Help With Covering Filter Intake Please :)

[chilli-spice]

I have a pregnant platy and a couple of pregnant guppies.
I am intending on leaving the fry to do their thing and let natural selection dictate who lives if any.
It's planted with lots of hiding places, so i reckon 1 or 2 might survive.

However, i have a slight issue.
I do want to cover the filter intake as if i don't, clearly none of them will have much of a chance.

My filter is internal and attached to the tank in 2 places - the back and one side.
This means no way to get an elastic band over, slide tights over or anything like that.

Is there another way to cover up the intake or am i pretty much stuffed?

 

[KittyKat]

I've had fry survive without a cover, especially in heavily planted tanks. Do check the filter for them often tho! You might be able to get some semi-flexible mesh or something and use suction cups (easily available from most LFS) to attach it.

 

[chilli-spice]

cheers
will give it one round without anything and see what happens then
if there's a problem, will use suction cups next time - i never would have thought of that, thanks

 

[doresy]

sounds like a Juwel ?

 

[chilli-spice]

yeah, it's a pain in the butt!
i also have green algae i can't get rid of on the end between the filter and the side, because since it's attached i have no way to get between and clean it.
it was second hand - so the algae was there when i got it.

 

[doresy]

yeah, it's a pain in the butt!
i also have green algae i can't get rid of on the end between the filter and the side, because since it's attached i have no way to get between and clean it.
it was second hand - so the algae was there when i got it.

I am one of the few people that actually rated this kind of filter (when I had a Rio 125) but most people removed them and either replaced it with a quality internal or better still an external.
The filter box can be (carefully) removed by gradually sliding in an icing spatula or similar.

When I had mine I placed a large wad of filter floss in the top of the tower against the grill. I did this to stop food being sucked into the filter but I guess this would also be affective in stopping fry being sucked in too. It needed cleaning very often though.

 

[chilli-spice]

yeah, it's a pain in the butt!
i also have green algae i can't get rid of on the end between the filter and the side, because since it's attached i have no way to get between and clean it.
it was second hand - so the algae was there when i got it.

I am one of the few people that actually rated this kind of filter (when I had a Rio 125) but most people removed them and either replaced it with a quality internal or better still an external.
The filter box can be (carefully) removed by gradually sliding in an icing spatula or similar.

When I had mine I placed a large wad of filter floss in the top of the tower against the grill. I did this to stop food being sucked into the filter but I guess this would also be affective in stopping fry being sucked in too. It needed cleaning very often though.

for the most part, i do quite like the filter - it's fairly powerful, it's quiet and it does the job
it's just a pain to clean it
to get the filter basket out, you have to remove all of the air flow stuff etc.
i can't reach into the bottom to clean it very easily either.
and the algae trapped is so unsightly.

thanks for the tips. i think for me, removing the filter is a bit too tricky and risky. im not very good with that kind of stuff and knowing me, i'd break the whole tank trying LOL.
i'm only a beginner and pretty low tech, so the setup for me works as it is
probably when i'm a bit more experienced i will start messing with things

i will give the filter floss a go and see what happens.
i'd say that my pregnant fish still have at least 3 weeks each to go, so i've got plenty of time to decide what to do hehe