fish sucked into power head...

seecrabrun

seecrabrun

Active Member
I guess I never expected this to happen but it makes sense.

I came home from work to a yellow tail damsel stuck against my 500gph power head.

Just bright it home yesterday and it is in a 10g tank. Maybe too much power for that size but it's a broken head from my main tank that I'm reusing.

Normally I never see fish go anywhere near one but this poor guy did.

He's still alive and fighting. I've put him in a HOB breeder with some gracilaria for hiding.

What do I need to do to try to help him and what should I do about this power head to make sure it doesn't happen again?
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Hi,

The fish was sick or it would be strong enough to not get sucked in... There is some stuff called stress coat that may help. It places a slime coating on injured fish to ease their pain.

I just have to say it...they are such evil little fish, that will kill anything else you put in the tank more timid then itself, limiting what can be added to the tank later on, so if it does die... maybe it will help to consider it, dodging a bullet.
 
seecrabrun

seecrabrun

Active Member
It was a tiny thing, the size of a quarter tip to tail, so I'm not sure he was sick, he was fighting it and I was surprised it was alive when I released it.

The damage was severe though and it died in the night.

As for damsels being evil, that's OK with me. I love damsels and the only other fish I want is a sixline wrasse and one day when I have a huge tank I'd love a parrot fish. So I'm not concerned about them being mean little boogers. Although I want a sixline I'm not sure I'll get one but I am sure about the damsel.

As for the power head. The only broken part is the handle that held on the suction cup, so I have it in the back corner with the power cord clamped to hold it in that area.

I figure it is just too strong for 10 gallons. I'll probably put it in my sump when I finally get one to help keep the detritus suspended.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Hi,

In a 10g tank you could use an air line (no stone) to move the surface if a power head is too strong. That's what I use on my 10g quarantine.
 
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