Putting A Filter Sponge On Aquaclear Intake

[Mako Man111]

In my planted 20 gallon, my aquaclears intake is always sucking up and getting clogged with dead plant matter. I have some extra aquaclear sponges that I could cut out a hole and stick on to the intake. Is this a safe thing to do for the motor? Would it slow down the flow much?

 

[Tolak]

I do this all the time with fry tanks. The only time it slows the flow is if it starts to plug with bbs. I take a small cup, and submerge it under the sponge before removing & remove the sponge in the cup of water. If you just pull it out all the debris will come out and into the tank as it breaks the surface. I learned this the hard way. It really messes up the tank.

 

[DarkEntity]

In my planted 20 gallon, my aquaclears intake is always sucking up and getting clogged with dead plant matter. I have some extra aquaclear sponges that I could cut out a hole and stick on to the intake. Is this a safe thing to do for the motor? Would it slow down the flow much?

Thats what its supposed to do, the idea is it sucks up all the rubbish and transports it into the filter helping maintain the bacteria colony. If there are huge lumps just pick them off the intake.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Mako Man111

There is even a sponge pre-filter made for this purpose:

http/www.americanaquariumproducts.com/PreFilter.html

The problem is that all the gunk that would clog your intake tube will clog up the pre-filter too. It will be the same amount of work to keep it clean as it would be without it.

If you have a lot of algae and other gook being sucked up into the AquaClear, be sure to rinse it out in used tank water regularly so it doesn't become so dirty that the water stops running through it. I've had that happen and the water backed up and started spilling out onto the floor. It made a terrible mess!

 

[Tolak]

If you have a lot of algae and other gook being sucked up into the AquaClear, be sure to rinse it out in used tank water regularly so it doesn't become so dirty that the water stops running through it. I've had that happen and the water backed up and started spilling out onto the floor. It made a terrible mess!

Keeping a nice size rock on the top of the filter cover will prevent the media from pushing up & overflowing the back on Aqua Clear filters. Slate works good for this, the color matches as well. I've had a creek across the basement floor a couple of times. Life gets busy, tanks are on the back burner, the floor drain is across the basement diagonally from the fishroom. The pre-filter helps to prevent this, it will slow the flow when it starts to clog, but won't affect the media in the filter. It also adds some bio filtration to your filter.

 

[Mako Man111]

If you have a lot of algae and other gook being sucked up into the AquaClear, be sure to rinse it out in used tank water regularly so it doesn't become so dirty that the water stops running through it. I've had that happen and the water backed up and started spilling out onto the floor. It made a terrible mess!

Keeping a nice size rock on the top of the filter cover will prevent the media from pushing up & overflowing the back on Aqua Clear filters. Slate works good for this, the color matches as well. I've had a creek across the basement floor a couple of times. Life gets busy, tanks are on the back burner, the floor drain is across the basement diagonally from the fishroom. The pre-filter helps to prevent this, it will slow the flow when it starts to clog, but won't affect the media in the filter. It also adds some bio filtration to your filter.

Yes I was also thinking the added bio media would be a benefit. I've just added a sponge to the intake, and it seems to be working good. I also can see it is catching some of the smaller particles which is also good, but not as many large dead pieces of plant matter.