would pull up a chair, relax with a good old friend :wink: and stare into the clearest reef tank I ever saw. I had minimal space for a wet dry/sump so I ran a similar set up as I explained above with a tetra pond UV sterilizer plumbed in and man I had such a gorgeous tank!

I had it pretty much over stocked with fish but the fact that I could change between so much different medias so easily I never had water quality issues. Nitrite, nitrate, ammonia and phosphates were never a problem and people that I knew that were in the same hobby and ran sumps were amazed by it! Often I traded or just gave away lots of really nice frags.

Sorry for the long story :zz: . I'll go back to the topic now :thumb:


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## BrianNFlint (Apr 1, 2007)

Try putting a little vaseline around the magnet part of the impeller.


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## FIREFISH (Jun 13, 2007)

There is some type of debris on the impeller. I also do the ole turn off and on trick! FF


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

Yeah I figgured it is that but I clean the thing out so good before I put it back together and dont understand why it would be there.

Is the vasaline safe? If so I will use that trick cause I can see some groves in the magnet from friction with some kind of debris of some sort.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

JWerner2 said:


> Yeah I figgured Is the vasaline safe?


 :thumb: Yup...

Just to be safe I'll add... as long as there aren't any fragrances or other such additives... although I've never seen Vaseline with such additives...


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

Hey booba5, do you feel running the filter with the media the way you have it works better than using the microns or no?

Also, do you by any chance have any pics of how you have it running with the scotchbrite pads?

I went to Wal-Mart last night and found a 5lb box of 100% polyester fill for arts and crafts. Basically it is filter floss sold in a different department for half the price and I have loads of those pads around so I am thinking on running my polishing filters like you do unless you believe that using microns works better.

I would just like to see how you have the scothcbrite in the canister to assure that all the water passes through them and does not bypass the pads at all.


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## booba5 (May 3, 2008)

Yea, I'll get some pics when i fix my sd card, if not i'll just use my phone, As far as the micron, if you run it alone it clogs extremely quick, and when i say that there is no exageration. Since i dont have pics, i'll try and describe it to ya. Inside the carbon basket i put a pad surrounding the tube that comes up the middle of the carbon basket, then put onther layer around that, you might be able to fit 3 layers, but i doubt it. So after you have the tube in the middle of the carbon basket completely surrounded (like it's wrapped in them) i put another one or two scotch pads on top of it all, so it covers the top of that tube as well. Basically, since the water gets sucked through that tube in the middle, you wanna have it completely surrounded with those pads, so every drop that get sucked into that tube goes through the pads. Then install the carbon basket in the canister, i normally dont use the blue sleeve. Then, with the carbon basket in the canister, i surround the basket with filter floss. Same princilple as above, the water gets sucked through the carbon basket then pushed out into the tank, so you want the ENTIRE carbon basket (even the black back) surrounding in the stuff. here's the only pic i could really find of the floss surrounding the carbon basket.


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

I got the idea. I did a bit of something on my own. I added a layer of the pads around the inside of the carbon basket making sure that the entire thing was pretty much covered from the inside ( not surrounding the tube but just the inside of the basket ) then I added some carbon like you normally would. I like to use the carbon cause the wife does not like the odor. I know it still don't do much but as long as it keeps her at ease I just do it anyway.

Then I added the filter floss stuff that I got from the crafts dept of Wal-Mart like you did. I made sure that when I added the pads that no watter would pass them into the basket.

So it goes filter floss, then pads on the inside of the basket ( trimmed to fit, 3 pads all together ) and then carbon media. I took a look at it and the floss looks as if its catching tons of stuff. Its like the very fine unnoticeable particles are now visible in some areas of the floss since they are building up.

By looks of it, the Micron filter does a great job but it dont look like it would have as much srface space anyway as oposed to this idea.

Thanks


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## booba5 (May 3, 2008)

exact same line of thinking i was using. The micron has barely anything surface area to catch this stuff compared to floss. One thing when you clean it tho, the floss can get caught in the impeller, not a clump of it, but the little hairs of floss than dont want to stay attached to the rest. Doesn't hurt anything as far as i know, but over time (if you dont clean it off) it might slow the flow. If you dont know what i mean, next time you clean it take the impeller off and you'll say "oh, thats what he meant" lol


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

:thumb: I can imagine. Thnaks for the heads up.

Do you always double your aquarium cabinet as a Wine celar... :lol: :lol:


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## booba5 (May 3, 2008)

lol my tank is in my bar room, and for my 21st my grandpa gave me three bottles that are collectors items, none of the are booze tho  one is a telephone, one is a flashligh, and the other is fm radio.

here's the bar and my finacee, the 30g on the left is where my 75g sits now.


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

Thats cool :thumb: . One of the pet shops near me has a huge register that was once a bar. They cut out one side under the counter and put a huge tank in with some S. Americans in it.

I always wanted a bar with an aquarium under it when I get a house.

See where simple conversation takes people on the internet... :lol:


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