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Post by csa1961 on Jan 1, 2019 11:41:14 GMT -5
Hi guys .. question: Has anyone had an Otto get their barbells stuck on their sponge filter? This has happened twice in the past two months to one of my three Otto’s. I had to physically remove them from the sponge, as they were anchored to them.
I’ve had two #2 sponge filters running in my 10 gallon for almost two years, and I’ve had my three Otto’s for about 18 months. This is a recent problem and I’m a bit concerned. Thinking about wrapping a 40gsm PET nonwoven around the sponge and holding it in place with a loose rubber band. My thinking is that their barbs wouldn’t get stuck in the smooth nonwoven, unlike the cell structure of the foam. The thin nonwoven should allow for good water flow, and not impede the performance of the filter. However, it would impede some mechanical filtration, as it would act like a filter, similar to what you’d use in a furnace.
Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated. thanks
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Post by kagome on Jan 1, 2019 15:45:35 GMT -5
I had a bristlenose pleco that would get tangled up in the sponge filter. He was able to get himself off but sometimes he would get stuck for 10 minutes or so. I think they like the tasty gunk on the sponges and can't resist them. It got better for me when I swapped out my sponges. It might be the sponge is breaking down a bit and is more porous. You could change out the sponge and see if that helps. I'd also recommend going with the finest possible sponge.
The nonwoven is a good idea if they just keep getting themselves stuck. I love fish, I really, really do, but sometimes they're not the brightest of creatures.
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Post by Carl on Jan 1, 2019 17:08:34 GMT -5
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Post by csa1961 on Jan 1, 2019 18:13:30 GMT -5
Carl .. are you referring to the more corse hydro (larger cells) sponge ?
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Post by Carl on Jan 2, 2019 10:07:54 GMT -5
Carl .. are you referring to the more corse hydro (larger cells) sponge ? yes
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Post by kagome on Jan 2, 2019 19:23:05 GMT -5
Ah, good point Carl. The barbells on an Otto are so much smaller than the bristles on a bristlenose. With the bristlenose, the finer sponge kept him from getting stuck because his bristles were too big to get into the finer sponge. But with the Otto, they could probably root around but still pull their faces away with a more course sponge.
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Post by csa1961 on Jan 2, 2019 19:52:34 GMT -5
Sorry to report my Otto expired this morning. Had he (or she) for almost two years. Not absolutely sure it was directly related to the sponge incident, but I’m sure the stress and my removal played a big part in its demise. It looked fine, but it’s really hard to tell on a small fish. Postmortem view with a magnifying glass, looked normal. Oh well .. I’ll have to try the more corse sponge, or the nonwoven. I do know that it was he same Otto that it happens to the first time; so there’s that. Not sure what that may mean.
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Post by Carl on Jan 3, 2019 10:03:13 GMT -5
Sorry to report my Otto expired this morning. Had he (or she) for almost two years. Not absolutely sure it was directly related to the sponge incident, but I’m sure the stress and my removal played a big part in its demise. It looked fine, but it’s really hard to tell on a small fish. Postmortem view with a magnifying glass, looked normal. Oh well .. I’ll have to try the more corse sponge, or the nonwoven. I do know that it was he same Otto that it happens to the first time; so there’s that. Not sure what that may mean. Sorry to read this. This getting stuck on the sponge also may have been a symptom of a weak fish, as this is not normal (similar to a weak fish getting stuck to filter intakes) Carl
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Post by csa1961 on Jan 3, 2019 18:49:18 GMT -5
Carl .. you are probably right. He was skinnier than the other two. Perhaps, as you said, weakened by something that made it susceptible. It is seemingly not normal .. they’ve been on and around the sponge filters for almost two years with no issues. As a matter of fact, one is on it as I type this. No issues.
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