Power Filter w/ sand

[garrison]

So I was thinking of adding sand to my tank(likely the white silica variety) and I currently have a WhisperInternal PF 10-20i filter in a 10g aquarium. I've had problems in the past with the sand getting into the impellar system and not only making it quite noisy but grinding away at the impellar itself until it cannot function quietly or it just gets jammed and stops.

I was wondering if there was anyone else who has had this problem and if so how did they deal with it?

 

[cam]

I don't have this setup but if you put a small amount of gravel around the pump to hold the sand down should work.