Fluval Aqua Clear Murdered my two Peppered Corydoras within 24 hours!

[kwi]

Can I just ask did your intake tube have the cage on the end?

I know it'll be the first thing Fluval will ask.

 

[Krib32]

I had two corys sucked up into my aqueon quietflow afrer I took the filter tube off because my angels layed eggs on it. I found them swimming around in the filter a few days later with just a little fin damage. All I know about fluval is they make awsome heaters.

 

[Ken Sauer]

Sorry for your loss of fish.

Actually any powerful filter with intake tube that has big gaps/holes has the potential to kill a fish.
Your Aquaclear 110 has a max flow rate of 1892 liter per hour.
I guess even at the minimum flow rate, the suction power will still be too strong.

Anyway, I guess the design of the intake tube is bad if you are installing it correctly.

Thank you so much. ( :

 

[Ken Sauer]

Can I just ask did your intake tube have the cage on the end?
View attachment 120098
I know it'll be the first thing Fluval will ask.

Yep; that's it

 

[Ken Sauer]

I had two corys sucked up into my aqueon quietflow afrer I took the filter tube off because my angels layed eggs on it. I found them swimming around in the filter a few days later with just a little fin damage. All I know about fluval is they make awsome heaters.

Wow. I'm so glad they survived.

 

[Colin_T]

Too many pages to read through but the only time I have had fish sucked onto a filter strainer is when they were sick or dead.

Is the water quality ok?

Did you tie off the bottom of the sponge that was put over the filter intake strainer?

 

[Back in the fold]

Again, this is really puzzling. In my time the only annoyances I've ever had with filters were baby live bearers getting into inside box filters and Kuhlii Loaches swimming down the uplift tubes of under gravel filters. Part of our responsibilities as pet owners is to cast a hairy eyeball on everything we do and try to anticipate problems before they occur. This was a big learning experience for you.

 

[Ken Sauer]

Too many pages to read through but the only time I have had fish sucked onto a filter strainer is when they were sick or dead.

Is the water quality ok?

Did you tie off the bottom of the sponge that was put over the filter intake strainer?

I had put the sponge inside the intake strainer...

 

[Ken Sauer]

I had put the sponge inside the intake strainer...

That is what I was instructed to do by an employee at the fish store immediately following the first death. Obviously, it didn't work. It was after the second one was killed, later that day, that I returned to the store and the owner was there. He is the one who sold me the sponges which are made by Fluval to go on the outside. He's also the one who told me it happens all the time and the reason they don't tell you is because they want to sell the sponges. Then, he suggested I sue the company as he is pretty disgusted by them. I can't sue the company...well, I think it would be a great case...but I'm not going to go through all that. I did send in a complaint; haven't heard back. I'll try calling them when I get the time. / :

 

[Tez_20]

What is up with the Fluval Aquaclear 110 power filter. I have two of them in a 125 gallon tank. Within 24 hours 2 perfectly healthy peppered corydoras (which we had grown very close to) were sucked up into the filter and brutally killed. There is no warning, that I can find, in any of the packaging nor instructions about the possibility of this filter sucking up and killing fish. I even had the setting on low. and after the first murder, I stuffed the suction with sponge. It still sucked up, overnight, the other cory killing him!!! I am so angry I can hardly stand it. Any suggestions?

Ken sorry to hear your bad news as i have peppers and they're adorable and i have a friend who had one of these and it was sucking his guppies and he removed it in the end and got a sponge filter instead.

Have you thought of netting it and putting around the netting elastic bands, as i do this to protect my betta with my top filter.

 

[Ken Sauer]

Ken sorry to hear your bad news as i have peppers and they're adorable and i have a friend who had one of these and it was sucking his guppies and he removed it in the end and got a sponge filter instead.

Have you thought of netting it and putting around the netting elastic bands, as i do this to protect my betta with my top filter.

This is what I have done. I bought sponges made for especially by Fluval for Fluval intake strainers so Fluval filters won't kill your fish. Sadly, I only learned about them after 2 fish were killed. What I would would like Fluval to do is include these sponges in the box with the filter or suggest that they be bought separately. I don't know why they don't do this. As the store owner told me, "fish get sucked up and killed all the time" by these Fluval filters. Very sorry to hear your friend's guppies. It is heart breaking; peppered corys are adorable with unique personalities. My family and I had grown as attached to them as we would our dog or a cat (and expected to have them for 10-15 years). So, when folks laugh it off or say, "Chalk it up to experience," and so forth it kind of hurts. In my opinion, it's negligent on the part of Fluval. I just can't understand why they don't put a warning somewhere or just put the sponges in the box and charge an extra $6.99 which is what I paid for each of them. Thanks for backing up my experience my fish loving friend ( :

 

[Fishmanic]

Putting sponge inside of strainer? That was bad advice in my opinion. It would get clogged very easily and lower flow significantly. Suing Fluval would get you nowhere and cost you lots of $$. They're not paying for pain and suffering for your fish or for you. The most you would get is the cost of new fish.

 

[Ken Sauer]

Again, this is really puzzling. In my time the only annoyances I've ever had with filters were baby live bearers getting into inside box filters and Kuhlii Loaches swimming down the uplift tubes of under gravel filters. Part of our responsibilities as pet owners is to cast a hairy eyeball on everything we do and try to anticipate problems before they occur. This was a big learning experience for you.

I hear you. I did read all the instructions. Shopped all the filter possibilities on-line. Watched Youtube videos. Finally, came to the conclusion that buying 2 Fluval 110 power filters was the safest and best thing to do for the fish. I don't know what else I could have done. Never a word was said or written about the possibility of fish being sucked up and killed by said machine. If it had I would not have bought them. Or, if the instructions had suggested buying the sponges I finally bought, I would have done so.
Again, I hear you, but for me it's kind of like buying what you believe to be the best dog food available, but it kills your dog. Then saying, well, I should have anticipated this. It's a big learning experience for me.
( :
Peace bud.

 

[Tez_20]

This is what I have done. I bought sponges made for especially by Fluval for Fluval intake strainers so Fluval filters won't kill your fish. Sadly, I only learned about them after 2 fish were killed. What I would would like Fluval to do is include these sponges in the box with the filter or suggest that they be bought separately. I don't know why they don't do this. As the store owner told me, "fish get sucked up and killed all the time" by these Fluval filters. Very sorry to hear your friend's guppies. It is heart breaking; peppered corys are adorable with unique personalities. My family and I had grown as attached to them as we would our dog or a cat (and expected to have them for 10-15 years). So, when folks laugh it off or say, "Chalk it up to experience," and so forth it kind of hurts. In my opinion, it's negligent on the part of Fluval. I just can't understand why they don't put a warning somewhere or just put the sponges in the box and charge an extra $6.99 which is what I paid for each of them. Thanks for backing up my experience my fish loving friend ( :

Well my fluval roma came with a U4 and i stripped out the filtration it came with and added my own they're great systems and really quiet, i added a fine carbon sponge at the bottom with 10 18mm bio balls, then netted to bags of carbon and zeolite and slotted the down the sides and then another fine layer of carbon sponge with netted bio rings on top and i have 12 cories and suffer no trouble.
Sometimes you buy stuff and still have to get extras and like you say for the price of some things, these odd things that are needed should come with them.

 

[Tez_20]

That was bad advice in my opinion. It would get clogged very easily and lower flow significantly.

I did this with my top filter for my 1st betta to protect his tail and it kept clogging up, so i cut a netted bag and wrapped it around it and secured it with 3 small plastic bands for in aquariums and i just fetch it off twice a weeks and rinse the net at the end.