Gourami killed by powerhead!

TheDeerslayer

TheDeerslayer

AC Members
Sep 18, 2005
28
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0
Austin, Texas
I came home from work today to find my Male Dwarf Gourami missing. I checked around the tank to see if he jumped to his death, but no fish. None of his tankmates are big enough to have killed him, let alone devour him entirely within 4 hours. I was about to give up when I saw the dwarf stuck in the intake of my powerhead. He was still kicking a bit, so I humanely dispatched him.

I am going today to buy a less powerful powerhead (the one I had made the tank like a whitewater rafting trip) and I intend to modify the intake with some sort of mesh.

Just wondering if anyone else ever had this problem and how you solved it...
 
I wager that the vast majority of the times of heard of this happening, the fish is ill and gets stuck to the powerhead because it is to exhausted to fight the current. A healthy fish should not get stuck to a powerhead. Its possible that you have more current then the fish prefers, but the powerhead was just the straw that broke the camels back.
 
http://www.petsolutions.com/Reverse+Flo+Kit-I-47486861-I-C-10313-C-.aspx
This kit comes with a nifty foam cover for powerhead intakes. I don't use the powerhead anymore, but cut the cover in half and use it on my community tank's filter intakes to keep newborns from being sucked into the filters.

(edit... for intake strainers with holes facing straight down, just stuff some fiber floss into the hole at the bottom of the foam cover.)
 
Regarding fish health, this particular gourami was new to my tank, so I can't really speak to his health. When I first got this powerhead I stuck my hand in and felt it, and the intake (and output) was pretty extreme.
 
TheDeerslayer said:
Regarding fish health, this particular gourami was new to my tank, so I can't really speak to his health. When I first got this powerhead I stuck my hand in and felt it, and the intake (and output) was pretty extreme.
Click to expand...

What brand/model was the powerhead ? How many gallons per hour was it rated?
 
It was an AquaClear, don't remember the model. I think it was 275 gph.
 
The 275 gph was way too much for my 46 gallon bowfront. I now have one that runs 127gph and is perfectly sufficient. The 127 gph was marked for up to 20 gal aquariums.
 
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