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Coupon Code & Sale. MORE INFO.

Coupon Code & Sale. MORE INFO.

Coupon Code & Sale. MORE INFO.

Finding Aquarium Replacement Parts

Finding Aquarium Replacement Parts
If you keep aquariums long enough, you are bound to need replacement parts for your equipment. Nothing lasts forever, and it is a real shame when you need to throw out a $100 piece of equipment when you couldn’t find a $5 part. We carry a wide variety of replacement parts for all kinds of aquarium equipment. We will guide you through the process of finding the part that you need and deciding if your gear is worth fixing or replacing.

NOTE: We sell over 1,000 aquarium replacement parts: Pump Replacement Parts I Filter Parts I Aquarium Parts I Skimmer Parts IUV Parts

Step One: Identifying Your Equipment
Impellers. Impellers are the spinning portion inside of a utility pump. These are pumps where there are hose connections in and out of the pump, and the pump is used to pump through a hose or power equipment.
Volutes. Volute is the technical term for an impeller cover. These cover the impeller of a pump and hold the impeller in place.
Rotors/Propellers. Rotors/propellers are the fan-like portion inside of a circulation pump.
Gaskets/O-rings. Gaskets and O-rings are the rubber seals used to keep pumps, filters, UV sterilizers, and other equipment watertight.
Impeller Shafts. Impellers spin around a metal or ceramic shaft inside a water pump. Sometimes this part is included with an impeller and sometimes it comes separately.
Power Supplies. Power supplies are the bricks in the middle of the cord for equipment such as LED lights, and DC water pumps. They convert the AC wall power to DC power for your gear.
Ballasts. Ballasts are similar to power supplies, but they are specific to driving fluorescent lamps such as T5 lighting or the fluorescent lamps inside UV sterilizers. The ballast is a small box that may be inline with the power cord or tucked inside a light fixture.
Quartz Sleeves. Quartz Sleeves are the glass tube inside a UV sterilizer that the UV lamp slides into. Quarts sleeves are easy to damage and often need to be replaced.
Controllers. Controllers are the small boxes connected inline with a pump or light that allows you to control the device.
Bushings. Bushings are small bumpers found inside a water pump or filter on either end of the impeller shaft. Bushings can wear out and are easy to lose.
Before you start looking for replacement parts you need to know what piece of equipment that you have. This includes the make, model, and kind of equipment. For example, an Aqua Ultraviolet 57-watt UV Sterilizer or a Reef Octopus VarioS4 Circulation Pump. Without all three of these pieces of information, you won’t be able to locate replacement parts. In the aquarium hobby, nearly every manufacturer has proprietary parts, so you cannot simply switch impellers between pump brands or gaskets between filter brands. You need to know the exact make and model of your equipment. If you have the original receipt, the make and model should be listed there. If not, then you can often find them printed on the equipment itself. If you still don’t know the make and model, you can send us a picture, and we may be able to identify the piece of gear for you.

Step Two: Identifying The Broken Part
Once you know what piece of gear you have, you need to identify what part needs to be replaced. In many cases this is easy. However, sometimes you might not know what the part is called, which will make your search more difficult. Here is a guide to common aquarium part types.While not a full list of all of the replacement parts we carry, this list can help you to familiarize yourself with the terminology for common aquarium parts. Using the correct terms will make searching for a replacement much easier. If you are not sure what a part is, you can send us a picture via email.

Step Three: Deciding if You Should Repair or Replace Your Equipment
After you know what piece of gear you have and what needs to be replaced, you need to decide if it is worth replacing. It doesn’t make sense to fix an old piece of gear if getting a replacement is only slightly more expensive or you expect to need to buy a replacement soon. To help give you an idea of what kind of lifespan you can expect out of common aquarium equipment, we have a list below of common lifespans for various gear.

  1. Glass Aquariums. 15-20 years, after which the silicone can start to weaken.
  2. Acrylic Aquariums. Nearly forever with regular buffing to remove scratches.
  3. Filters. With replacement parts, most filters can be run forever. However, most manufacturers do not support replacement parts after 7-10 years.
  4. Heaters. 3-5 years. Heaters wear out fast and a heater failing is extremely dangers. Make sure to replace heaters before they fail.
  5. Chillers. 10 years or more in most cases. Chillers may need replacement fuses and will need periodic vacuuming of the coils.
  6. AC Pumps (On/Off pumps with no power supply). AC pumps can last nearly forever with periodic impeller, impeller shaft, and bushing replacements.
  7. DC Pumps (Pumps with an external power supply). DC pumps last 5-7 years. The internal components of a DC pump eventually wear out and die after prolonged use. In most cases a DC pump will need a replacement power supply before the motor itself fails.
  8. LED Lights. 5-7 years. Unfortunately, modern LED lights tend to fail after 5-7 years even though the diodes themselves last much longer. Generally, some component on the circuit board fails and these are not user serviceable. You can also check the light power supply, which is an easy fix. If you have more than one light, try swapping the power supplies to see if the power supply will not run either light. This is a sign that the power supply is what has failed.
  9. UV Sterilizers. 1 year for lamps, 5-7 years for ballasts and 10-15 years for the sterilizer body. Once a UV sterilizer body fails it is typically time to get a new unit. The UV light slowly degrades the plastic that makes up the body of the sterilizer and eventually the body will become brittle and leak. When the body fails it can cause a major leak. Because of this we recommend replacing any UV sterilizers that are indoors and more than 10 years old.
  10. Automatic Top Off Units. Automatic top off units can last many years if well maintained. The most common item to fail is the pump. Pumps often only last 2-4 years in an auto-top-off. This is because auto-top-off pumps often run dry. To make your unit last, fill the top-off container before the pump runs dry or replace the pump periodically.
  11. Media Reactors. Media reactors without pumps should last forever. The main component to wear out are the rubber gaskets. It is also common to break small parts by mistake.
  12. Dosing Pumps. 10 years with roller and tube replacements. Dosing pump motors last a very long time. However, the rollers and tubes in peristaltic pumps do wear out and will need to be replaced. Lubricating the tubes with silicone lubricant will help reduce wear.
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