DIY Anemone Guards

[Reefahholic]

 

[geckoejon]

i'm diggin it! i am going to make one for my gig tank. i have been nervous about mine gigs. they have been model citizens since added, but why take the chance.

the black blends well with the powerhead, imo. my only concern would be the mesh plugging. i suppose i would just need to clean it like i do my powerheads about once a month.

 

[Reefahholic]

Go to any craft of fabric store like hobby lobby, etc. Pick up some plastic canvas.

7 mesh is about perfect. It's expensive though, about .60 cents a sheet. Lol



This is 10 mesh




They have one bigger than 7, but it's just a little too big for me. It would work well though.

 

[JerryO]

That looks great. What type of material did you use for the front portion and where did you purchase? I lost a Ruby Red Goby that swam in during an outage, and lost it when the power came back. Wish this was included by EcoTech.

 

[lionfish5740]

Just thinking out loud here, sorry if you've already thought of it.
The only way that the anemone would be sucked into the front of the PH is if that was the water's path of least resistance to get to the propeller. My thought is to seal off the front, at least more so than the sides, with solid plastic or mesh with smaller/less holes. This way the water is drawn into the pump through the cage that you wrap the pump with.
Also you mention that aesthetics isn't a concern, so why not make the cage around the sides a larger diameter? This way there will be more surface area with holes to allow water to flow into the pump and it would have less suction to pull a wandering anemone inside. On second thought, this last part might not be possible with the amount of flow these pumps produce and the size of the mesh.
What if you made a channel to the pump out of acrylic like a flat rectangle with an inlet that is caged and hidden behind/under rocks? You could then cover the acrylic with with frag racks or glue rocks to it like a mini rock wall. This would make a type of closed loop without having to drill the tank. The inlet could be have a much larger surface area to lessen the possibility of dragging the anenome into it.
Am I making sense or does it just sound good in my head? lol

I don't know if any of this would help but I thought I would try. Best of luck! :bolt:

 

[Reefahholic]

That looks great. What type of material did you use for the front portion and where did you purchase? I lost a Ruby Red Goby that swam in during an outage, and lost it when the power came back. Wish this was included by EcoTech.

Thx. On the front I just used gutter guard from Lowes.

 

[Reefahholic]

Yeah, some good ideas. I said that appearance isn't any issue, but to some extent it is. I would like to try and stay as small and neat as possible and still provid good protection for the anemones.

I've actually had a few nems get sucked into the front on a wave mode.



I've looked into closed loops and after a lot of research, I've decided to stick with guarded powerheads for now.

Not sure I understand the idea about the acrylic channel to the pump.?

Just thinking out loud here, sorry if you've already thought of it.
The only way that the anemone would be sucked into the front of the PH is if that was the water's path of least resistance to get to the propeller. My thought is to seal off the front, at least more so than the sides, with solid plastic or mesh with smaller/less holes. This way the water is drawn into the pump through the cage that you wrap the pump with.
Also you mention that aesthetics isn't a concern, so why not make the cage around the sides a larger diameter? This way there will be more surface area with holes to allow water to flow into the pump and it would have less suction to pull a wandering anemone inside. On second thought, this last part might not be possible with the amount of flow these pumps produce and the size of the mesh.
What if you made a channel to the pump out of acrylic like a flat rectangle with an inlet that is caged and hidden behind/under rocks? You could then cover the acrylic with with frag racks or glue rocks to it like a mini rock wall. This would make a type of closed loop without having to drill the tank. The inlet could be have a much larger surface area to lessen the possibility of dragging the anenome into it.
Am I making sense or does it just sound good in my head? lol

I don't know if any of this would help but I thought I would try. Best of luck! :bolt:

 

[b0red04]

Is there a thread on tektites design?

 

[Reefahholic]

Is there a thread on tektites design?

Yes, it's on another board. I've talked with her about them and she told me she would do it different next time. The material (window screen) clogs too easy. I believe it will starve the pump too. Best looking ones I've ever seen though.

DIY Vortech screen cover

 

[Jeff_H]

@Reefahholic, I know this is an old post, but I was wondering how the guards worked long term?

I've been using the foam mesh guards which come with the Vortecs, but they start to clog within 2-3 days and slowly reduce the flow in the tank. I've also had a new BTA in QT decide to inflate its foot and go for a ride in the current after lights out. I found it the next morning on the mesh guard of the MP10, but some of the tentacles actually went through the mesh and into the PH... I turned off the PH and let it work its way out so all was good, but the moral of the story is nothing is perfect, even the foam mesh.

I'm also wondering if anyone has come up with a reef-safe 3D printer design for Vortec guards yet... Anyone?

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

I covered mine with a pair of pantyhose till the nems settled in.

 

[dieselkeeper]

I always was afraid of the nem clogging up the overflow. Causing the tank to overflow. I had one get sucked into a power head with gutter guard screen on it. The screen was about a half inch off.

 

[Annie Diaz]

@Reefahholic, I know this post is super old but I was wondering if you (or anyone that understands it more than me) could tell me how you got the top part and the side parts to become one piece (if that makes sense). one of my lettuce sea slugs got brutally butchered and exploded from my eflux 1050 today. r.i.p little guy. I don't want it to happen to my other one, or any of my other inhabitants. im using a pantyhose for now but I don't think it'll last very long as it's already tearing. please let me know! thanks in advance.

 

[reef lover]

Zip tie cables....i did thr same

 

[pecan2phat]

I think it's important to leave a void space between the mesh and the pump so that the suction is reduced to the point of no harm for an anemone. Here's what I mean as with this 3D printed one I purchased:

 

[Jeff_H]

I agree with pecan2phat. I use the Vortec foam guards and on two occasions I’ve had an anemone get its tentacles sucked through the sponge. It’s not a huge deal if you catch it early. I just turn off the power head and let the anemone work it’s way out.

 

[mdbronco]

I think it's important to leave a void space between the mesh and the pump so that the suction is reduced to the point of no harm for an anemone. Here's what I mean as with this 3D printed one I purchased:

Hi - where did you manage to have this made?

 

[pecan2phat]

I bought those after seeing a article from Reef Builders.
The gent is located in the UK and you contact him through his FB page. Shipping was relatively quick, I think it was 6~7 days to CT.
https://www.facebook.com/wavemakerguards/

 

[kristinarenee]

I would love to have a foam guard that fits mine. I currently cut a strip of batting from the craft store and wrap my powehead and hold it in place with a rubber band. It's ugly but it works. It also doubles as some extra filtration.

 

[Knight_Solaire01]

This is exactly what I need to do for my Sicce voyager 2000 to keep my seahorses out of it. They like the flow, but they also want to hangout on the powerhead which could suck them to it and kill them, or get their tails cut off.