# advise needed on kulii loachs in filters



## corrie (Aug 10, 2014)

i need some advise on how to keep my kulii loachs out of my fluvel 406, i clean it every 2weeks {not sure if this is good or not } but there is always 1 or more of my kulii loachs in side it today i found 4 of them in side it when i was doing a cleaning does any one have any sugestions on how i can keep them out of the canaster ?
also is it good to clean it ever 2weeks or should i leve it for longer them that also its on my 55gal long tank


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## Bunny (Oct 13, 2013)

doesnt it have a screen/prefilter of some sort on it...?


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

buy an aquaclear sponge. Cut a hole in the center with scicorrs, fit it over the intake. Bob your uncle, steves your cousin LOL

With the aquaclear sponge on your intake, the filter will barely get dirty. Clean the pre sponge as often as you want. A once a month cleaning on the fluval should be sufficient but I dont know your Bio load. Open it up in a month and decide for yourself. You may be able to let it go longer


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## corrie (Aug 10, 2014)

i dont thing there is a screen in the canaster as i always find them in the bottom basket of the canaster on top of the foam & bioballs i have in it


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## corrie (Aug 10, 2014)

ok i will get a aquaclear sponge for the intake & my boi load in the tank right now is 1 harlaquin , 9 nenos, 9 zebra danios , kribensis pair {they just layed eggs} , 2cobalt angelfish 1 rainbow shark , 1super red pleco ,6 kulii loacks 4albino & 2 pepper corycats also lots of live plants im not sure in im over stocked or not as well


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Instead of using a sponge, use nylon to cover the intake. Covering the intake with sponge, 1) you are choking the filter, 2) you are decreasing the effectiveness of your filter rather quickly as your sponge is getting choke up, and 3) you might as well remove the canister and use sponge filters for your tank. 

If you don't have tough nylon, cut a net from your old net. Wrap it around the intake with a hose cramp. It works better and it won't reduce the flow of your filter. You suppose to do a canister maintain once a month give or take a week depends on your stock.


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## eternity302 (Apr 22, 2010)

CANADIAN AQUATICS
$5 - Permanent fix - Problem solved

Oh right. I don't work for Canadian Aquatics~ It just so happened Charles said something and that's the first thing that came into mind~ LOL!


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## corrie (Aug 10, 2014)

@eternity302 & charles ok thank you both i will get some nylon today to put over the intake  i will now do a cleaning once a month instead of every 2weeks like i have been doing .


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

If you put nylon it will get plugged all the time. You will be constantly cleaning all the debris off of it. I tried this idea when I was 10 years old. It was more annoying than useful. Tons of people including myself use a pre sponge. It works great. A nylon will have less flow than the sponge and will choke your filter out more if you dont clean it daily. The holes are way smaller and the sponge has more surface so water will get passed it easier and for longer. Try both ways. See for yourself. Dont concider removing the aquaclear and running just a sponge unless you want a tank full of debris and fish waste. All though some people like that look. Im more into a nice clean tank myself.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

eternity302 said:


> CANADIAN AQUATICS
> $5 - Permanent fix - Problem solved
> 
> Oh right. I don't work for Canadian Aquatics~ It just so happened Charles said something and that's the first thing that came into mind~ LOL!


This is actually a better and cheaper fix. A replacement sponge from ATI is $5. This is a good advertisement for us  thanks.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

jbyoung00008 said:


> If you put nylon it will get plugged all the time. You will be constantly cleaning all the debris off of it. I tried this idea when I was 10 years old. It was more annoying than useful. Tons of people including myself use a pre sponge. It works great. A nylon will have less flow than the sponge and will choke your filter out more if you dont clean it daily. The holes are way smaller and the sponge has more surface so water will get passed it easier and for longer. Try both ways. See for yourself. Dont concider removing the aquaclear and running just a sponge unless you want a tank full of debris and fish waste. All though some people like that look. Im more into a nice clean tank myself.


I should have clarify myself. When I said nylon, I mean nylon net like the one that comes with to hold fruits together.


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## Plumberboy (Jun 2, 2014)

One thing i have learned over the years, is there are 10 different ways of doing things, and what works well for one, may not work for others. IN MY OPINION, nylon is great for making up baitballs for sturgeon fishing, but not so good on my intakes. Now i don't use sponges on my cannister filters, but every single HOB i own has a sponge on the intake. I think this actually adds to the effectiveness of the filter, more bacteria. But, also adds to the maintenance. I clean my 'prefilter' sponges from daily to weekly, depending on how dirty the fish are. All mine are on pleco breeding tanks, and get filthy quickly. U gotta stay on top of it, and I do. On the good side, I can go 3 or 4 months without cleaning the actual HOB, which means bacteria stays very stable. I have been using Fluval 4 foam inserts, cut in half, zip tied on one end, and slid up over intake. These easily last me over a year. Very cost effective, as there are 2 inserts per box, cut in half is 4 sleeves. Some of my HOB's are 15 years old (Aquaclear 300's) or older, and still going strong. But hey, just my opinion, and I have been doing this for 30 years, learning every day! You'd think I'd be smarter by now.....


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## Chiumanfu (Oct 30, 2014)

I've tried both sponge intake filter and stainless steel. I definitely prefer the stainless steel. The sponge reduced my flow quite a bit after just a few days and cleaning it weekly was a pain. It wass also quite an eye sore in the tank. I now have a stainless steel one from Canadian Aquatics and it is much more discrete and doesn't affect flow at all. The mesh is small enough to keep baby shrimp out of my HOB so your Kuhli Loaches will be fine.

If you want to DIY


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## Chiumanfu (Oct 30, 2014)

corrie said:


> ok i will get a aquaclear sponge for the intake & my boi load in the tank right now is 1 harlaquin , 9 nenos, 9 zebra danios , kribensis pair {they just layed eggs} , 2cobalt angelfish 1 rainbow shark , 1super red pleco ,6 kulii loacks 4albino & 2 pepper corycats also lots of live plants im not sure in im over stocked or not as well


Your tank in AqAdvisor

Remember AqAdvisor just get's you in the ball park. Lots of variables affect the result like fish age, feeding amount and plant density.


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## Plumberboy (Jun 2, 2014)

I don't own a show tank. All my tanks are 'eyesore's'!!! For me its all about the fish, bout the fish, bout the fish...... But i think if i did do a show tank, those stainless steel screens look pretty sexy. In the mean time though, I'm all about the sponge, bout the sponge.....:bigsmile:


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## Vancitycam (Oct 23, 2012)

Sponges work, or cover it works bottom line you don't want swimmers up your intake. It's up to you really and as said 10 ways to get the same thing.


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