Came home from work Wednesday to find my new Odyssea canister pumping out noticeably less water. Shining a flashlight at the intake strainer I find the problem: armoured cat got curious, got too close and got himself killed. The Odyssea 700cfs comes with an intake strainer that's about 7" long and 1.5" diameter with an open bottom. A sponge is also provided to slip over this strainer to seal off this opening and act as a pre-filter/bio-media. I didn't want to use this sponge since it was about 3" wide, plus I wanted maximum flow. I just figured none of my stock would try to swim up and into the strainer or they were too big to fit.
So, after extracting the dead catfish, the flowed returned to normal. I was a bit bummed about losing the cat. He was given to me by Mixemall and I've taken a fancy to him. Now, observing my stock I realize that another resident was missing: my green Texas. Its only 2" long and could definitely fit into the 3/4" pipes. Now, I am bummed because I lost 2 fish due to a bad judgement. I figured what's done is done, so I would wait until the weekend to clean out the Odyssea during my weekend w/c.
Today, while my tank was draining, I began the process of taking the Odyssea apart to clean out the media. Upon removing the cover of the canister, I notice a dark blotch in the inch water depth above the media. I just figured it was tank debris but then the blotch zipped away. My carpintis had suvived inside the canister for at least 4 days. After several attempts I finally caught him and immediately dropped him back into the tank. Tonight, about 5 hours after his rescued, I'd observed him in the tank and he appears to be unharmed. He didn't come to greet me at the glass with his tank mates like he usually does, but I'm sure in a few days he'll be back to his regular self.
