Trapped fish - Eheim StreamOn pump

[mwkp1981]

Hi,
New to the forum.
I installed an Eheim StreamOn internal pump to increase water flow. It's great at that, but occasionally I find the flow is so strong fish get sucked against the side of the pump (1 died, 1 with fin damage). I imagine this is quite common but I'm surprised Eheim don't sell a cage for this pump. Any clever thoughts on what I could use to stop fish getting sucked into the side of the pump? You'll see from the pic how debris is trapped into the edge of the pump outer casing (yes, I need to clear it!). Thanks in advance

 

[Bradders]

Wow! That is powerful looking at the debris!

How many litres per minute is that thing putting out? And how big is your aquairum?

 

[FrozenShivers]

Wow! That is powerful looking at the debris!

How many litres per minute is that thing putting out? And how big is your aquairum?

Just checked online, three variants, 3500/6500/9500lph however they are adjustable. How fast are you running it in relation to your tank size? I would run it at lesser flow until another solution/cage is figured out.

 

[mwkp1981]

Wow! That is powerful looking at the debris!

How many litres per minute is that thing putting out? And how big is your aquairum?

Yep - powerful, possibly too much, but does create a good flow! 300L tank (Jewel bow fronted). Cannot remember which pump version but I think @FrozenShivers has found it 🙂

 

[mwkp1981]

Just checked online, three variants, 3500/6500/9500lph however they are adjustable. How fast are you running it in relation to your tank size? I would run it at lesser flow until another solution/cage is figured out.

A good idea to check the flow. I think it's on the lowest already. If so, I might need to downsize...

 

[LMuhlen]

I don't know this particular model, but my experience with similar wave makers is that only dying fish would get caught. At some point I had issues with snails getting trapped. I added a timer that would turn it off for 1 minute every half hour, and that seemed to help Maybe if a fish gets caught, this would be enough for it to escape alive.

 

[shangman]

I use some wavemakers like this in my marine tank.

I had a bubbletip anemone get sucked into the filter inlet of my marine tank and it killed the majority of my beautiful creatures :') Very traumatic

Now, the filter and the wavemakers all have black polyester tulle wrapped around them with a plastic band which seems to work well, though I haven't bought another anemone since to test it...

Honestly it's incredibly annoying that there isn't an easy buy-able and elegant solution, though if you know someone with a 3D printer maybe they can work it out.