# Fluval 404 Filter Wont Open!!



## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

OK, i bought a Fluval 404 like 4 months ago and today i tried cleaning it. i know i have to have bacteria grow and stuff....but i keep messing up and feeding my turtle too much....so i'm going to do it all over.










anyway, i emptied out all the water and then i tried to open it. BUT IT WONT OPEN!!







im getting sooo annoyed. i already broke my fluval 304. ugh!!! someone please help me!!


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## Quincymom (Oct 17, 2004)

I don't know much about turtle filters--but I use the Biowheel by Marineland filter on all my tanks, and I change the mechanical filtration (pad and carbon) every month. I keep both freshwater and marine fish and use the same filter system for both. Well, one filter for each tank. Also the greatest thing in the world is the BioSpira that is new on the market (well, two years now), that starts your bacterial flora right away. It is the best, no lost fish or new tank syndrome. 
My nephew uses a big fancy filter on his reef tank-really complicated and it is always going down, I never have problems.
Quincymom


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## dr.jaimie (Mar 23, 2004)

does it have instructions on how to open it? it probably has a vaccume keeping it closed...push real hard on the top and then pop the clamps open. it is unplugged right? thats a nice filter by the way


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

thanks everyone. i'll try what you said ladymontava. i have no idea where i put the instructions.







i'll look in a sec(i didnt think about looking at that. LOL)


my sister got me the filter at petsmart......i needed it quick because the tank was getting dirty so fast. and then i felt bad because at bigalsonline.com it only costs like 80 bucks. 


OHH, and when i had the 304....i had no idea about filters or ANYTHING and i tried opening the filter when it was still on the ground. lol. the dirty water went all over....and we have carpet.







my mom got soo mad. lol. 


OH< and the turlte is growing pretty fast and everyone talks about putting something on top so that the turtle doesnt jump out and i thought "whatever, thats never going to happen"


it happened yesterday. its like a 5 foot drop from the top of the tank to the ground! i have no idea how it went, but she ended up on her back and my mom saw it right away and called freaking out. i was like "flip her over or else she'll die" and my mom was like "NOOO, IM NOT TOUCHING HER." and casey, thank god, walked in the door 1 minute later. so i lowered the water level. and she keeps trying to climb out.


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## dr.jaimie (Mar 23, 2004)

good luck! what kinda turtle is it?


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## joe (Jan 5, 2003)

cant tell you, i want to get a fluval for my 55 gal fish aquarium though if you can give me some opinions on the quality, you may try here , I was turned onto this site by a member here who doesnt post much any more


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

i tried doing it again....i pushed down and tried opening it. it didnt work.







and i tried looking for the booklet....i couldnt find it. i totally thought i knew where it was. lol. i guess i'll try contacting them. ugh!!


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## dr.jaimie (Mar 23, 2004)

are the hoses dissconnected? i dunno much about this filter but my mom has an ehiem that can be hard to open


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

thanks for the site joe. i heard that the best filters are either the Fluval 404, Eheim, or Magnum. and i go to kingsnake.com and then i click on "forums" then i click on "res and other sliders". thats where i talk on. but i never have anything to say because i know CRAP about turtles. lol.

lady---she's(im pretty sure its a girl) is a red eared slider. let me look for a pic

the setup is different now. and the turtle is bigger. lol. full grown--she's going to weigh as much as sprite!!! 5 lbs or something!

and it turned out the water was blue cuz of the plants i had in there


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## dr.jaimie (Mar 23, 2004)

what a cutie....here is a pic of my tank...no turtles though..just a bunch of scaley fish


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

that setup looks awesome. i totally wish i had enough money so then someone can setup the tank and clean it themselves whenever needed. lol. i'm really UNCREATIVE!

do you have a Python Siphon? its totally awesome. you'd have to get it if you dont have one already. and i have my tank on a table. and everyone can see the filter and everything. and it sucks having this light on top of the aquarium---its so bright and annoying. there are times where i wish i had a tortoise instead so i dont have to deal with water.....but at least with water i dont have to smell turtle poo. lol. it smells like horse poo.


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

oh, and im going to call hagen tomorrow. its so darn annoying. ugh!


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## dr.jaimie (Mar 23, 2004)

no i dont have a python..i used one when i worked at petsmart ...too much money..i have my tank by a window and i run the siphon out the window and bring the hose in to fill it up..it works great. i wish i had a bigger tank mine is only 15 gal. me and my mom built the hood ourselves..my design. it was fun but still cost 50$ to make..we thought we would have saved.


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

wow, yours looks sooo much bigger. the turtles tank is like 45 or 50. im not sure. its crazy how expensive this stuff is. i even tried looking at the recycler for something used....but people still charge A LOT.









i really want to make an outdoor pond so when i'm playing with the dogs outside i can take the turtle out there.


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## dr.jaimie (Mar 23, 2004)

pictures can be decieving


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## Pippinsmom (Nov 29, 2004)

I asked my boyfriend about your Fluval 404 (he manages a freshwater fish operation), he said there are either 2 or 4 clips on them (2 on new model, 4 on old model) that have to be unhooked, then you pull straight up. He said that since it's an airtight seal it can take a good deal of pressure to get it to open up. Also that if you still can't get it open after you call them tomorrow you may want to take it in to your LFS and see if someone can show you how to get it open. I'm sorry I can't help you out more...I have 4 marine tanks (60, 50, 12 and 10) that I keep my adult seahorses in as well as nursery tanks for my seahorse fry...but my nursery tanks all have sponge filters and my display tanks have sumps with trickle filters so I'm pretty worthless when it comes to canister filters. Hopefully when you call tomorrow you can get someone on the phone who can help you out!!

Keep us posted how it goes!


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

thanks. im going to call sometime todya (im really lazy). and if i cant open it then i'll go to petsmart.







thanks!


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## FannyMay (Nov 18, 2004)

doctorcathy,
I know you from Kingsnake! I remember that turtle shell in your tank. You had it special made right? My name on there is Ladybug104c.
Anyway I don't post much on Kingsnake anymore because I found a new forum that I like much better. It's http://www.turtletimes.com/Forums/index.php I got to Kingsnake to read but hardly ever post anymore. There's much more action on Turtle Times and it's hard to keep up with but I don't read ALL the posts so it's all good. My name on Turtle Times is Binxterbear. I have a painted turtle in a 90 gal tank and a Rena Filistar Xp3 canister filter. It's a pain to get started after I clean it. It works really well though and the water is cleaner than it has ever been. I love that it doesn't smell and look green anymore. The 404 is a good one I have been told but when I compared I found the XP3 to be better. I can't remember why though.
Anyway I hope that new forum helps you out.


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## ButterCloudandNoriko (Aug 26, 2004)

OH how cute! A turtle forum! AWWWWWWW


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

I GOT IT OPEN!! i thought "if it breaks i'm going to ask for my money back and tell Fluval people that their products are cheap" LOL


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## dr.jaimie (Mar 23, 2004)

did it just have a really tight seal on it from the suction?


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

FAnny mae!!! YES, I GOT THAT SPECIAL MADE BY HELEN!!! LOL./ thats so funny that you found this site!!!







its totally awesome. now my sister wants me to get another shell made thats bigger. but the one in the tank already cost $100!! 


thanks for the site. i'll definitely start going there.


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

yeah, i guess so. and i think letting it sit for a while (a whole day) helped.


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## FannyMay (Nov 18, 2004)

Yeah, it's a small online world lol. Actually Marj and I knew eachother from the AMR/PMR Maltese forum and when it broke down Marj emailed me this forum's link and that's how I "found" this site. Now that AMR/PMR is back up and running I have 2 turtle forums and 2 Maltese forums! HAHA I love forums! I also belong to a game forum and used to go to a fish forum until my fish died. I also operate (am an admin) for a forum of my own. Although we don't get much action there, it's still fun to operate. My husband does all the hard work for it, I just do all the fun stuff! I love our forum though and even if our couple of regular posters go away I think I would keep it up just for the fun of it lol.
Forums Rock!!


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## doctorcathy (May 17, 2004)

that is soo funny. so marj is helen rachie or something?? im pretty sure thats what the email said. whats your website?

thats soo weird how small the online world is. i remember talking to this guy who lived in long beach and his roomate was someone i went to higschool with!! lol.


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## FannyMay (Nov 18, 2004)

Marj is Marj with Lady. Her dog is the one with all the health problems. She got Lady because someone didn't like that she was having seasures and so they tied her up outside and left her there to die. Marj posts alot in the Maltese Health and Puppy Mill section. Marj is wonderful and has been a great help to me and my Fantasia. 
Anyway my web site was for Christian teens but it has since been upgraded to just Christians lol. We had more adults in there than teens and our teens were growing up into adults lol. It's called Christians Aflame and it's www.christiansaflame.com that's the home page and the forum page is Christians Aflame

I know how small of a world the internet is because that's how I re-met my husband. We knew eachother when we were 14 and even dated for a little while. I was friends with his two twin sisters. We lost touch and his sister told me his AIM name so I could add him to my list (she had moved to the town I lived in, in NY from where she lived in NJ). So one day in college he was online when I was but I didn't know who it was. I forgot I added him to my list and it had been 2 years since I did add him. One of my college friends asked who he was and he asked who I was because I was the one that IMed him lol. He told me who he was and I was so excited I pushed my friend out of the way and started chatting with him. He was shocked it was me too. We were both dating other people at the time but we became good friends again. Then he came to visit me and we started dating. We dated my entire last semester of college and we called eachother, talked online, emailed, and he came to visit me often. Then after graduation he drove me down to NC to visit my family (we followed them down after my graduation). He asked me to marry him while we were down there visiting and we took my parents out to dinner to tell them. We planned the wedding for just over a year later but ended up pushing the wedding up. We got married almost 2 months after we got engaged. We have been happily married







for over three years now.


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