My fish are getting stuck in the filer

so my fish have been getting suck in my filter and then dieing what should I do here is my filter please help asap
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I have the 20 gallon

what should I do they are in the filter and what fish should I add for community tank that is bigger

 

You could block the filter intake with aquarium sponge so they can't get stuck on it

 

I agree with jasmine-smith. You can put something over the intake tube.

Make sure there aren't any problems with your water parameters. Most fish can swim away from most filters if they're healthy. I can't imagine a starter tank having a really powerful filter flow. There's a chance your fish are dying from something else and being sucked into the filter intake. I don't know what's wrong, but consider it while you try to figure it out.

 

Pre-filters go on all my tanks with anything but a sponge filter (it's already built in there lol) I go two different routes.
Most of my tanks get a simple sponge prefilter, I find one from the lfs with a hole about the right size and slide it on. My fancy pants "show tanks" use stainless steel mesh "chemical strainers". The chemical strainers are easier to clean, I just shut the pumps off and the junk falls off when I bump it with a siphon.
The sponge pre-filters do a better job at keeping the other medias clean and I don't typically need floss in the filters that use a sponge pre-filter. If I leave the pump running and put a sandwich bag over the sponge pre-filters before removing them they make less mess during cleaning.

I started using pre filters because of guppy fry, and baby snails getting stuck in the impellers. If a filter hangs up you may lose more than just the one fish or snail.

 

What fish do you have? Did you cycle this tank? Have you checked your water parameters?

Seems very odd to me. This is not a super strong filter/pump so the fish seem weak to me and something else is going on I’ll bet.

 

What fish do you have? Did you cycle this tank? Have you checked your water parameters?

Seems very odd to me. This is not a super strong filter/pump so the fish seem weak to me and something else is going on I’ll bet.

Yes I have tested the water and my ammonia is in the middle of 0 and 5 and others are unknown by my test strips have not come yet but when I went to PetSmart they have said that it was good and my other fish are not getting stuck and the filter has about a 120 gallon per hour or what of water flow.

 

To start, healthy fish do not get stuck to the filter or sucked in. You mention your ammonia is between 0-5, any level of ammonia can be toxic so likely your fish are dealing with ammonia poisoning which is causing them to be weak and getting sucked onto/in the filter.

How long have you had this tank running and what all fish are in it? How warm is the heater keeping the water?

I'd probably start daily 50% water changes until your ammonia and nitrites are 0 and your nitrates are less than 20ppm. This will help keep your fish healthier until your cycle is complete

 

Your ammonia is it 0-5 or is it 0 to 0.5ppm.
Test strips are usually not very accurate. I’d recommend an API freshwater master kit.

 

To start, healthy fish do not get stuck to the filter or sucked in. You mention your ammonia is between 0-5, any level of ammonia can be toxic so likely your fish are dealing with ammonia poisoning which is causing them to be weak and getting sucked onto/in the filter.

How long have you had this tank running and what all fish are in it? How warm is the heater keeping the water?

I'd probably start daily 50% water changes until your ammonia and nitrites are 0 and your nitrates are less than 20ppm. This will help keep your fish healthier until your cycle is complete

My tank has been running for 17 days now and I have guppies Mollys platies I did have neon tetra but I had a little guess that the filter will be a problem is that it looks small but it is big and pushes all of the water my tank is at 78 on heater side and other side is 76 I have used bacteria in a bottle fish food and media from my other thank to help start it and I have only done a small water change with change like 4 red solo cups but I will take the help and will do a water change asap also I will be getting linear or mesh to put on the filter

Your ammonia is it 0-5 or is it 0 to 0.5ppm.
Test strips are usually not very accurate. I’d recommend an API freshwater master kit.

I use the tetra ones when I got it tested her said it was in the middle of that but everything is good

 

My tank has been running for 17 days now and I have guppies Mollys platies I did have neon tetra but I had a little guess that the filter will be a problem is that it looks small but it is big and pushes all of the water my tank is at 78 on heater side and other side is 76 I have used bacteria in a bottle fish food and media from my other thank to help start it and I have only done a small water change with change like 4 red solo cups but I will take the help and will do a water change asap also I will be getting linear or mesh to put on the filter

Okay your tank isn't cycled then, what size is this tank? I definitely wouldn't blame the filter here and I wouldn't make changes to it honestly. Once you fix the water quality issue the fish will get healthier.

 

by tank

Okay your tank isn't cycled then, what size is this tank? I definitely wouldn't blame the filter here and I wouldn't make changes to it honestly. Once you fix the water quality issue the fish will get healthier.

my tank is healthy and my water is good just that it has been cycling and I say 17 days with fish but young for about 40 days with live bacteria and a sponge filter from other tank but now the tank is acting up and I can tell that the filter is being strong

 

by tank

my tank is healthy and my water is good just that it has been cycling and I say 17 days with fish but young for about 40 days with live bacteria and a sponge filter from other tank but now the tank is acting up and I can tell that the filter is being strong

Your tank is not healthy and water is not good if you have ammonia present. Regardless of what was done previously at this point in time if you have ammonia present your cycle is not complete. (You haven't mentioned your Nitrate or Nitrite readings so we don't know how far along you are in your cycle either)

I have had fish for going on 20 years now. All sorts of crazy powerful filters and powerheads in the tanks. A healthy fish will not get sucked into a filter. The only exception is maybe a big rosetail betta but that also has to do with weight of their fins, how they were raised, etc.

Lets get back to the water quality issue which is likely causing the weakness in your fish. When you say you had it running with live bacteria for roughly 23 days (40 days total - 17 days with fish), were you "feeding" the tank with ammonia? Fish food? What were your exact water parameters before adding fish (Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite)?Then how quickly did you add the fish?

Even if the tank was perfectly cycled, there are things that can cause it to go back into a cycle like adding too many fish, a fish dying causing more ammonia in the water, over feeding, etc.

It is also possible you got fish from the store that weren't healthy, that is way more common than people think.

Once the water quality issues are addressed I'd imagine you won't have this issue after this.

 

Agreed with the above statement ^ Healthy fish don't get sucked into filters. If you have any ammonia reading your water is not good. Don't listen to pet store employees, especially chain store employees. They are often misinformed, are just plain wrong or are just trying to get you to buy more fish. I highly doubt your issue is the filter. It's either a water quality issue or you're getting weak, injured or diseased fish. Until you know the exact readings of your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate there's not much more anyone here can help with. You can put a sponge over the filter for the time being but the underlying problem will still exist.

 

Your tank is not healthy and water is not good if you have ammonia present. Regardless of what was done previously at this point in time if you have ammonia present your cycle is not complete. (You haven't mentioned your Nitrate or Nitrite readings so we don't know how far along you are in your cycle either)

I have had fish for going on 20 years now. All sorts of crazy powerful filters and powerheads in the tanks. A healthy fish will not get sucked into a filter. The only exception is maybe a big rose tail betta but that also has to do with the weight of their fins, how they were raised, etc.

Let's get back to the water quality issue which is likely causing the weakness in your fish. When you say you had it running with live bacteria for roughly 23 days (40 days total - 17 days with fish), were you "feeding" the tank with ammonia? Fish food? What were your exact water parameters before adding fish (Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite)? Then how quickly did you add the fish?

Even if the tank was perfectly cycled, there are things that can cause it to go back into a cycle like adding too many fish, a fish dying causing more ammonia in the water, overfeeding, etc.

It is also possible you got fish from the store that wasn't healthy, that is way more common than people think.

Once the water quality issues are addressed I'd imagine you won't have this issue after this.

if my fish are from PetSmart will that hurt any by I have half with the local fish store and a half from PetSmart and I just retested after the water change that ammonia is at 0 nitrates is at 0 and my nitrate is at 0 just got my test stripes from the mail right now that is why I did not tell my whole readings

 

if my fish are from PetSmart will that hurt any by I have half with the local fish store and a half from PetSmart and I just retested after the water change that ammonia is at 0 nitrates is at 0 and my nitrate is at 0 just got my test stripes from the mail right now that is why I did not tell my whole readings

Your tank readings support my theory that your tank is not cycled. If you have 0ppm Nitrates then you do not have a cycled tank at this point. There are exceptions to this but not generally for a new tank less than a year old.

Generally, fish from LFS are often healthier than pet stores so if you have sick fish from pet stores it wouldn't be uncommon for the healthy ones to pick on the not healthy ones causing even more stress. Now I have seen LFS fish be sick so this is not always the case but most often LFS have healthier stock than chain pet stores.

I'd start doing daily water changes until your tank finishes cycling. This will help keep your current fish alive and give them a better shot. Hopefully the cycle finishes quickly for you and you do not have any more deaths.

 

Your tank readings support my theory that your tank is not cycled. If you have 0ppm Nitrates then you do not have a cycled tank at this point. There are exceptions to this but not generally for a new tank less than a year old.

Generally, fish from LFS are often healthier than pet stores so if you have sick fish from pet stores it wouldn't be uncommon for the healthy ones to pick on the not healthy ones causing even more stress. Now I have seen LFS fish be sick so this is not always the case but most often LFS have healthier stock than chain pet stores.

I'd start doing daily water changes until your tank finishes cycling. This will help keep your current fish alive and give them a better shot. Hopefully the cycle finishes quickly for you and you do not have any more deaths.

I just did a water change is that why it is reading at 0 and sorry if I am making you feel like I don't want your help but is there something to cover the filter because I do want t slow it down to and I won't get have my fish have babies and I have the other tanks that I will get so is there a trick

 

I just did a water change is that why it is reading at 0 and sorry if I am making you feel like I don't want your help but is there something to cover the filter because I do want t slow it down to and I won't get have my fish have babies and I have the other tanks that I will get so is there a trick

For baby fish I shove a sponge over the intake. But that's going to put a bandaid over the problem if you have adult fish getting stuck and do not correct what is causing that. Good luck with your tank

 

If you really want something to cover the filter intake go to a pet store and buy filter sponge, cut it in a way that covers your whole filter intake then you could tie it on with fishing line or something. My intake is circular so I cut circles through the middle and shoved the sponge on

 

Your tank definitely isn't cycled. Water changing removes and dilutes harmful chemicals like ammonia in a fish in cycle. Your tank is definitely still cycling. And in the early stages at that. With up to 5ppm Ammonia (that's doing a number on your fish right now), and no nitrite or nitrate that's worrying. You're going to need to do big water changes daily to keep the ammonia down.

Also guys test strips aren't bad. I mean apI test strips are garbage but the tetra ones are good. There's a great video on youtube that does a side by side of tetra 6 in 1 test strips and the apI freshwater master kit. The test strips just have a little bit bigger range on the readings but are still right there on par with the master kit.

 

For the filter, if you don't want a sponge over the intake, you can tie pantyhose over it instead. Black shouldn't look too noticeable.

 

They make intake sponges that you can buy online, but if you want a diy you can wrap a sponge (you can cut it to make it less thick if it's too big) and ties it with hair ties or rubber bands. Just make sure there's enough water still flowing out of the filter.

 

by tank

my tank is healthy and my water is good just that it has been cycling and I say 17 days with fish but young for about 40 days with live bacteria and a sponge filter from other tank but now the tank is acting up and I can tell that the filter is being strong

So that means 23 days (over 3 weeks) with no food source for the bacteria you added. The bacteria needs an ammonia source.

As others have said...healthy adult fish should not get stuck to the filter intake. The fish are being weakened by the lack of a cycled tank.

You can cover the intake with a prefilter sponge if you want. But you shouldnt need it once the tank is healthy and established. unless you are dealing with young fry.

Good luck with everything.

 

So we've established that the tank is not cycled and healthy fish don't get stuck or sucked into small filters.

That said, you can definitely add a sponge or piece of pantyhose over the intake.