Molly Stuck to filter

Question
I arrived home fomr work this evening to find my white molly, who I refer to as CreamPuff, stuck to the filter.  At first, I  thought she was yet another casualty in my tank... But after closer observation, I saw her eyes moving... So I immediately took my net and gently moved her off.  She was a little wobbly at first, and I'm noticing that her tail is a little damaged, but now after about 20 minutes is as peppy as usual and exploring every crevice of my tank.  What do you think this was caused by?  A few weeks ago, I came home to my Neon Blonde Molly stuck to that filter and also deceased... Do you think I just caught her early?  At the time that my blondie died, a few lil guys in my tank were going through a bout of popeye, so I just associated it with that.  Just trying to solve a molly mystery!

Thanks a bunch,
     Brooke

Answer
Hi Brooke,

Healthy fish don't usually get stuck to the filter intake tube. Since your Molly appears to be healthy, I'd say that it was probably stress-related. Stress can weaken a fish, meaning that it can get attached to anything that has suction, and be unable to get out. Since your fish are fine, judging from your description, I'd work on a solution to prevent this from happening again - which means we need to deal with the filter issue. a strong suction from a filter can mean that either the filter is too powerful for your tank (for example, if you have a rated 30g filter in a 10 gallon tank), or the fish are attracted to it, etc. once a fish gets stuck, it cannot un-stick itself and it dies shortly. You were lucky to be able to spot this.

The best option would be to cover the intake tube with a porous foam block (the same kind as can be found as replacement inserts for canister and Aquaclear filters). Slice a hold in the middle, and pull the foam over the tube. this will not prevent the filter from getting water, but it will spread out the area and force of which water is drawn. Weakening the filter intake means that the fish will not be able to get stuck to it. another option, is if you have a power filter with a flow adjustment, turn it to a lower setting.

I hope this helps - if you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

Good Luck, and Happy Fishkeeping!