New Mollies in our Tank

[Burkey]

We're relatively new to this but we have another new set of fry, (Mollies), in our 10 gal. tank. The problem is that a few of them have gotten sucked up in our filter draw tube. Ay suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[TankGirl]

One thing you could do is take off the uptake tube strainer on the end and replace it with an AquaClear Mini sponge, by cutting an "X" in one end of it and shoving it onto the tube. This will act as a prefilter and clog easily, but fry won't get sucked into the intake.

You could also try a piece of pantyhose over the strainer, as well.

 

[Burkey]

Aqua Mini Sponge?

Are the aqua sponges readily available in pet stores? I don't think I've noticed them before. Thanks for the advice. BTW, do tetras breed easily? One of the "fry" is very different looking and we were wondering if the tetras were also active.

 

[TankGirl]

I get the sponges at PetsMart, but I have seen them all over, so hopefully you can find them.

What kind of tetras do you have? Those lay eggs, usually by scattering them, so in a 10-gal I would be surprised if you had tetra fry survive, unless there is a whole lot of cover for them to develop without getting eaten. It could happen, though.

 

[Menagerie]

I agree with the sponge method--works great!

 

[docrak]

That's basically the same thing I do except I bought a cheep air powered sponge filter with a round sponge. I threw the rest away and put the sponge over my intake. One thing though, the sponge will catch most of the large particles in your tank and will get very dirty quickly. I have to clean my sponge every 7 to 10 days or the flow is greatly reduced.

Here’s a how to improve an Aqua Clear filter that uses a sponge pre-filter. It was originally posted by chasgood.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/power_filter_tricks_iii.php