Can i shorten my pump pick up tube?

[wonger]

I have a 4 gallon tank in the process of fishless cycling, it has an overhead filter and the plastic pick up tube is in two sections, the first being just an extension tube and the second is same size tube with the strainer built on the end, at the moment it picks up water from the lower half of the tank, im wondering if can safely do away with the extension tube so that its shorter to give me room for a plant, this means it will still strain, but will pick up water from the top half of the tank as opposed to from the lower half, does this matter?

 

[yvez9]

in a 4 gallon tank, i don't think it will matter that much

 

[wonger]

So would it matter in a larger tank then, if so whats the difference between drawing water either from the bottom or top half?

 

[gale]

So would it matter in a larger tank then, if so whats the difference between drawing water either from the bottom or top half?

Picking up from the bottom gives better water circulation. If it only picks up from the top, the bottom water may not get as filtered.

 

[gadazobe]

As most of the crap and dirt stay on the bottom of the tank, it makes more sense to have the intake as low as possible.