Filter problem

[Wolvesfan71]

Hi, wondering if anyone had come across this, when cleaning out my pressure filter I had two small fish expelled from the waste hose,they were alive so I popped them into the pool.the fish were small but we're too big to be sucked up by the pump.I have had a large number of fry in the pool.do you think the fry could have been sucked up by the pump and then lived inside the filter unit untill I released them.Very baffling

 

[poconojoe]

Certainly sounds like that.

You can install some kind of mesh on the intake to prevent that, but any type of mesh will probably clog up real quick, so it's probably not really a great idea.

Maybe, instead of just covering the intake with mesh, cover it with a larger box or bucket with tiny holes. More surface area should equal less clogging.

Or, here's a better idea.... have the intake in a bucket and fill the bucket with lava rock. The lava rock will prevent the fry from being sucked in and also serve as a pre-filter and a bio filter.

 

[Wolvesfan71]

Certainly sounds like that.

You can install some kind of mesh on the intake to prevent that, but any type of mesh will probably clog up real quick, so it's probably not really a great idea.

Maybe, instead of just covering the intake with mesh, cover it with a larger box or bucket with tiny holes. More surface area should equal less clogging.

Or, here's a better idea.... have the intake in a bucket and fill the bucket with lava rock. The lava rock will prevent the fry from being sucked in and also serve as a pre-filter and a bio filter.

Thanks for that,will certainly try that

 

[Wolvesfan71]

Hi, wondering if anyone had come across this, when cleaning out my pressure filter I had two small fish expelled from the waste hose,they were alive so I popped them into the pool.the fish were small but we're too big to be sucked up by the pump.I have had a large number of fry in the pool.do you think the fry could have been sucked up by the pump and then lived inside the filter unit untill I released them.Very baffling

Thanks , will certainly try that

 

[brokensword]

Certainly sounds like that.

You can install some kind of mesh on the intake to prevent that, but any type of mesh will probably clog up real quick, so it's probably not really a great idea.

Maybe, instead of just covering the intake with mesh, cover it with a larger box or bucket with tiny holes. More surface area should equal less clogging.

Or, here's a better idea.... have the intake in a bucket and fill the bucket with lava rock. The lava rock will prevent the fry from being sucked in and also serve as a pre-filter and a bio filter.

WHAT!!! Be ye under the eggnog influence so early in the season PJ??? BETTER idea should have been showing all your beautifully clear, no-suck-em-up bog filter, yes? Ai yi yi yi yi; what's the hallowed halls of GPF coming to! SMH; so much to do, so little time to do it...




A mod for that screen across the inlet is to make it a 'bag', some area a LOT larger so it can pull from more points and with it being larger, won't pull as hard so fry can escape getting plastered to the mesh bag as well as not attracting as much floating gunk either. Still, you'll have to clean it, keep an eye on it. The above bog idea imo is still the best solution, for many other reasons, too.

 

[j.w]

@Wolvesfan71

 

[poconojoe]

WHAT!!! Be ye under the eggnog influence so early in the season PJ??? BETTER idea should have been showing all your beautifully clear, no-suck-em-up bog filter, yes? Ai yi yi yi yi; what's the hallowed halls of GPF coming to! SMH; so much to do, so little time to do it...




A mod for that screen across the inlet is to make it a 'bag', some area a LOT larger so it can pull from more points and with it being larger, won't pull as hard so fry can escape getting plastered to the mesh bag as well as not attracting as much floating gunk either. Still, you'll have to clean it, keep an eye on it. The above bog idea imo is still the best solution, for many other reasons, too.



View attachment 145508

I wonder how many fry have been sucked up and forced into my bog? I don't have any preventative for that myself. The holes in my pump housing are the only thing preventing the big stuff from getting sucked in. That pump is supposed to handle debris up to a 1/4 inch. Tiny fry would probably pass through those holes. But heck, I don't need more fish anyway. That may sound cruel, but the fish community is better off. Overpopulation is of course not a good thing....

 

[brokensword]

I wonder how many fry have been sucked up and forced into my bog? I don't have any preventative for that myself. The holes in my pump housing are the only thing preventing the big stuff from getting sucked in. That pump is supposed to handle debris up to a 1/4 inch. Tiny fry would probably pass through those holes. But heck, I don't need more fish anyway. That may sound cruel, but the fish community is better off. Overpopulation is of course not a good thing....

yeah, suppose you're right; all our bog filters can be seen as either fry killers or fish population control! I used to have the idea I posted above on MY filter, but it was difficult to clean regularly so I abandoned it and just close my eyes to the fry problem. I have a couple leads and one goes to the bog, while the other goes to the waterfall AND via tee, to my bogv1, which has a rubbermaid garbage can as a lotus depository. Pretty sure I saw small fish in it LAST summer, so imagine THAT journey!

Good to see you on the forum, PJ!

 

[poconojoe]

I'm sure those fry were not on "vacation" inside that pressure filter!
It's a miracle they survived!

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

 

[addy1]

Maybe, instead of just covering the intake with mesh, cover it with a larger box or bucket with tiny holes. More surface area should equal less clogging.

I put a 5 gallon bucket over my pump intake, drilled the heck out of the bucket with about a 1/4 inch drill. It really reduced the flow in any one spot. No fish found in the leaf basket (external pump)

Welcome to the forum!