fish ending up in the sump...

[navygirl76]

Hello everyone! im in the middle of cycling my 180 tank, and i bought some cheap zebra danios (couldnt find giant danios, and aus. rainbows are 13.99 here!) to do the job.
I woke up and went to check the tank this morning, and about 6 of those guys had gotten sucked through the overflow, down past the bioballs and into the water in the sump.. not really a big deal since im betting they will end up being eaten by my malawi's here in a few weeks..

But, how does everyone keep smaller fish from ending up in the sump? Or should i just not worry about it, since my africans will be bigger (the smallest are 2 1/2-3 inches) and they don't dwell on the surface like the zebras do?

thanks everyone!

 

[moxxommox]

gutter guard, bulkhead strainers and pre-filter plastic mesh. get some big goldfish

 

[Merbeast]

I have the foam for a magnum h.o.t. filter around my overflow. Before I did this, I apparently got a 2.5" jewel cichlid down the overflow, thru the pot scrubbers, thru the little holes in the bottom of the bin and into the sump. He lived down there for probably the better part of 2 months (what he ate, I don't know). Fish are magical

 

[fishdance]

If you only want these fish for cycling then leave them in the sump. It doesnt matter where they are for the system to cycle. If you do use prefilters on your overflow, just be sure it cant block up....

 

[balton777]

After the fish go down the tube to the wet/dry, how do they get thru the prefilter material into the sump? Weird.

 

[guppy]

Even bits of nylons streched over the intake will work.

 

[navygirl76]

thanks everyone for the great advice.. i have no idea how they are making it down there, like Merbeast stated.. fish are magical lol.. i think ill take the advice in that im not really going to worry about the danios since im just using them for cycling..