My Filter Keeps Eating My Fish!

[Eminef]

Just setup my first tropical fish tank (small 48L tank) and came as bundle pack (with Heater,Filter etc..) but the filter keeps eating my Neon fish.. there getting sucked into one of the holes on the side and through the gap when you change the pressure of the filter.
This is the filter i have Interpet PF1, at the moment i've put the hole filter in a netted bag to stop the neons getting sucked in, but just wanted to see if anyone could show me a filter better suited for small neon fish!

Thanks.

 

[Louise21]

We have the PF2 model and 4 neon tetra and not had a problem with it, it says for tanks starting at 45L but its probably slightly larger than the PF1. *counts tetras*

 

[arobinson1984]

Hi Eminef and welcome to the forum.

If this is your first tank, do you know about cycling? and have you cycled the tank? By cycling I dont mean letting the tank run for a couple of days/weeks as most fish stores advise. Have a read of the cycling topics that are linked in my signature. Presuming you didnt know about cycling then you would now be in a fish-in cycle situation.

The reason I mention all this is because if thats the case then it explains why you fish are getting sucked in by the filter. During a cycling stage, if ammonia or nitrite levels get too high then they can cause permanent damage to the fishes health, a fish that is subject the ammonia or nitrite poisoning will be alot weaker hence the getting sucked up by the filter.

If the filter is correctly rated for that sized tank then the flow should be fine for pretty much any healthy fish.

If you read the following links at the bottom of my post:

1. What is cycling?
2. Nitrogen cycle
3. Fish-In cycle (this is the situation you are currently in)

Reading these threads will give you a better insight in setting up a tropical tank and may help explain the problems you are currently having.

Andy

 

[Eminef]

Yeah your right.. i didnt know anything about cycling, but i did leave the tank running for a week before adding fish as the guy at the store said.
After a week of running it i added 8 neons and within 1 day i lost 6, 2 went into my filter and 4 we're just dead, i took a sample of the water to my local fish store and they run some test on it but they said the water was totally fine, but i did find 1 white spot on the head of one of my tetras so i've started a white spot treatment, which kinda seems pointless now as i only have 2 tetras left, but they seem healthy enough now..

So what do you think i should do, take the 2 neons out and do a fishless cycle or leave them in a do a fish-in cycle? Plus im still not totaly convinced on what im ment to be doing in this cycling thing?

Does one of those Test Kits come with all the chemicals you need to add for the cycle? or do you have to buy them separate?

 

[KoiKris]

Likihood is that some fish waste has been produced and probably has started the cycle, but the test kit is simply to test your water for ammonia and nitrite levels during the process. Unless there has been no food or waste in the tank, which is unlikely, then ammonia is the only real chemical you may have needed to kick start things.

If your willing to work hard during the process then keep the fish in, but dont add any more. If not, try and return them and allow the tank to cycle without them. It is possible to cycle with fish in as I have done it and the fish both survived and ar ehealthy but it just takes daily water changes and some hard work but more people who are more experienced can give you a better idea on where to go next.

 

[arobinson1984]

Hi Eminef.

Cycling is a common misconception and is usually misinformed by most lfs. The fact is most lfs are after your money and although I'm not directly accusing any lfs of deliberately giving wrong information but I will say thats its very good from the stores point of view if your fish die and you go spend more money on fish etc.

A filter new out of the box is just a piece of equipment and is not ready to deal with keeping fish healthy. In order for a filter to efficiently keep a tank healthy you need to first perform a cycle which allows beneficial bacteria to grow inside your filter which in turn can deal with the ammonia that your fish are constantly producing.

Personally I think you'd be best with a fishless cycle, if you've only got 2 fish in there at the moment then it would make sense to re-home them and use that opportunity to complete a fishless cycle with which time you can plan your stocking for when the cycle finishes. A fishless cycle is much easier for you and the fish. If you choose a fish-in cycle then large daily water changes are needed, usually as many as 2/3 changes a day in order to keep the levels of ammonia and nitrite in the tank down until the required bacteria have grown, therfore a fishless cycle is much less work for you and it also removes the risk of your fish getting poisoned. If you read the fishless cycle guide in my signature it will explain exactly what you need to do, you'd be best with the add and wait method.

Whichever cycling method you choose, you will need a good LIQUID test kit, dont get the paper test strips as they are highly innaccurate. A popular choice of test kit for many beginners is the API freshwater master kit which contains all the tests you will need for the cycle and is available in the UK online for about £18 which may sound alot but it has enough for 800 tests so will last 1/2 years. If you choose fishless cycle then you will also need some household ammonia which is available from boots.co.uk for about £2

Andy

 

[Wills]

Hi yeah just to tip in I agree with the cycling advice as above but also I used to have some ottos in a tank with a filter like yours and I always lost them into the filter, most of the time if they went missing I knew where they were and had to fish them out of the canister they survived in there quite a few times then I changed filters and it was fine

 

[waterdrop]

You're in good hands with Andy up there. Learning all about cycling is core to the hobby and your decision about returning the fish and going fishless or deciding to commit to all the laborious water changes is pretty key right now.

I will observe that we've experienced some pretty stiff complaints about the Interpet filters and test kits in the past I believe. But I'm not an expert on that. The Fluval internals always get lots of nods as having the edge in smaller tanks where you plan to use an internal.

~~waterdrop~~