Question for nagasvoice.

[annissamazing]

First thing Oz did was get trapped in the filter intake. Second thing he did was get pushed across the tank by the current at the outlet. Now he keeps forcing himself between the thermometer and the glass. I've turned off the filter and I'll probably remove the thermometer (or move it). But I'm worried that the heater will overheat or something due to the lack of water cirulation. What should I do?

Oz isn't as smart as either Mr. Whiskerses.

Comments

[staucher.livejournal.com]

Sad isnt it that the pretty ones are all ways the least bright... Oh how the lord givith but only JUST enough ;)

some ideas

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

Some filters allow you to turn down the current, usually by adjusting the place where the intake stem sits atop the impeller case, or with a dial or lever built into the intake stem.
Check the directions for your filter for a flow adjuster. If possible, I would suggest turning that down.
If there's no means of adjusting that, recheck the directions to compare the size of your tank vs the size/power of your filter.
If there's no way of adjusting the filter, you could probably get a low-gallonage powerhead to stir the water around more gently for a week or so (you'll have to take the filter off and thoroughly clean the inside/sponge/guts so you've got rid of any dead stuff and it's safe to start it up again when you do reuse it) and let Gorgeous George get used to swimming. Many new fish are completely out of shape for dealing with good water current, but will adjust & develop coping skills or muscles after a period of time, usually a week or two. Not much current in many rearing and dealer's tanks, you see.
Also, as the filter sponge ages and acquires gunk (not all of which will wash out) the flow will reduce, and you may have to readjust the control upward again in a month or so.
Oh yes--when you clean the filter sponge, rinse it in your bucket of dirty tank water. If you use straight tapwater, it tends to kill the nitrifying bacteria you want to keep. I've been known to do it without worrying about it, but that was on Aquaclear sponges that had been running for ...gee, years...
If you just turn the filter off, the heater will probably be okay, but the rest of the tank may stratify to the point of having cold spots unless you've got some sort of circulation. Also, dead water is not good for your nitrifying bacteria in the gravel in your tank, and as they die will add more nitrates/nitrites to the tank.

a slightly different idea

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

You can also get a replacement sponge, cut a hole in the middle of it to fit your filter intake, and use something like plastic twist-ties to tie it on. That will make the intake safer and also soften the current for Oz. Check to make sure it hasn't cut it down to the point of letting the impeller run dry, though.
The idea is to get open-cell foam on this. I know Aquaclear replacement sponges will work, I believe some of the canister filters use the same sort of foam, and other hang-on-the back filters use the same sort of thing for their biuo-filters. Not the Bio-wheels, though.
In a pinch, you can use cotton or poly quilt batting of the felty sort, though it tends to be a bit fine and plug up and need washing more often than the open cell sponges. The loose poly (such as they used to sell for filling very small fishtank filters) tends to run out long threads which winds up round the impeller, bleahhh!
And yeah, that one came from the school of hard experience...