That sounds familiar. Many people report their fish getting caught by the filter, usually in the space between the filter and the tank wall. If that's what happened to your guppy, you can fill the space with filter wool to stop the fish going in there.
If you want to change the filter, I have the Eheim PickUp 45 in my 23 litre tank. This has just sponge media, so you could take the sponges from the Stingray and cut them up to make them fit, filling any space left with part of the sponge that comes with the filter.