# Shrimp-safe power head ?



## MichaelJ (14 Sep 2021)

Hello,
As my plant mass has become really dense in some areas, I am looking into optimize my flow a bit and looking for a small power head for my 150L tanks. Something that can be regulated, small size and something that won't chop up my shrimps or shimplets in case they get too close to the inlet...  I've been scouring Amazon for ideas, but come up short thus far. Any ideas?

Cheers,
Michael


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## tam (14 Sep 2021)

How small? I run a aquael pat mini for extra flow. It's a filter but pretty dinky and the sponge is shrimp safe.


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## MichaelJ (14 Sep 2021)

tam said:


> How small? I run a aquael pat mini for extra flow. It's a filter but pretty dinky and the sponge is shrimp safe.


Thanks @tam  As small as possible... I really dont need much turnover from the pump, just a nice boost of flow near the bottom will suffice...The Aquael mini could be a solution... I wan't something that I can position at or near the bottom of the tank.

Cheers,
Michael


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## MichaelJ (14 Sep 2021)

Ordered this adjustable internal sponge based filter - its small (12.7x4.3x5.5 cm) - smallest adjustable one I could find and hopefully shrimp safe. Should be easy to hide behind hardscape/plants and I figure I can put a short piece of tube on the outlet nozzle to adjust the direction of the flow... Will let the thread know how it works out.

Cheers,
Michael


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## MichaelJ (23 Sep 2021)

Hi @tam , I received this internal sponge based filter last week, but didn't put it in... no way it would have been shrimplet save.... so instead I went to get the Aquael Pat Mini as you recommended (was hard to find here in the US btw.).... I just put it in. It's brilliant, perfectly easy to position, adjust and direct near the bottom of the tank where I needed that extra flow around my dense crypts ... perfectly shrimp safe... Should have listened to you on the first round! LOL ... would have saved me $20 ... thanks for the tip!  

Cheers,
Michael


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## Libba (24 Sep 2021)

I'm using a sicce synchra nano. Baby shrimp could get into the intake but adults would be too big to fit. Love the Sicce pumps.


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## MichaelJ (24 Sep 2021)

Libba said:


> I'm using a sicce synchra nano. Baby shrimp could get into the intake but adults would be too big to fit. Love the Sicce pumps.


@Libba , Nah, that wouldn't work either... shrimplets wouldn't make it... but thanks for the tip!  The  Aquael Pat Mini seems to be the thing for me... Really only needed it for the flow situation due to plant density.


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## tam (24 Sep 2021)

MichaelJ said:


> Hi @tam , I received this internal sponge based filter last week, but didn't put it in... no way it would have been shrimplet save.... so instead I went to get the Aquael Pat Mini as you recommended (was hard to find here in the US btw.).... I just put it in. It's brilliant, perfectly easy to position, adjust and direct near the bottom of the tank where I needed that extra flow around my dense crypts ... perfectly shrimp safe... Should have listened to you on the first round! LOL ... would have saved me $20 ... thanks for the tip!
> 
> Cheers,
> Michael


Glad it's working for you  I find them very handy for all sorts, they fit on this style air lift filter if you want to increase sponge area: Air Driven Sponge Filter Aquarium Fish Tank Bio-Sponge Filter Discus BABY BREED  | eBay and I've used them to drive breeding boxes that are designed to be air powered. I also have a couple of spare sponges for them stuffed in a larger filter so I can pull them out for an instantly cycled filter.


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## MichaelJ (25 Sep 2021)

tam said:


> Glad it's working for you  I find them very handy for all sorts, they fit on this style air lift filter if you want to increase sponge area: Air Driven Sponge Filter Aquarium Fish Tank Bio-Sponge Filter Discus BABY BREED  | eBay and I've used them to drive breeding boxes that are designed to be air powered. I also have a couple of spare sponges for them stuffed in a larger filter so I can pull them out for an instantly cycled filter.


Hi @tam  That is good to know. I ordered a couple more actually, as I will deploy one in my 2nd tank as well and have a spare for eventualities... 
Cheers,
Michael


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## dw1305 (25 Sep 2021)

Hi all,


MichaelJ said:


> Something that can be regulated, small size and something that won't chop up my shrimps or shimplets in case they get too close to the inlet...


I use a big sponge block on all my intakes, powerhead, <"HOB"> and canister filter.  


dw1305 said:


> but I use the same arrangement on the filter intakes. What you can't see is that the is a "collar" of foam around the base of the power-head to ensure a good fit in the drilled hole. I just DIY these from a foam sheet.








I use a big block so I don't have to clean it very often and I don't need to worry about it clogging. The aim is to keep any debris out of the filter, but this also means that I don't get fish fry or shrimps in the filter and there is a large area of sponge surface for fry grazing etc. 

cheers Darrel


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## MichaelJ (25 Sep 2021)

dw1305 said:


> I use a big sponge block on all my intakes, powerhead, <"HOB"> and canister filter.


@dw1305  Thats a nice idea ... buy the sponge material and just cut them to the shape and size you need...  If so, how do you cut out the hole for the intake?

Cheers,
Michael


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## dw1305 (25 Sep 2021)

Hi all,


MichaelJ said:


> buy the sponge material and just cut them to the shape and size you need... If so, how do you cut out the hole for the intake?


The <"12" x 4" x 4" sponge blocks"> come with a drilled 30mm hole 3/4 of the way to the base. This is a bit big for for most of my filters, so I sew a foam collar to fit in the gap.

You can buy the foams as 4" x 4" x 4" cubes etc. and these are all drilled about 2/3 of the way down, but I just buy the 12" ones and stuff a some foam in the hole if I cut the big ones in half etc. 

The foam sheets I sew together  with nylon fishing line (or nylon button thread). You can see the <"wavy seam on the HOB one">, but I can do better than that.

cheers Darrel


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## tam (26 Sep 2021)

I noticed there is an ebay seller offering foam blocks and longer tubes to fit the aquael: Aquarium Poret® Sponge Foam Replacement for Aquael Pat Mini Filter Shrimp Fish  | eBay haven't tried them, but I'm tempted - setting up a 75l atm - just a pre-made version of Darrel's diy.


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