Filter Intake Placement

[JCarnes]

I finally finished rearranging things today and added my last fish. I added a cave structure today and now I am not sure if my filter intake is in a good spot. It was originally 4 inches from the gravel bottom, but now with the cave I took one section out. It was about 1/4 inch away from the cave.

Will it be alright where it is or should I put the other section back in to get it closer to the bottom? In the picture below the intake for my canister filter is on the right and the return is on the left (the intake is blue and you can see it just above the cave).



Sent from my LG-LS970 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Luananeko]

The main downside to having your intake so high is that only small particles will float high enough to get sucked in, while the heavier ones will settle in the substrate. You'll just need to vacuum the gravel more during your water changes and possibly increase your water change frequency to compensate.

 

[JCarnes]

I use a gravel vacuum once a week, but I have a pretty good clean up crew and never get much with the vacuum. Thanks!