Keith;125513 said:
And if I cover powerheads with sponge, won't it severely reduce the water flow that they're there for?
Actually wouldn't that cut down the flow of everything?
-Keith
Yes and Yes. Netting or some other cage that allows better waterflow is an on-going experiment. Until I switched to the Koralia, I had Octane's powerhead intake inside a PVC tube, connected to a makeshift undergravel filter. Unfortunately, eventually this setup (over 4 years or better) started putting a strain on the power head and eventually I switched methods.
One of the reasons for many of us being in love with the
Hydor Koralia is the amount of water movement that can be accomplished without problems for fish and, so it appears, octopuses. Those of us that are using them do not have any additional screening and so far, no reported arm damage. Serendipity is
very small (dwarf sized at the moment) and I have seen her climb on one of the two in her tank (and I held my breath until she moved away from it). No damage and no arm exploring in the dangerous parts. Octane (far larger) would occassionally position himself in front of his and enjoy the flow.
Initially, we tried sponges in Serendipity's overflow but opted to put a cage (used old filter intake strainers but there is a stainless steel sink drain strainer that would also work but need regular cleaning) around the bulkheads instead so that there would be better water exchange and debris removal. She
could manage to climb into the overflow box but we have octo lids over their openings and decided the water improvement was better than worrying about her climbing inside as long as the overflow as not fully open and we could get to the box to extract her if necessary.