Out on a limb with u/g filtration!

[Beeman]

Is the use of under-gravel filtration a relic of the past? Just about everything I see online about it suggests that it has fallen out of favor. So why do I still want it as part of my water maintenance program? Are there glaring disadvantages that outweigh the benefits? If live plants are in use, can't they be planted in pots if only a few are used? It has to be beneficial to have that added water movement doesn't it? HELP ME !!!

 

[jonclark96]

I used UG for a long time and never really had an issue with it. The downside is that you will suck lots of nasty stuff down into the gravel bed, and it is a bear to keep clean. If you don't mind lots of gravel vacs and the occasional dismantling of your tank to clean out under the plate, go for it. I think the reason it has fallen out of favor is that there are many options that will provide the same amount of biological filtration without the hassle (or dangers) of all the poo in the gravel.

 

[dogofwar]

I quite using UGF in the mid-80s. They work (lots of bio capacity) but the downside is that you're basically pulling what you don't want in the tank (poop, excess food, etc.) into your substrate...or (even harder to extract) under the UGF plate.

Reverse UGF is better then UGF. I don't use either... or gravel for that matter

Matt

 

[Beeman]

Then
it seems to me that without u/g filtration would necessitate the finest substrate. Otherwise the debris would still wind up 'down there', with minimal water flow, thus minimal bio. filtration. So is a fine substrate preferable to keep waste from 'sinking in'?

 

[Frank Cowherd]

Hey, undergravel filtration is still a great technology and I have had great success with raising/growing plants in such set ups. It handles a great bioload, maybe larger than any other available filter or sump, after all it is the same size as the aquarium. I like a rather thick gravel layer with an undergravel and a medium gravel. You should never use really fine sand with and undergravel filter.
A lot of public aquariums a currently using undergravel filtration with hidden lift tubes. I believe they are doing so because such a system is very stable and maybe because it does make a lot of the debris disappear.
THe one problem is that fish that dig and move the gravel make undergravel filtration almost impossible.
And as for having to break it down and restart, if you do vacuuming you can probably stretch the time to around 5 years. Then think of it as an opportunity to redecorate.

 

[toddnbecka]

Before I started switching over to sand substrates I used UG filters in nearly all my tanks for many years. IME the easiest setup for maintenance is to place an aquaclear 70 or 110 hob filter (depending on tank size/stocking) intake into a lift tube for each filter plate. Nothing accumulates under the plates, whatever does get through the gravel bed ends up in the filter sponges. Rinsed out weekly with partial water changes (and siphon the gravel) very little debris remains in the tank.
I also did a couple of reverse-flow setups using aquaclear powerheads with quickfilter housings containing sponges for prefilters. A couple bits of suitable-size vinyl tubing and some pvc fittings to connect the powerheads to the lift tubes worked very well.

 

[Tony]

I like the idea of a reverse-flow U/G filter with a power head with a sponge over the intake.

I'm mostly an AC or sponge filter guy, so haven't tried it, but really like the concept.

 

[Hawkman2000]

I would consider using UGF on tanks that have fish that don't dig. I used to us it when a had gouramis with great success. Never had to break down to clean out. I recomend using power-heads to drive them for max flow.

 

[minifoot77]

I would consider using UGF on tanks that have fish that don't dig. I used to us it when a had gouramis with great success. Never had to break down to clean out. I recomend using power-heads to drive them for max flow.

+1 my first tank was a 38 and it had a pair of discus in it that spawned regularly with tetras and bala sharks....

 

[Avatar]

Reverse flow with power heads...

...works great. I used oversized fine mesh pre-filters and just squeezed them clean every couple weeks in waste water during water changes. Depending on the size and density of the pre-filters you employ you can largely keep crud from accumulating in the substrate. Additionally, that 'crud' is eventually broken down to the extent that it's essentially spent/exhausted of potentially harmful organics (vectored out as gases) and is basically no more or less harmful than ordinary dirt. Turning the entire substrate bed into filter medium isn't a bad thing provided you avoid getting it so deep that you potentially create dead areas that are impervious to water circulation. Diminish the substrate depth the farther you are from the filtration 'masts' (uptake/downtake tubes) since water pressure drops with distance and it should be fine. I don't use UGs anymore because I find HOB and external filters simpler and the tanks easier to scape/rearrange without them but as others have said, they work just fine.

 

[verbal]

In a lot of ways a Reverse flow UG filter really isn't too different from a Hamburg filter. Especially if you use a foam pre-filter.

 

[UNCLERUCKUS]

USED UG FILTRATION WHEN I FIRST GOT STARTED. ITS A PITA TO HAVE TO HAVE TO AQUASCAPE EVERYTIME I WANTED TO CLEAN MY TANK OR DO WATERCHANGES. I OUND CANISTERS OR WET DRY TO BE MUCH MORE EFFICIENT WITH LESS WORK TO MAINTAIN.

 

[Hawkman2000]

If you do use a UGF, get some Tetra EasyBalance Bio-Additive (not for salt-water). It has de-nitrifying bacteria that will settle into the gravel.

 

[Avatar]

If you do use a UGF, get some Tetra EasyBalance Bio-Additive (not for salt-water). It has de-nitrifying bacteria that will settle into the gravel.

Why? Not like Tetra has 'special' bacteria that can't be had anywhere else, as for instance the surface of virtually anything inside an established tank.

 

[Hawkman2000]

All I am sayin is that the bottle says Not for Marine or Salt-water(if I remember correctly). Stability works for salt-water though.