Sponge prefilter on the intake pipe with sand?

[paultl80]

I've read several times that converting to sand will ruin the impeller in my Emperor 400 Power Filter.

I read somewhere that I can cut the intake pipe shorter to get intake away from the bottom.

I will definitely do that but my question is this:

Why can't I simply put a large pore sponge prefilter on the intake pipe?
Won't that stop the sand from getting sucked inside?
Maybe take it off and clean it out once a week or so.

 

[Dr Joe]

They work fairly well, but you said most of it already "large pore" / small grains of sand.

Get the intake away from the sand and circulate the water with the return or a powerhead to get the detritus off the bottom so the pump can pick it up. still use the sponge it you can, it will help but does need cleaning how frequently depends on how messy your fish are.

Dr Joe

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