Ok so what im wondering is if anyone has ran into this problem. My penguin 330 filter is sucking on my plant leaves. The leaves are growing next to the intake and the suction pulles the leaves right to them. Only solution i can think of is cutting the intake tube so the intake is right next to the water surface, only problem i see is it wont filter as well as being near the bottom. I was thinking of covering the part of the filter the plants are suctioning to but i dont know any other ideas to do to fix the problem. Does anyone have any ideas or advice or anything....?

Try pulling that big prefilter off of the tube and sticking a yellow dish sponge over it instead. It'll reduce the flow a bit and hopefully prevent the leaves from getting suctioned up.

Most pet stores sell some very porous black foam you can cut and do the same as you would with the dish sponge, if you'd like to keep the color scheme the same.

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

Was at petsmart today and saw them, they sell them as "Sponge Pre-Filters", they have block shaped pieces and cylinder shaped pieces.

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55 gallon FW community
20 gallon Goldfish
10 gallon firebelly toad

That's the stuff. You'll thank yourself later if you decide to breed stuff, cause it'll make it so babies don't get sucked up either.

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

wont having something without any holes prevent any large particles such as waste or junk in the tank. Wont it just stick to the prefilter sponge and reduce flow and effectiveness?

Yes it will a little bit. Other option is to move your plants

Agreed with every so far.

You have a few options: Move the plant, trim the plant - shorter or so the leaves don't grow near the intake tubing - use a pre-sponge, move the filter or shorten the intake tubing - you don't need to shorten it all the way to the water's surface though.

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20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981

A most excellent idea sir.

The prefilter does tend to clog up over time, but I've found that simply wringing it out in a bucket of old tank water during my weekly PWC is enough to keep my prefilter running clear.

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

Again Gizmo has the answer. Thats how I do it as well. Using the water from the tank keeps the filter in harmony with the tank. I would never use the faucet to clean the prefilter sponge or any other sponge that resides in the tank. Kudos Gizmo.

Regarding using a sponge NEVER use one that is not made for aquariums or "natural". All kitchen and house cleaning sponges are treat to prevent mold even if it does not say so in the ingredients on the sponge package. Trust me.

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Hoopman
Sunny Orlando FL
55G W/Angel, loaches/cats, tetras, rasboras, Two Bio Wheel 350's (8 cartridges and 4 wheels) Dual T5 ATI bulbs which are blue & blue-plus (white), give a saltwater tank look/moons. - 37G w/Angel, Mystery snails, tetras/cherry barbs. Dual 24 inch T5 with same ATI bulbs/moons. Bio wheel filter (dual cartridges and one wheel) and Aqueon single filter Bio cage cartridge, both designed for larger tanks. n

Thanks hoop, I wondered about that...

Over time you'll know what distance/type of stem/leaf, etc that you can put next to your intake. I would start with reducing the flow slightly and see if that works. I don't use pre-filters unless I have to and only have them because of shrimp. Most fish, even fry, can get away from an intake.