Prefilter sponge or intake

[Suzanne B]

Greetings all. I wanted  to get opinions on which is better to prevent smaller fish from getting sucked into filter: prefilter sponge or stainless steel mesh cover over the intake.

I would think water would flow better with the mesh cover.

What are your thoughts?

[Keeg]

I use a coarse filter sponge from a bubble filter from the co-op, while the mesh cover would allow more water flow, the coarse sponge will decrease the flow so they can't get sucked against the side like the mesh could. Plus it prevents fry from getting sucked in as well. Plus its an additional spot for beneficial bacteria to live, adding more biological filtration. 

[Pepere]

Adding the prefilter sponge adds significant surface area for beneficial bacteria to colonize.  It also significantl increases the surface area that the water intake is acting on.  Ie, the suction pressure at the filter sponge water interface will be minimal.

 

stainless mesh would likely prevent suctioning through th slots, but in my mind it would still be possible for a fry to be sucked up against it unable to escape.

 

in my mind at least the prefilter sponge is highly preferable especially if you have a black tank background. It is not terribly noticeable except for the cory cats scrounging for food off of it.

[Patrick_G]

I lean towards a sponge for the above mentioned reasons. It's only drawback are looks and cleaning. Those stainless pipes look really cool and don't need much cleaning.

[Suzanne B]

On 6/28/2022 at 4:12 PM, Patrick_G said:

I lean towards a sponge for the above mentioned reasons. It's only drawback are looks and cleaning. Those stainless pipes look really cool and don't need much cleaning.

Thank you everyone for your input. I think I'll continue with the sponge. Just a concerned fish parent and don't want any of my little dudes to get hurt. I've got green neons and pygmy cories.