Sponge Cover For 1 Inch Pvc Pipe?

[75g Discus Tank]

Hello Fellow Fishlorians!

Today, I found my goldfish stuck to the filter barely alive. I removed him and he has recovered pretty well, but he has no more tail(but the rays are still there) and he is missing a lot of scales.

This filter also killed a pearlscale goldfish.

Are there any sponge covers that would fit on a 1 inch PVC pipe?

 

[ILLBETHEJUDGE]

your filter must be really strong to be sucking the fish. let me get a little out of topic here and ask, what are your water parameters? Reason i ask is because your fish might be weak and that is why the filter is sucking it.

 

[Ziggythecat]

Fancy goldfish are also not good with strong currents and so much better with a sponge filter. And what do u mean by pvc pipe? Also, you can probably just buy a large sponge and cut a whole in it so the pipe can fit, but not all the way through.

 

[FishFish221]

Maybe make your own with some aquaclear filter replacement sponges by cutting holes into them? That could work, but if the flow is strong enough to suck them into the filter, they can still get stuck against the sponge though.

 

[varmint]

PetSmart does have pre-filter sponges that I use on my 60g tank. Not sure if it's 3/4 or 1" but worth a try. Cheap too.

 

[75g Discus Tank]

What happened was my goldfish swam into the area with the filter intake that I tried to block off and he just got stuck.


My parameters are:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 20

 

[Swampgorilla]

I have a dragon-eye ... that has only one "dragon eye" ... because the other got pulled off by the canister filter when he swam too close and sucked him in (by the eye). He's fine and has been for about a year since the accident. Er ... actually I recently found out it's a SHE! LOL

Reason for the accident? I forgot to replace the "strainer" on the bottom of the inlet pipe after cleaning it.

Anyway ...

Can you post a pick of your intake and outlet setup? The PVC inlet tells me this is some kind of DIY thing - which is fine but it's difficult to figure a solution if we don't know what it looks like.

 

[75g Discus Tank]

I'll get a pic tomorrow as it's late. I've been away all day!

The affected goldfish seems to have a lot of new fin growth already but I'm concerned about fungus. I'll get all of the photos tomorrow.

 

[75g Discus Tank]

I attached the pics of the filter intake. It is currently being covered by a rock.

As for the goldfish, you can see that hi s fins are really messed up Andy all of the white patches are where his scales are gone. He was an all orange goldfish before this.

 

[75g Discus Tank]

The filter hasn't done anything to the goldies, but it killed 2 of my huge ramshorns!

Any sponges that can fit?

 

[BKabina]

You can get foam from Poret® Foam Shop - SWISSTROPICALS

Would it be possible to put a larger pipe with holes over the current one?

 

[75g Discus Tank]

The holes are the problem as they are now sucking my snails out of their shells if they get too close.

 

[stella1979]

Sorry to hear about your goldie, but glad to hear that he appears to be ok.

So, idk if this will work for you, but I was just in the market for dirt cheap intake sponges. I wanted them dirt cheap because I was experimenting with cutting them up to make them into a different shape. I'm fairly certain that if you cut 2 of these up, then glue them together in a certain way, they will work for what you need. Just in case you're unaware, super glue and hot glue are completely safe for aquarium use. The super glue must be 100% Cyanoacrylate, which you can find in Gorilla Glue Gel. I use Gorilla Glue in my reef tank all the time. For my sponge project, I used a hot glue gun and it's worked out very well.

 

[BKabina]

The holes are the problem as they are now sucking my snails out of their shells if they get too close.

You could alway get a large cheap sponge for washing a car and cut it to fit.

 

[75g Discus Tank]

I have some aquarium silicone left over from repairing my tank.

Would this be too much for the sponge? I also have superglue at my house.

 

[stella1979]

I chose to use glue because it's super fast to cure and silicone would take longer and be messier for me. I've been a crafter longer than I've been an aquarist, so glue work is easier than silicone work for me.

 

[75g Discus Tank]

How should I keep the BB alive?

The intake is for a 5 gallon bucket filter. Should I use an extra airpump to keep circulation?

 

[stella1979]

I'd say just keep the filter running as normal until you've modified your sponge and it's ready. Then just slide it on in the tank if you can. That's what I did. If the filter must be shut off, just do all you can first, shut it down, do what you need to and turn it back on. If the filter is off for only a short time, the cycle will be fine. Shoot... I lost power completely for 36 hours last year and the BB and cycles on 4 tanks all survived.

 

[75g Discus Tank]

I'd say just keep the filter running as normal until you've modified your sponge and it's ready. Then just slide it on in the tank if you can. That's what I did. If the filter must be shut off, just do all you can first, shut it down, do what you need to and turn it back on. If the filter is off for only a short time, the cycle will be fine. Shoot... I lost power completely for 36 hours last year and the BB and cycles on 4 tanks all survived.

Actually, can I do it without glue? There is a PVC cap on the end of the pipe that should hold it in position.

 

[stella1979]

You'll need to use more than one to modify it to the size and shape you need, so you'll have to attach them somehow. I suppose you could use a needle and thread, but cotton thread will degrade relatively quickly. Perhaps fishing line?