This fish tank filters article is a follow up from a previous post entitled “Using The Vortex Diatom Filter in Your Fish Tank“.

Fish tank filters function by sucking in water in an inlet, through a tube then flowing the water through the fish tank filters media that purifies the water before pumping the clean water back into the fish tank. There are times however when a fish gets too close to the inlet opening and is sucked in by the force of the suction where it either gets pulled right in and is killed by the pump turbines if it is really small or get stuck to the inlet and dies from the strain caused by the suction force on its body.

There are a number of reasons that fish get sucked by fish tank filters but it boils down to the fact that the fish could not escape the force of the flowing water. By examining the reasons why they could not escape, you will have the solution to solving this problem. Let’s break this problem down into bite size chunks for easy analysis.

Fish Tank Filters Suck In Fish

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1. Filter pump too powerful. You may be using a pump that is over powered for the relative size of your tank. Most fish tank filters pumps can be regulated so try reducing the suction force of the pump. Read the technical specification of the pump and see if your tank size is suitable for the pump that you have.

2. Inlet hole too small. If the inlet of the suction tube is too small relative to the power of the fish tank filters, it will force water to be pulled in at a greater for than necessary which is why there are times when you reduce the power of the fish tank filters pump but it still sucks a little too hard.

3. Weak fish. Generally it is small fish that gets caught in fish tank filters inlet because they are too weak to escape the force but if you find that your larger fish are also getting stuck on the inlet, your fish might be too weak and you should consider treating them with vitamins.

Solving The Fish Tank Filters Sucking Crisis

There are a number of ways to solve the problem and here are some that you could try:

1. Change your fish tank filters pump. If the fish tank filters pump that your are using is a little oversized for your fish tank, you probably need to get a smaller one that’s less powerful.

2. Change fish tank filters. Two fish tank filters that will never suck in your fish no matter how small they may be are Undergravel Fish Tank Filters and the Aquarium Sponge Filter. These are ideal fish tank filters for tanks that you keep your fry or sick fish in.

3. Mesh it up. If the inlet for your fish tank filters are a little too big, you could purchase a non-toxic mesh from your local pet store and place it over the hole. The downside of this is that larger particles will clog the mesh after a while and you will have to do periodic cleaning if you expect the fish tank filters to function properly.

4. Modify a sponge. You can buy just the sponge from a fish store and modify it a little to fit the inlet of your fish tank filters tube. But just like the mesh, the downside is that you will have to periodically clean the sponge. But this is extremely easy and is better than burying your dead fish.

Excellent Fish Tank Filters (Click for specs)

After stopping these fish tank filters from sucking in small fish, let’s make the right choice of fish tank filters.