Swim suit netting!
- Thread starter Wateveryousay
- Start date
legendaryfrog
Tactical Refreshment Action
Do the holes in the netting go that fine? I'm not sure what that stuff is made of... if its nylon or something similar, you should be fine. If its cotton, you might not want to. Cotton rots if submerged for long durations. For a couple hours of swimming it'd be fine, but for an extended duration (say exceeding 2 weeks) it might begin to decay and produce a lot of ammonia and nitrites.
As per the plastic twist ties... they still have a metal core, and though I'm not sure what metal they use for it, it has iron in it, as it will rust. If you have absolutely none of that metal exposed, I don't see why you couldn't use them, but twisting them too far frequently exposes pieces of metal, and the ends typically aren't sealed either. I do know that you can get sewing thread in polyester and nylon... why not just use some nylon sewing thread?
Another thought I had.... it will help keep fry and the such from actually being sucked into the filter, but since it keeps the surface right where the intake slits typically are, the suction may be great enough to hold the young fish/shrimp there, and basically be just as bad as getting sucked into a canister filter's sponge filters internally. It may work... but with fry and the such, I'd be tempted to believe that the suction produced by the filter's intake would be turbulent enough to trap small fry/shrimp even with the netting in place. A sponge would be the best option, as you could get one with fairly large pores, which would allow very fine debris to go into the filter rather than bunging up the intake tube, but still prevent fry and baby shrimp from getting sucked down into the filter. Beyond that, it helps increase the surface area from which the intake is drawing water, drastically cutting down on surface turbulence at any one point on the sponge, making it much easier for a young fish or shrimp to swim away from if they get too close. Think of it as a fish swimming up a gentle stream vs a level 5 rapid. (the rapid being with the net or with no covering, the stream being the sponge) That may all be a bunch of mumbo-jumbo... but that's my take on the matter.
The net bags made for filter media are cheap and are meant to be submerged for extended periods. They even come with a tie suitable for use in water, its the pull cord at the top of the bag. I have used them in an emergency but anything that covers the intake will plug up fast unless it has a large surface area like the sponges R Bishop suggested.
