Fry in the filter

[frannyscho]

Poor baby, sucked into the filter vent. It was a tiny little Platy fry, about 5 days old so very weeny. Our much bigger Zebra danio went that way too. The filter is a normal double compartment Rena Filstar i1. Someone said get a special filter with a sponge end for fry, but when I went to get one at the LFS, they didn't know what I was talking about....

Should I just tape or elastic band a bit of bath sponge in front of the vent... or will that stop the filter from working efficiently? Maybe a mesh bag over the whole thing??

Any clever suggestions?

 

[black angel]

the filter suggested would have been an airdriven sponge filter and all pet shops should carry them.
placing the end of a pair of tights over then securing with an elastic band should help, but i havent seen your filter before so i dont know if that would work. good luck anyway.

 

[frannyscho]

Thank you. I probably have a pop sock somewhere. It may fit under the two suckers holding it to the glass.
I suppose if i put something bigger under the sock near the vent to hold the mesh away, it will give a bigger area of mesh for water to get sucked through to prevent the mesh over the vent getting blocked.
Have you tried this stocking method before?

A new meaning to a tight situation!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Was the fry dead when you found it in the filter? if so it most likely died and then got sucked in. Also when you turn the filter off when cleaning it and you have fry in the tank, they will somtimes go hide in the filter as soon as it is turned off and i have seen this myself. If the fry was alive in the filter though and you imediatly took the filter out as soon as you turned if off, then it is likely it got sucked in beforehand.

 

[frannyscho]

It wasn't right inside, just in the entrance channel.

Sadly I think judging by the fact the much bigger Danio did this too. The filter sucks them in alive and then they aren't strong enough to get out again. What a horrid death. The filter has a little channel leading to the inlet valve, and this is where they go, held there by the suction, unable to reverse. I hope they died of shock quickly. I am looking for a pop sock now.


....ROTTEN FILTER DESIGN.....RENA FACTORY.....READ THIS....

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Hmm, i think it is unlikely the danio got sucked in alive unless it was sick, danios love a very strong current and i couldn't realy imagine one getting sucked in when it was totally healthy. What are your recent ammonia, nitrate and nitrite stats? I suspect somthing else is amiss here, better to make sure there isn't.

 

[frannyscho]

Ammonia - trace
Nitrite - trace
Nitrate - 10 ish

Dunno - The Danio used to play round the back of the filter for fun.
The vent only goes one way, is about 5mm height, is about 1mm depth curving to a 18mm chamber with the sucky bit at the end. The fish upon entering cannot go straight through or forwards anymore and presumably the suction keeps them from reversing. The Danio's eyeball was nearly sucked out - poor thing. I'll try a filter pic. Needs redesigning in my humble newbie opinion.

How do you post pics here?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

How long has the tank been setup and how many gallons does it hold and how many and what types of fish does it have including ones that have died? In a mature or cycled tank there should not be any ammonia or nitrites, not even a trace.

 

[SarahBravo]

Yep, I've done the popsock thing, worked fine! Just keep and eye on it and rinse it when you do a water change.

 

[frannyscho]

When I say trace, I mean the test water is clear but has the hue of the test showing on the surface, it isn't actually a colour as such. As in you can just about tell which test tube is which.

The tank has been set up since the first June, so nearly three months. 30 L with two balloon mollies and one platy, and now about 8 platy fry - 5 days old and one molly fry about two months old. (I am buying a bigger tank - see beginner questions re size etc.)

RIP's are one silver marble molly which had a floating problem (within new tank syndrome period), and one zebra danio, one molly fry and one platy fry, who all got stuck in the filter this way, and about 5-6 molly fry who were eaten. Plus one quite big molly fry who has just vanished.
) )