What to do about the hob filter tube

[piao liang yu]

I have an AC110 HOB filter. Due to my tank being two feet deep I use both tubes. Well, I have two red cherry shrimp a friend gave me. One is rather small. It got sucked up into one of the openings of the tube. Luckily he did not get sucked up all the way into the filter, the other tube stopped him. I noticed it and freed him. I tried to put a nylon stocking over it, but it restricted the water flow way too much, especially after a few days of feeding. Food got stuck to the stocking and eventually clogged it up so that the flow was negligible.

So, what do you guys do about that? Do I just have to be careful not to stock with anything small enough to get sucked up or is there something that works to correct this issue?

 

[swifty]

I've no experience with it, but I've seen a lot of people use the pre-filter sponges for delicate fish and shrimp. Something like this would work:

Amazon.com: Fluval EDGE Pre-Filter Sponge: Pet Supplies

 

[sansouci01]

I used a foam filter insert for a aqua clear 100 and cut out the middle. Works great in my shrimp tank. Lost a few cherry reds before I did this so the 3$ investment was worth it.

 

[jcolon]

Completely agree with what's been said. Either one will work fairly well although once a week or so you'll want to rinse them out during PWC's. It's shocking the amount of stuff pre-filter inserts / sponges trap.

 

[Scottyhorse]

You must be over feeding if you have that much food getting sucked up.

 

[Link119]

Those fluval sponges are really fine. They may restrict the flow of an aquaclear 110.

 

[bobbyj206]

I bought a pack of fluval nano sponges, cut a hole in the center and slid it over the intake of my ac50. its been working for the last few weeks.

 

[piao liang yu]

You must be over feeding if you have that much food getting sucked up.

Well i don't with flakes, but i stuck a thing of omega one tubifex worms on the glass and only a couple of them ate any (i only had six fish at the time) and they broke up into what looked like hundreds of worms. That is what stuck. I need to cut those tubifex cubes into quarters next time.

 

[piao liang yu]

I got the fluval edge pre filter sponge and it works perfectly. Even though it was not rated for the AC110 it still fit over the end of my filter tube with a little work. No apparent flow restriction and less than $3 at Petsmart.

Thanks guys.