dangerflower Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 I just moved a group of chilli rasboras out of quarentine and into my 20 gallon today. A few hours later I was checking on them and noticed that one of them was stuck in one of the sponge filters. I use ACO course sponge filters. The poor little guy had wedged his head in there and gotten stuck in a little loop of plastic around his head. I tried to cut him free but I wasn't able to, and he didn't make it. 😞 Now I'm really worried that more of them are going to meet the same fate, and I'm wondering if I'm going to need to switch to fine sponges. I was running a coarse sponge in the quarantine tank without issue. Was this just a freak accident? Has anyone ever had this happen with a course sponge filter and tiny fish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllFishNoBrakes Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 I run small ACO sponge filters in my tiny 2.5 gallon hatch and grow out tanks for fry and have never seen it. Doesn’t mean it has never happened, simply means I haven’t personally seen it with my eyes. If this happened to me, I would chalk it up to my inherited bad luck and consider it a freak accident. If it happened again then I would probably feel differently. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAC Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 Considering the fish were just moved into the tank I'd guess the fish may have gotten spooked and dove into the sponge. It's probably a one time unfortunate event. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 (edited) It's definitely a freak accident. There are sponge filters that have finer ppi sponge, entirely up to you if you feel it's a concern moving forward given the size of those fish in particular. Potentially, review how much air you're pulling and dial it back a bit to decrease flow. I don't think flow sucked that fish in, but that is just something to note if you're pulling a ton of water in a small tank with tiny fish. Another way to view it and probably why I haven't seen this, even with very small fry in the tank.... I tend to just always run big sponge filters. If you're pulling a lot of air and the thickness of the sponge isn't big enough, you can have an easier time to pull the fish into that central point. (as size goes up, the sponge is thicker) Edited January 16, 2023 by nabokovfan87 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mynameisnobody Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 Wow that is probably a 1 in a billion. Wish we had a photo, it never even crossed my mind that that could potentially happen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 (edited) I had 3 bristlenose pleco 4 week old babies go dumpster diving and get stuck in the coarse sponge. 2 did not make it 1 is still with me now a mom herself. Edited January 16, 2023 by Guppysnail 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnebuns Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 I've never seen this specifically with the ACO filter but with similar sponge-like material. It has happened both to a guppy fry and a cory fry. I will say though that I continued to use that product and only saw it the 2 times out of the hundreds of fry I raised next to it. I'm not saying that it won't happen again, but I think maybe there's some Darwin involved in this one. There's another factor to consider. The product I was talking about was not a filter but this is. A filter sucks water in. This means its entirely possible, and I would argue more likely, that the fish was sick before it got stuck. Too weak to swim it got sucked in my a current which actually isn't very strong. There's a reason sponge filters are popular for fry and shrimp. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KittenFishMom Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 (edited) I haven't read the whole thread, but I recommend putting a knee high nylon stocking over your course sponges for a while. Having read the thread, it looks like a a 1 in a million chance it would happen again, but you will sleep better if you put the stocking over the filter and know it can not happen again. The fish will be bigger by the time the stocking needs cleaning and you can remove it at that point, or clean it and put it back if you feel better knowing it is there. Edited January 17, 2023 by KittenFishMom added second paragraph 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pseudomugil Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 I had this happen to an adult Pseudomugil luminatus while using an ACO sponge. Definitely not a too much suction issue in my case. The fish got spooked at some point over night and found it stuck the next morning. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gannon Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 Didn't even know this was possible. Fear unlocked. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerflower Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 On 1/17/2023 at 2:12 PM, Gannon said: Didn't even know this was possible. Fear unlocked. My thoughts exactly 😱😱 Thanks for the replies, everyone! No more chillies have gotten stuck so far so hopefully this was just a freak incident. The nylon stocking idea is really smart! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now