Canary Blenny Sucked into PH Intake

[Guest]

After having my tank exactly the way I wanted it with my last addition (Canary Blenny) added some 6 months ago, I was shocked to see my blenny missing. I looked everywhere and then I remembered how I had had a percula that was not a strong swimmer get caught in the intake of my power head. There he was stuck to the intake. Surely enough, curiosity was probably the culprit. Can anyone give me any pointers on covering the intakes of aquaclear powerheads. I don't want to buy that big bulky sponge cylindrical contraption that they sell. I have two and the intake is a shallow circular chamber. Would jamming a cut piece of foam spongey material help or would that hurt the PH????

 

[schoeplein]

What brand and model PH is it?

 

[Guest]

They are aquaclears but I am not sure the model number.

 

[Brenden]

I can not imagine a powerhead having that much suction. I have a closed loop that is pulling in 8000 GPH and never had a problem. Maybe you could make a barrier around it with plastic mesh like they have at HD and lowes. It would not catch food etc. I never knew they had the plastic mesh until I had to come up with something to keep the neighbors cats out of my little boys sandbox. Turns out a bulldog worked better.

 

[haus]

LOL I had the same thing happen to my regal tang with 201. I took the ph out because I thought that it was fried, but i tried it the other day and it still works. I am not going to put it in my tank again though.

 

[dianeww]

You can wrap a piece of quarter inch black plastic netting (like they sell for pond covers) around the intake and secure it with a rubber band. Very unobtrusive and effective. If it's hidden and the color won't matter, a mesh onion bag will work.

 

[Guest]

Sweet, thanks

 

[Guest]

I have the aquaclear 4000. It killed a juvie false perc before. Then, I came home one afternoon finding my longhorn cowfish stuck face first in the PH. The fish is back to normal now.

But I had to buy the long cylindrical thing for it. You just have to buy that because it can actually help in the filtration too. Plus, point the flow director diagonally towards the surface, it is a great tool for wave making. Also, it will take time before the intake is jammed with residue (food, poop, algae, etc).

brenden, you'll be surprised how strong the suction is on a 360GPH PH. Sometimes it could be as stupid as a fish following an algae floating around or something (or any object) and ending up being sucked into the powerhead. It's that strong.

 

[Mrbill]

I just lost a Koran Angel this way on Sunday. Found him stuck to the intake of a maxijet.