Fishies-for-me

I have an aqua clear rated for a 70 gallon tank on my 29 gal guppy tank... I have a sponge on the intake tube to keep the babies out of the filter and have it on full blast. It does not affect the suction of the filter and helps your filter go longer between cleanings as the sponge prefilters the water and all you have to do is rinse the sponge once in a while. It does a great job and I have never had a fish on the intake . It also is a great place for shrimp and or baby fish to feed as instad of food getting sucked up the intake tube into the filter it gets stuck on the sponge and the smaller slower fish and inverts can graze there .....good luck.

ccb04

I would recommend the sponge also. As mentioned, the sponge won't restrict water flow ... it will primarily trap larger debris. Additionally, with the sponge over the intake ... the filter media inside the basket is still doing it's job of housing beneficial bacteria (biomax insert), chemically filtering the water (if you use carbon), etc.

scatty

For a quick-fix, stocking or some other mesh will work too. I had to do this to stop my bettas fins getting sucked in and chewed up. The nice folk on here suggested it to me originally, and it works a treat.

TFA101

i've done that too ^

rubber banding a mesh filter media bag to the filter intake kept my halfmoon's fins in good shape, and it didn't restrict water flow either. I would imagine it would work out okay withyour small fish

kloseo

aquarist48 i have learned alot reading your responses to many questions posed on this site including one on the use of garlic. thanks for sharing your knowledge

gmen4life

man the ac110 must be a beast id try the sponge also i have lil almost fry size guys they are strong enough to swim away do you use liquid test strips or paper?

scatty

I agree. (havn't seen the garlic one though)

xathine

I went and got a sponge at the LFS.

Currrently zip tied onto the end of my filter intake.

Looks janky though

jdhef

You could always put a plant in front of the intake to block the view.

cerianthus

Try obtaining Black Foam made for Supreme Mag Pump. They are not as dense as other spnges which are mentioned, thus will elliminate constannt rinsing. Aq Clear sponge will do the trick but will kill flow rate quickly. This Black COARSE foam will last quiet a bit and they in cylindrical shape with hole, so can be fitted over the intake tube. If intake tube is too thin. Cut out sma portion of foam from top and stuffed the gap. It wont look as bad as other sponges and it wont effect the flow as quickly as others.