ever get a fish caught in the pwr head

cgrant

Active Member
My porky got his but caught in the suction side of the power head, I turned off the power head and he got out, good thing aqua clear has that built in plastic grate thingy or else the impeller would have chewed him up.
I dont think he got hurt but I am worried about him, his rear looked like the inside of a water bottle cap.
do you guys think he will be ok?
he can move his tail and swim around...I guess I am just worried about him.
 

dmjordan

Active Member
Only time will tell if the suction of the powerhead did any lasting harm to him.
I use a sponge on my powerheads to prevent that from happening. Just clean the sponge in fresh saltwater with every water change to keep clean.
I have heard about alot of people who have lost snails and fish in their powerheads.
Let us now and I hope your fish is O.K.
 

maeistero

Active Member
sounds like the water was going through his mouth and out the back. he just needed an enema!!!

seriously i use the sponge filters too. i don't really see many people that do and most all power filters have a good enough strainer that they don't need them. i just use the sponges as a detrius trap on non-drilled tanks.
 

sharkbait9

Active Member
my Koran got sucked up as a baby, had to make guards for them. The Koran swam for a day bent, I thought for sure it was a goner, but still swims to this day with the tang in MY 55 GAL TANK. I took 35mm film canisters and drilled holes in them and stuck them over the intake put a little micro sock inside like a pre filter almost. Never had a problem since.
 
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phishface

Guest
i lost a porky the same way, well it was a fluval 304..... pulled his guts out his ass. had to give him the royal flush. the sad part was he didnt even make it 24hrs.
 

cgrant

Active Member
He looks a little better but not mutch, his butt is back to its normal shape now but his rear is discolored and bruised, I hope he dont die.
I put him back in the 55, when i moved him into the 210 i thought all are happy fish now...boy if only i knew.
If he dies i'm gonna have to hurry and buy another one, my little 2 yr old runs up to the tank yelling puffa, puffa

I was bum'd so i order moon lights from the lebos for the 210...then i felt guilty
 

coderad

Member
I just lost my pipe fish, he got suck up my seio's power head, those are some small intake holes so he didn't get more then half way inside but by the time I got home from work he was gone.
 

spartanph

Member
Does anyone sell premade sponges for powerheads? I lost a clown to an aquaclear 70. I put a couple of aquaclear quick filters on them to prevent it from happening again but they are so large...
I'd rather use a sponge but don't want it to look cheesy and homemade.
 

puffer32

Active Member
Originally Posted by sharkbait9
my Koran got sucked up as a baby, had to make guards for them. The Koran swam for a day bent, I thought for sure it was a goner, but still swims to this day with the tang in MY 55 GAL TANK. I took 35mm film canisters and drilled holes in them and stuck them over the intake put a little micro sock inside like a pre filter almost. Never had a problem since.
Very clever idea, so the suction holds the film case on? I would like to try this
How many holes did you drill in each one, and is the flow into the ph hampered at all?
 

sharkbait9

Active Member
I have to charge my camera batts i'll take a pic to show. But i just kept drilling away with away with a 1/4 bit and cut slivers out around the bottom of the canister and a couple of holes on the bottom. Good flow rate from every side and bottom. cut a micro sock and just wrapped it around out side of it holding it in place with a rubber band.
 

spartanph

Member
Does anyone out there have any idea if there is a commercially available product to use as a sponge cover for power heads?
 

cgrant

Active Member
I tried the 35mm film case but it wont fit over the lip of the power head, I have a aquaclear 70
My puffer dont look so great, he is just kinda hanging out under the power head now, yes its turned off. He isnt moving much, his poop is redish in color I am guesing its blood in stool.
My wife is a nurse and she said in us thats a good sign cause it means everything is working internally. I guess time will tell.
 

symon

Member
Originally Posted by SpartanPH
Does anyone out there have any idea if there is a commercially available product to use as a sponge cover for power heads?
I found them at my LFS, i don't have the name on the package anymore! But the come in packs of 2 w/ 1 plastic strainer just like the maxi jets come with!
 

anthropo

Member
i use to have an aquaclear powerhead when i first started this hobby, i forget what size but i know it was 400gph. anyways i use to get things sucked in there all the time cause the powerhead didn't have a guard like most powerheads come with. i wouldn't notice what was missing though for a while or chalked it up to the v-tail grouper diet. well finally i got some bigger fish in the tank and this is the list of stuff i lost to the powerhead, a blue-eyed kole tang, a dogface puffer, numerous percula clown fish and i think a coral beauty.
 

cgrant

Active Member
Originally Posted by Symon
I found them at my LFS, i don't have the name on the package anymore! But the come in packs of 2 w/ 1 plastic strainer just like the maxi jets come with!
Hmm...I will have to hunt for that...maybe I can find it online?
My puffer seems better today, I am keeping my fingers crossed
 

cgrant

Active Member
I found one of these on the big auction site, I did a search for aquaclear power head filter and got Hagen AquaClear Power Head Quick Filter Attachment
Looks like this, I purchased one, i guess we will see how it works, I wish I would have known about this thing...
 

pacino

Member
thats a great product, if you dont mind it taking up space, and ifor some it might be an eye sore. but i purchased one for the same reason. 802 powerhead kept eating hermits, snails, a pajama card., and a puffer. i have had it ever since, i onle use the actual filter pad of it when i do water changes cause it quickly clears the water back up without getting my wet/dry pad too dirty, and over flow pad dirty. hope all works well for you and p-diddy...
 

cgrant

Active Member
well my puffer didnt make it, he gave it a good try and lasted 3 days.
what was strange was, he was kinda just sitting under the power head, yes it was turned off and swam up by me when he saw me, hover'd by me for a couple of seconds then went and sat on the bottom of the tank about 30 minutes later he was dead.
It was almost like he said good-bye...kinda freak'd me out!!!
So I pulled him out of the tank and next thing i know my 2 year old noticed the puffer was gone and the dramma started, he kept yelling puffa, puffa. I told him the puffa was in the big tank hiding but he didnt seem to believe me, its amazing how smart they are even at just 2 years. So tomorrow morning the hunt begins for a new puffer so my son wont freak again.
lesson learned...make sure power heads have a sponge of something on them, thats alot cheaper than a losing fish.
IMO for what the aquaclear 70 cost it should have came with something more than just that reducing cone.
 
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