Closed loop intake killing my snails

[spider86]

I have lost 4 snails who decided to walk over my closed loop intake. I have 2 intakes and they are screened with gutter guard. Does anyone have any solutions to this, other than cut down the flow?

 

[martinfaimly]

yes it seems to me you need to have more openings to you return to allow snails not to get sucked agianst pipe and not be able to move. go to following link it may help.http://www.melevsreef.com/closedloop.html

 

[spider86]

The intakes for the loop are bulkheads. Towards the bottem on both sides in the pic below.

 

[spider86]

No other suggestions?

 

[fishysteve]

How about using the strainers that come with the bulkheads.

 

[spider86]

The bulkheads did not come with strainers. Where do you get those at?

 

[TheMcs]

Google is an amazing tool.

 

[Slphappy]

Basically, you need more surface area on your closed loop intakes. More surface area = less pressure at the intake. You'll need to add something to increase the surface area such as a piece of PVC pipe with lots and lots of small holes drilled in it. You could even build little snail proof egg crate boxes to cover your existing closed loop intakes. I'm hoping you understand what I'm trying to say here...

Hope this helps...

Good luck

 

[spider86]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11887175#post11887175 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Slphappy
Basically, you need more surface area on your closed loop intakes. More surface area = less pressure at the intake. You'll need to add something to increase the surface area such as a piece of PVC pipe with lots and lots of small holes drilled in it. You could even build little snail proof egg crate boxes to cover your existing closed loop intakes. I'm hoping you understand what I'm trying to say here...

Hope this helps...

Good luck

Thanks Slphappy, that does help. I'm looking into building some sort of snail proof guard to go around them. Or I may try the strainers that fit into the bulkheads.

Does anyone have any experience with the bulkhead strainers and snails?

 

[emac]

I use the strainer in the following link. Works great.

http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/product.detail/iid/8566/cid/2098

 

[BigEivlSquid]

If the strainer is large enough the snail won't even notice the flow. Once even few days I see a snail 'mowing the lawn' across the one in my tank

 

[spider86]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11888892#post11888892 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by emac
I use the strainer in the following link. Works great.

http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/product.detail/iid/8566/cid/2098

Thanks Emac! I ordered a pair of those and will give it a shot.