# power head with shrimp



## kcirtappatrick (Mar 16, 2009)

will the shrimp be safe with a power head in my 20g long tank? i have a koralia nano power head 240gph flow rate.


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## ldk59 (Jan 30, 2009)

kcirtappatrick said:


> will the shrimp be safe with a power head in my 20g long tank? i have a koralia nano power head 240gph flow rate.


In a word *no*

They will end up being ground shrimp :frown:

You need to use a powerhead that can be fitted with a pre-filter of some kind.


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## fibertech (Apr 29, 2009)

I wouldn't use one in my tank. The tank I use a powerhead in eats snails all the time


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## DKShrimporium (Nov 23, 2004)

Here's what I do.

Go to the craft store or walmart. Get some plastic canvas. This is used for needlepointing, to make those, ahem, needlepoint kleenex boxes and such. You can get it in black from the craft stores, but walmart only has whitish most of the time. Now, get yourself some small nylon cable ties, ones that will fit into the holes of the canvas. Make a tube, the longer the better and the wider (I like about 3 inch diameter) the better, using the plastic canvas, zipped together with the cable ties. Make the joint of the cable tie on the INSIDE of the tube (this is the trickiest part). 

Now, get a pack of black kneehigh nylons (pantyhose). Stretch one over the tube and now put the whole tube over the UNCOVERED input to the powerfilter. Pull the nylon up over the powerhead until the top of the nylon is above the water level. This makes a low-impedance pre-filter that will not allow any baby shrimp across it. You can wash out or replace the cheap nylons as needed. My tanks are painted black on the backs, so the black canvas and black nylons blend in and become invisible with a few plants in front of them.

DK


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## witzkeyman (Apr 28, 2009)

I'm wondering, what about Cardinal tetras? can they swim in there with the powerhead on?


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## cjp999 (Nov 18, 2008)

Do I need to tell my wife I'm going out to the store for needlework canvas and pantyhose? :icon_lol:


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## sean151 (Mar 26, 2009)

Being that it is a koralia nano creating a pre-filter for it would be a bit hard. There is no tube that it sucks water into, but instead an open back that you could probably fit some pantyhose over. It's a bit more technical to make invertebrate proof, whether it be anemones or shrimp, but I know it's not impossible.


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## kcirtappatrick (Mar 16, 2009)

wow thanks for all the advice guys! i'll give the whole prefilter idea a go and see how it turns out. if not i have a penguin power head with a sponge attachment somewhere...just a matter of finding it..haha.


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## witzkeyman (Apr 28, 2009)

I just purchased a koralia nano for my nano tank, and I tried to cancel it after reading this thread. Dr. FosterSmith said it was already processing.I'm still curious if this powerhead is tetra safe. I've never seen what it looks like first hand. oh well, if it isn't I'll have to get one with a sponge filter attachment.


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## lingtm (Dec 23, 2009)

I have the Koralia nano on my 20g and the neon tetra is fine. But he's full grown. I have it set up in the upper middle portion of the tank.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

I have one of the ball ones in my tank, I just put some pantyhose (thanks to the lady in my life) and put it over the intake of the powerhead. The flow coming out is too great for the shrimp to get in, The working parts for the powerhead are all internal, so no chance of shrimp bits.


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## chaosmaximus (Sep 29, 2009)

So, Given that I have no NH4, NO2 and good water temp I can assume this is why all of my small shrimp are gone? I have the Kordalia nano on my 20 and was beginning to suspect my rummy nose tetras (only fish I have), but that does not seem too likley. I just got the shrimp in there a week or two ago and I have only 5 of 10 left and they are all the larger ones. 

Thanks, Chaos


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Yes, the Koralia is particularly tricky to pre-filter, but not impossible. The craft mesh sounds like a good start. It would have to wrap pretty much up to the nose of the Koralia.

Curious fish can stick their noses into the outlet end of the Koralia, but some fish are better at swimming up stream than others. I would be particularly worried about Loaches (intelligent, curious and strong swimmers from streams). There are ways to use a mesh slightly coarser than the craft mesh to totally enclose the Koralias against the investigations from these sorts of fish. 

Anything that blocks the flow of water through any power head will also act as a filter, and will trap debris. Keep these systems clean. Needing frequent cleaning will suggest that an 'easy off/ easy on' sort of filter will make maintenance quicker. Just be careful that 'easy to take off' does not mean it will cast itself loose in the tank when a fish brushes against it.


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## witzkeyman (Apr 28, 2009)

lingtm said:


> I have the Koralia nano on my 20g and the neon tetra is fine. But he's full grown. I have it set up in the upper middle portion of the tank.


thanks ling!


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