Fine sand, adult Cory’s and small tanks… proving to be a challenge with power filtration

[Magnum Man]

So in order to further regionalization of some of my tanks, I moved some adult Cory’s out to a small holding tank, that has finer sand like they like, until I get my next 45 gallon up and running for their forever home… I actually have 2 of the smaller qt / holding tanks that have fine sand… the Cory’s must be stirring up the sand enough, that the power filter sucks it up, and locks up the impeller… so I think a sponge filter will be enough for my 10 gallon holding tanks… I was just using some equipment I already had… I think the 45 gallon tall, will be tall enough, that If I shorten the intake, as short as it goes, it will likely be fine, but adding Cupid Cichlids, which are also earth movers, along with the Cory’s in a fine sand tank, might still cause filter issues… I had bought a bag of pretty fine sand to try… thinking a little coarser sand for the Cory’s and Cupids… you guys with Cory’s use a power filter at all???
This is pretty fine ( like for sand blasting )… I rinsed it but it’s fine enough, that adult Cory’s can stir it up , and in a 10 gallon the filter ends up sucking it up

 

[GaryE]

I never use a power filter in any tank under 20 gallons, and even then, rarely.

 

[FranciscoB]

A small power filter is fine, and a prefilter helps a lot with keeping things out. One can also shorten the intake tube. And then, there is sponge (air driven) filters, as suggested.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Pre-filter is the answer. The smaller the sand grains are, the more they can be sirred up into the water table and then not sink back down all that fast. I use power filters on almost any size tank and have ACs from the smallest to the biggest running for years. That said, I normally have more than one filter on a tank.

In all the years of running ACs on tanks with sand I have never had any issues with sand in the filter because of the pre-filters. That said, I also use canisters (with prefilters), plus cubefilters and Hamburg Mattenfilters in tanks with sand and the foam does tend to suck a bit of sand onto the surface. However, The foam I use is excellent and massive and a bit of sand does not impede it's functioning at all.

I use both the ATI prefilters and the ones I make myself that slip over the AC intake. I use prefilters on all my intakes no matter what the substrate is and I also use them on my bare bottom tanks. The tank below is a 33L and it has an AC 300 and a 200 Aas well as a 4x4x4, 20 ppi Poret cubefilter. The tank at the time of the picture held my breeding group of RB line L236 plecos. You can see the prefilters on the AC intake tubes.

edited for a typo or two and to add:

When I run two powerfilters (or other filter types) I tend to use a staggered intake. One of them is lower down (left in picture) and the other one higher up (right in Picture).

 

[Ram419]

I ditched my HOB filters for air pump driven sponge filters on all my tanks, including my 55 gallon. I might occasionally put the HOB on with a carbon filter to clean up but that's rare.