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RE: Anti-overflow hole in syphon is Oto killer
- To: <Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com>
- Subject: RE: Anti-overflow hole in syphon is Oto killer
- From: "John W. Lemons III" <jlemons at alpha1_net>
- Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2000 15:02:05 -0600
- Importance: Normal
- In-Reply-To: <200001052048.PAA24112 at actwin_com>
Is it possible that the fish died, started floating, and then was sucked
onto the hole? Does it really have enough suction to grab and hold a fish?
Regardless... One potential way to solve this would be to wrap it with a
piece of thick foam or a screen mesh. Just a thought.
>(I know this isn't a plant posting, but I think it may be of general
>interest.)
>There's an old trick in which you drill a hole in the syphon pipe of the
>filter return line a couple of inches below the water line. That way if
>a leak develops in your lines, only a few gallons of water get pumped
>onto the floor before the syphon breaks. It works great -- all you have
>to do is remember to block the hole when you drain the tank. Since a
>lot of water gets sucked into the hole, I haven't been surprised to find
>a piece of leaf stuck there every now and then. No big deal. But this
>morning I found one of my Otos stuck to the hole, trapped and killed by
>the suction :( The hole is about 3/16" (5mm) in diameter. If it were
>smaller, I think the problem might be even worse (higher suction?), if
>it was larger, it could suck in the whole Oto. I have blocked the hole
>for now. I think having a syphon-break hole is a generally good idea,
>but it probably needs to be a screened hole, like the intake, to prevent
>trapping or ingesting fish. Anyway, just a cautionary tale... Sherman