clogged filter

Greetings, The fallen off plant matter of my pothos frequently clogs my filter intake by getting stuck on the mesh. I have removed it every time, although I had to fight my way to it, as my male jaguar cichlid is quite ferocious and attacks any intruder. I would like to have a definitive...

I use a fair amount of floating plants because the fish enjoy hiding and napping in them and if I were to have any babies the new fry would have a place to hide. I've used java moss, frogbit and a number of other plants that don't mind floating and all they do is get sucked into the filter...