Fluval U3 Filter Is Killing My Fish!

[Ric]

Hi Guys,

My filter is slowly killing off my fish... The other night i looked at all my fish swimming around happily enough, and when i came downstairs in the morning my fighter was missing. My first thought was that he'd been eaten, but all my fish are pretty small so after a brief search i found him drowned? wedged in the suction bracket of the filter. I've moved the filter to the side of my tank now so i can see the bracket clearly but my female fighters keep going in to the same area, and i've 'rescued' them a number of times already.

Does anyone have any idea how to stop them going in behind it, and why they might be doing this?

Thanks

 

[flip]

Can you stuff a piece of sponge back there? Someone with experience with that filter may know what to do but for the time being if the space is occupied by sponge at least they cant get stuck! Sorry to hear about your fighter.

 

[KittyKat]

What volume is the aquarium and do you have any large decor?

For the moment, a sponge behind the filter will do.

In case you were not aware, male and female Bettas normally kill each other or harass each enough to cause disease if kept together.

 

[William_Wallace]

I have the same problem with my Tetra In 300-1000 plus. Looking at an external filter to solve this problem.

 

[KittyKat]

If the problem is caused by strong flow, replacing an internal filter with an external will not change anything: the fish would just get caught behind the pipework, heater and ornaments, as that is the only place they can have a rest.

 

[Katch]

When I started keeping fish I had a similar filter and it was always killing fish. I'd suggest moving to an external filter with a spray bar as the best solution. Other than that sponge to fill the gap to the side and behind the intake. You can also usually modify the outflow of these filters to take a spray bar to reduce the flow a little.

Don't let it get you down too much, aquatics is a learning process.