Why you should always use filter guards...

[rosiedosie]

When a friend lent me one of her canister filters, she also gave me a few cichlid fry to get the tank water ready for my new shrimpies. Said filter was old and cheap I was running it without the strainer on the intake tube. My tank is divided into three parts, first two have shrimp and the third has the fry and the filter intake.

I purchased some purigen the other day and finally got off my butt and got around to opening the filter to put it in.

These little guys were at the bottom. One of them is actually quite big so Im not quite sure how he got through the pipe in the first place. Ive shocked myself because I didnt even notice their population going down lol

[BlueBolts]

Great advise......even with filter guards, I occasionally find shrimplets in my sump and cannister....

[torface]

Great advise......even with filter guards' date=' I occasionally find shrimplets in my sump and cannister....[/quote']

eeek! How do they get in??

[CNgo2006]

eeek! How do they get in??

No filter guard! Luck I just posted up a DIY for filter guards so no excuse now for having them in the canister!

[torface]

No BB reckons shrimplets still get in even with a filter guard!

Great tutorial... i will be having a go when i get some mesh

[CNgo2006]

No BB reckons shrimplets still get in even with a filter guard!

Great tutorial... i will be having a go when i get some mesh

With the proper mesh size there is no way for shrimplets to get through, unless you remove it for maintenance or something, that is why you should make 2. when cleaning use replace with spare.

[rosiedosie]

I did see your diy post, Im (very) uncoordinated with making things like that so I need to find someone I can talk into making one for me

I had made my own cheap version of a filter guard by using an old pair of my tights but they were too thick and restricted the water around the pipe too much and it would start sucking in air. So I got the cranks and took the whole connection off so it was just the bare pipe in the water. The suction wasnt too great on it so I didnt think any fry would get sucked into it. Boy I was wrong :what: Ive since put another fabric mesh over the pipe until I get a proper guard :) no more fry (or shrimp!!) getting into the filter

[CNgo2006]

The DIY filter guard is very easy to make follow the steps and you can't go wrong, I'm sure even you can make it! An even easier method is just use the cable ties (instead of heat shrink) and tighten a bit of panty hose on the end.

[gravychic]

I've never found any shrimp in my cannisters but once found 6 kuhli loaches in there when i finally got around to cleaning it. I learnt my lesson and now all my tanks have sponges over the filter intake, and one of the cannisters actually has a micron filter (the long ones for water filters) as the filter guard, keeps shrimp out and polishes the water so its crystal clear, oooh yeah!

[honcho]

eeek! How do they get in??

lol.. that made me laugh..

ive found retty large fish in my cannisters before and wondered the same..

ii think they squeeze through when they are tiny and grow inside the cannisters..

who knows what they eat or how they survive..?!

[OzShrimp]

If you stir up your substrate in a section if you use a shrimp soil you will see them go nutters and start eating the crap sitting on the surface, i would dare say its this sort of stuff they survive on. I have had BN fry sucked in, shrimp aswell. I use to use a stocking when i first started but found the extra wear on teh filter and affect on the output too great.