Good Tip or Asking for Trouble?

H

HalifaxGirl

Registered Member
Feb 5, 2009
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Hello, I recently purchased my very first tank (25 gallon). On the advice of the fish store employee I ditched the under gravel filter it came with and bought an Aqua Clear 50.
The employee recommended I buy an extra piece of the sponge/foam block that sits in the filter and cut it to fit around the hose that goes into the water. (Lol I'm sure I'm not using the right part names, but hopefully you get the picture ;) )
This apparently is going save money/time maintaining the filter. I'm to take this extra piece of sponge off and give it a rinse every couple of weeks.

I'm looking for a second opinion, I'm all for saving time/money but I'm I going to be putting my fish at risk?

Thanks for reading this, hope it makes sense!
 
Doing this is referred to as pre-filtering. It is normally done in a tank with inverts or breeding tanks so the inverts or babies do not get sucked into the intake. It will cause no harm to your fish and cut down on the water flow only slightly IME.
 
I think you missed it, H3D. The poster did not buy the undergravel filter, and instead went with an AC HOB filter. I have AC filters on all of my tanks and like them immensely. I also use foam "prefilters" on all my tanks. I started this when I lost a couple of sawbwa resplendens (Asian Rummynose) that I purchased from Mgamer, when they were stuck to the filter intake ! You may also want to consider adding another filter to your tank, depending on what you intend to put in it. I keep 2 filters on all my tanks as a precautionary measure, and the extra filtration never hurts ! Good luck !!
 
I run prefilters on mine..helps reduce build up in the filter.
 
AC50 is a very good filter. Using a pre-filter on the intake can be a good idea for certain stocking and as already said it will not hurt anything by using it. In the media basket, I use 2 sponges and no carbon once the carbon has been used up. That method is really dependent on your personal preferences. As also has already been said the filtering of the intake tube will cut down on the amount of debris that will saturate your filter, giving you longer periods of time between filter cleanings.

There is 0 risk to your fish and if anything reduces any possible risks of being sucked into the intake to 0.
 
I use a sponge on the intake of my filter so my little frogs don't get sucked up or stuck to it!
 
I found 2 of my embers swimming around in my filter and have had sponges on all of them since.
 
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