Losing fish to vortechs :(

[dynamite]

Today I lost my 4Th fish (Tailspot Blenny) to one of my MP40 Vortechs.
3 days ago I saved my healthy Yellow Tang from getting stuck while feeding What do you guys do to keep your fish away from getting stuck?

[Sebae again]

Turn it down.

[Stumped]

Turn it down + add the foam guard.

[abcha0s]

I run two MP60s. I have lots of small fish. I have never had this problem.

I know that doesn't answer your question, but I don't think this is a common occurrence? it would seem that your fish are weak or stressed before getting sucked in. A healthy fish should be able to sense the increasing current and will stay away.

Maybe you have them in a bad position in the tank? Can you reposition them?

How big is your tank? Are they oversized?

[dreef]

Never ever have had a problem,and i have 2 MP40's in a 100 gallons.My hawkfish sits on them everyday chillaxing,and a blue throat that does laps around one.Oh...i have never used the foam,never felt the need too.

[mike31154]

Yah, unfortunate, but like other posters, I have yet to lose a fish to either of my MP40s in well over two years of operation. I run them without foam guard in EcoSmart Tidal Swell Mode up to almost 90%. So not at 90% constantly, but at various points throughout the day, one or both will be running at that speed for some time. My autofeeder is positioned at one end of the tank near an MP40 and the fish hang out there in anticipation of feeding time. Yellow Tang gets quite close to VorTech with his tail at times and Sngapore Angel zips fairly close to it on its way to the feeding trough. Even my female Maroon Clown ventures in that direction come feeding time. Mind you, these are all good sized fish, but my Lawnmower Blenny used to graze the pump cage and sit on top on occasion as well without getting harmed. For some reason he stopped eating and starved, but certainly not a VorTech related issue.

Interested in hearing more on your issue though. What were the other losses & circumstances? Perhaps they were chased into the powerhead by aggressive fish in your system?

[fishytime]

would surprise me very much if a healthy yellow tang got stuck on a vortech......my yellow routinely swims head on into my MP40 (100%) to pick at the algae that grows on it......I agree with Brad......sounds like some underlying issue there......what are your parameters?

[dynamite]

Thanks everyone for the replies.
I really don't know what's going on but I know I'm not the only one cuz yesterday I googled "killer vortechs" LOL and found some threads.

All of my fish are healthy and fat (the yellow tang is gaining weight cuz I bought him somehow skinny) and I'ts been almost 3 years since I got my tank and never had a fish get sick or die because of unknown reasons.

My vortechs had kill so far 1 tailspot Blenny, 1 cleaner shrimp and 1 baby clownfish and 3 days ago tried to kill my yellow tang while I was feeding.. I don't know if he was gonna be able to get away from it but in less than a second I helped him out.

My water parameters are somehow "fine" I guess.. I test my water every week cuz I'm trying to lower my nitrates (ppm20-25) Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0 and phosphates (0.03 or 0.3 with hanna)
So I have no idea of what's going on.. yesterday I did a water change (10-15% every week) and my Tailspot blenny went to hide.. Next thing I see when I came back from classes was him stucked in the grills on my mp40 vortech

[cwatkins]

This sounds odd. I don't know how a healthy fish could get sucked into a vortech. Is it too low in the tank?

I have fish actually reach into the propeller to eat the algae (albeit only when its in feed mode and going slow).

Maybe it's time to use the foam guards then. Note you'll need to increase the speed as the foam slows down water movement.

[dynamite]

Originally Posted by cwatkins

This sounds odd. I don't know how a healthy fish could get sucked into a vortech. Is it too low in the tank?

I have fish actually reach into the propeller to eat the algae (albeit only when its in feed mode and going slow).

Maybe it's time to use the foam guards then. Note you'll need to increase the speed as the foam slows down water movement.

I know I'm just gonna post a picture of my tank to see if they're to low or what... I think this is weird and I don't feel like using those foam guards.
There's no agression in my tank. Sometimes I see some agression between my female false perc and male black clown and some mouth openings lol from my TailSpot Blenny (RIP ) to my Cherub angel... The Yellow Tang are Cherub angel are excellent citizens. They all school together lol and it's fun to watch