Mine originally came with a filter mat; I tossed it out and replaced it with
the window screen, as it's much easier to clean.

By removing the debris net, you've left a great big gaping, unprotected area
for the fish to get sucked into the pump. I don't umderstand how they got
sucked so hard into the debris net that they would die; I've found fish
tangled up in bird net that remained alive. As long as they can move their
gill plates, they can breathe. Is it possible that the dead fish was
*already* dead and just floated in? Deanna's answer (below) may work for
you. It's hard to cover the inlet (to keep fish out) without blocking it so
much that it doesn't do its job.

Good luck.

Lee

"John Bachman" wrote in message
...

My skimmer is similar to yours except that in place of your window
screen is a piece of 1" thick plastic filter material. After
rescueing my comet I removed the debris net as that seems to the be
problem for them - they get hung up in it and drown.

John