Powerhead keeps eating fish

[gmford1979]

I have a Aquaclear 4000 on one end of my aquarium. my tank is pretty full of lr. around 105 lbs. yesterday a snail thats about 1.5 inches across, maybe bigger was sucked up in the powerhead. then i just got home from work, and my manderin dragonette was eaten by it.
whats the deal? its been in there for 2 months with no casualties, and now i have had 2 in 2 days.
any suggestions?

 

[nictavius]

isn't there a cover on the intake????? there should be a piece of plastic that stops things from getting sucked in.....

 

[gmford1979]

yeah its a little funnel looking thing. the fish and snail aren't getting sucked up in the actual unit. its just getting stuck on the outside. but after however long it was there it killed the fish and sucked the guts out of the snail

 

[mdeth]

You can buy little covers for those that have a plastic end + sponge inside of them. They need to be cleaned often but will work!

 

[albfishin']

You can buy a black sponge cylinder that fits over the end of the intake. I bought a pair for my two powerheads a few months ago and I think they were about $9(pair). They not only protect whats in the tank for exactly your reason, but I have to rinse mine every week due to the fact (to a certain degree) they filter the h2o. Hope it helps.

 

[mdeth]

^^^^

 

[socal57che]

little plastic practice golf ball from sporting goods store. looks like mini wiffle ball. ream out a hole 'til it fits your powerhead inlet snugly without falling off (glue it?) no spongy filter thing to clean and livestock won't stick to inlet any more.