Ishkabod Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 I woke up this morning to a wonderful suprise. Cloudy water and the filter not working on my fluval edge. The shrimp are all dead and as i watched while doing a major water change 2 Harliquin Rasboras passed away before my very eyes. The Culprit. The Manufacturers Pre filter sponge attatchment. I've had the sponge on for more than a month and every week it reduces the water flow gradually to the point where i take it out and clean it. Well this time it clogged over night and so my fish and shrimp all died as a result. They were fine and the sponge was fine last night before i went to bed. Does anyone have a solution to keeping shrimp in this tank but not using or using a different sponge?? L :cry: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkoD Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 how did it just get plugged overnight? what were you feeding these fish? i personally never use anything on the intake unless i have fry that could get sucked up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 I use an Aquaclear sponge on my intake of my shrimp tank. When you have a sponge on the intake you need to make sure its cleaned often. I clean mine every water change. Rinse it really well until all the gunk is gone. Not sure I understand how the clogged sponge could have killed the whole tank over night. Did the filter stop working? If the sponge was fine before bed it probably wasn't a clogged sponge. Even with a reduced flow it should have been ok. I've left it to where my sponge is so clogged my filter is barely a trickle and it didn't kill my heavily stocked tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 I agree with Val, I cant see the sponge causing a complete clog but then again I have never used the stock filter so not sure how much suction power it has. It may have burned itself out? I can see it maybe causing an issue for the fish as there would be no surface agitation with the filter at a reduced flow and the little surface area for O2 exchange on the Edge but the snails and possibly the shrimp should have been able to last a night with out easily. You could get a different sponge with bigger cells but that would allow any shrimplets or small snails to get sucked in. How long has the tank been up? Any other possible contaminants? And how cloudy was the water? did you happen to test the cloudy water for ammonia before you clean it out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 I run HOBs on my shrimp tanks w/o anything covering the intakes. I just have scrubbies in the filters - no foam or anything that will trap shrimps. My 10gal RCS tank went from about 20-30 a few months ago to over 100, and I see baby shrimp swimming in there all the time. IMO, the filter is primarily for biofiltration. Our shrimp are detritivores, so having some detritus in there won't kill them - just suck out excess at WCs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceturf Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 I run HOBs on my shrimp tanks w/o anything covering the intakes. I just have scrubbies in the filters - no foam or anything that will trap shrimps. My 10gal RCS tank went from about 20-30 a few months ago to over 100, and I see baby shrimp swimming in there all the time. IMO, the filter is primarily for biofiltration. Our shrimp are detritivores, so having some detritus in there won't kill them - just suck out excess at WCs. Jvision, I'm surprised to hear that the prop doesn't shred them going through. . . ? Or perhaps just not that many? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 It might kill adult shrimp, but the intakes still have the slotted screen to prevent that. The babies would just pass on thru. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted January 24, 2011 Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 I also have a tank without a intake sponge and the shrimp survive getting sucked up. I find a few in the filter box at each water change. Adult shrimp are able to stop themselves from getting sucked up and I always see them cleaning the bottom of the intake tube without an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted January 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 Thanks for the info on baby shrimp being sucked up. As for the other thing well i was feeding some critter crumbs for the snails and the white stuff leftover might have gotten stirred up somehow last night and clogged the sponge. As for it not being the reason the filter stopped well that is settled by letting you know that the second i removed the sponge the filter started again. I just redid this tank and moved it about four days ago including a complete scrapeing of all the glass because of the green slime algae problem and replaceing the substrait. So apart from the lack of filter there was very little to almost no bacteria colonizing the tank itself. The reason for the filter intake cover is because i had my one and only male shrimp dissappear up it once. Thanks for all your help and input everyone Here is some good news 1 of the fish recoverd when i wasn't looking and so i only lost one. 2 one lone male shrimp was hiding in the plants and is currently enjoying scurrying around the tank looking for food. Now does anyone have some extra cherry shrimp? Thanks again L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 When you come pick up your order, I can get you some new CRS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cale262 Posted January 25, 2011 Report Share Posted January 25, 2011 If you're starting fresh, why don't you just sump it...I put a sump on my shrimp edge and they are super happy,...or run a canister on it (read: not an HOB fan) :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted January 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2011 When you come pick up your order, I can get you some new CRS Thanks soo much. I'll be by to pick them up and my order soon (within the week i hope) i just need to figure out my work schedual and then i'll give you a PM to arrange some time. Oh and about the sump or cannister on the Edge well it's sittin on my counter behind my sink in the corner. It took me 2 hours just getting the wires to stay put and the thing in the right position so getting a sump system or a cannister for it is pretty much out of the question unless i start to drill holes in the countertop... not gonna happen. Anyway thanks for the input and yes i personally don't like HOBs much myself but in this case it simply was a nessasary evil. Thanks again everyone L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceturf Posted January 27, 2011 Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 like HOBs much myself but in this case it simply was a nessasary evil. Of course no one is like me and puts the unsightly canister beside the tank. I can't figure out why Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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