Internal Filters

Thinking of setting up another breeding tank
Possibly a Juwel 96,120 etc however my worry is the fry will get stuck in the filter / housing
I generally run sponge filters in my FH but this tank will be in the lounge
Has anyone had any problems losing fry in the filters?

High Jagtazman, never had a real problem with internal filters- just try to get one
with a nice big sponge that fills the housing properly (no gaps).
Over the two years Ive been breeding the little suckers I've maybe lost a dozen caught up in the impeller.
J

Cheers

Pretty much what I thought
With my discus I have lost a few to the filter before now as attracted to the black sponges I use. So just before free swimming I now put white socks over the sponges

Internal filters work great IMO , I've only just started playing around with external canisters- but still trying gauge when to clean it as you can't really see in the canister- I'd also imagine if all my fry got out in the 5ftr it would be a massacre unless I put the sport sock over the intake.
J

I clean the crud out of the externals every other month and generally replace one of the sponges every 6 months
prob should do more often but they are well mature and keep my tanks heathly
I have 2 x Fluval 305 which I keep changing with bags in every few months
and a Eheim 2213 which is okay but a little sod to try and re prime

I have a sump in my main 5 ft tank in the lounge where I replace the floss weekly and again out of the 7 layers of sponge replace one a month as for bio balls they do not get touched

Filter Sponges are a must for me in discus breeding tanks but in a small 2-3 footer I thin internal is alot easier especially as I do not tend to overstock these like I do with my growouts and main 5 footer

Thanx for the info Jagtazman, I'm pretty sure the external has been running for about 2 months now so I'll let it mature a little bit more and give him a scrub.
J

Forgot to mention I have a sponge filter on the intake of each external which acts as a pre filter - I rinse in tank water weekly and give a rinse under tap monthly

Sweet
J

i have the juwel rekord 96 litre ..its the one with tons of fry in at present ..it has a built in filter which the fry get in through everyway possible yet can easily get back out unscathed ..they get through the gap near the outlet pipe and through the vents ..ive not lost 1 yet ..and ive took it apart to clear sponges as all the veg and fry was slowing it down a bit ..if its this tank they are perfectly safe inside mine nothing in it that'll harm them..i also run the fluvel 4+ in here and they go in and out near the outlet nosel or in through the gaps fine also ..

yet i once lost a massive siamese fighter inside the tinyest of filters a aqua el i think it was ..reckon fry do better as lots of ways to get out again..heard of people emptying their externals and also finding live fry ..
the yummy bacteria and algae inside is far too tempting for them ..

Would putting a pop sock over the filter stop them without affecting the filter?

GrubbyGirl wrote:

Would putting a pop sock over the filter stop them without affecting the filter?

don't see why not I put a white sock over my sponge filters in my discus tank the day before they go free swimming and remove it around a week later