How many times have you opened your hang-on back filter or your external canister filter to clean it and find shrimplets, fish fry or any other tiny creatures you breed or keep in there? A common occurrence, right?
Specifically for shrimp keepers, it seems to be quite challenging to find filter intakes that are the right size to avoid this problem. More often than not, we have to resort to two types of pre-filter sponges or sieves/guards that cover the intake pipes.
Speaking of pipes, we also love to use these when doing water changes for the exact same reason. I don’t want to grow shrimps or fish in my dirty water change tank (which I incidentally use to water my garden as plants live nitrates – win-win :-))
While some manufacturers provide add-on sieves, mesh guards or sponge foam, we found that a simple (and cheap) generic alternative will do the job well for most commonly used pipe sizes.
If you visit our AquaSnails shop, you will find two types of useful product for this purpose
Aquapoda Pre-filter Sponge Foam
Aquapoda Pre-filter sponge foam that is available in two sizes: 15mm and 22mm.
Aquapoda Stainless Steel Pre-Filter Filter Guards
These filter guards are sturdier options with a very fine mesh that makes them perfect for shrimp breeding tanks.
They are available in two sizes: 12mm and 16mm.
If you do need some additional supplies (J-Pipes, U-pipes, flexible pipes, taps, etc…), take a look at our Accessories section in the Aquasnails shop.