Another filter hazard!

[Jim Sinclair]

This is not an emergency anymore, but it was alarming for both me and the fish when it happened: Having had several small young goldfish injured or killed by getting sucked into intake tubes on HOB filters, I put sponge filters in their tanks instead.

So right now I'm doing water changes for the little fish, and I drained enough water out of one of the tanks that the lift tube for the sponge filter was up above the water. And as I was continuing to empty water out of the tank, I noticed something inside that tube. Specifically, as I looked more closely, it was one of the small fish inside the tube. It was just sitting in there not moving, and I thought my new safer filter, that was supposed to be better for the fish than a HOB filter, had just killed one of my fish. But when I tilted the filter onto its side and shook it out, the fish promptly swam off into the tank.

So, all is well this time. Is there any such thing as a filter that is not going to be a life-threatening hazard for small fish???

 

[FishGuest5123]

I have a tank full of baby goldies right now. I always use a Tetra Whisper 10 on my tank and then put a pantyhose on it. I know you’ve tried the pantyhose trick and it didn’t work for you. I don’t know if it’s the filter I use or what. I’ve never had a baby get stuck. Good luck!

 

[Metalhead88]

You can get a prefilter for your hang on back to make it more safe.

Sponge filters are usually very safe, although I have heard of fish like in your case getting stuck into the lift tube on rare occasions.

You can get a sponge filter that has a lift tube that ends at a right angle... I would assume that would be harder for fish to get into

 

[Jim Sinclair]

What is a prefilter?

I have a real emergency now. New thread.

You can get a prefilter for your hang on back to make it more safe.

Sponge filters are usually very safe, although I have heard of fish like in your case getting stuck into the lift tube on rare occasions.

You can get a sponge filter that has a lift tube that ends at a right angle... I would assume that would be harder for fish to get into

 

[Colin_T]

A pre-filter is simply a sponge or filter media that sits on the intake of a pump and filters out course material to stop it going inside the pump.

You can get round/ cylindrical sponges for some brands of internal power filter. These sponges have a hole through the centre of them and fit over the intake strainer of most external power filters. They stop plant matter, fish and other course objects from being drawn into the filter.

 

[FishGuest5123]

It’s basically what you were doing with the net over the intake, Jim.