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Ok i'm restarting my tank

i've had it for a few yrs now it was one of those rekord 96 - comes with a filter case etc

however now i'm thinkin of going for a undergravel filter and what i would like help with is what kinda stuff wud also be required apart from an undergravel filter...

whats the deal with fluval too? is that recommended with an undergravel? what about heating wise?

many thanks

You have opened up the very old can of worms here.
Many members, like and have been using them extremly sucessful for many years I have been using them for over 35 years and never a problem. Yet there are members who are not even that old say they are no good.

At the moment in my 5ft heavly planted tank it is fully UGF with three risers and each one is operated buy its own powerfull air pump. I am also running an Eheim Pro11. A UGF to work correctly it must be well powered to give a full circulation and be strong enough to pull the water through at least 3ins of a good substrate.

Another secret you must have a good airstone set as low as posible to give as much lift as possible. I now use a small plastic adjustable stone which can be pulled apart and cleaned then reassembled they never ware out and are about the same price as the stone ones which break down very quickly. Using a UGF the substrate must be deep cleaned very regually I clean mine weekly where I can.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith


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Like Keith, I have also been using UGFs for over 30 years now on most of my tanks. The difference is that I use powerheads on the lift tubes which gives plenty of flow.

Again, as Keith stated it is important to do deep gravel vacuumings on a regular basis. It is best to section off the tank into 4 parts and rotate on a weekly basis the area that is vacuumed and by doing this you completely clean the gravel once a month.

I have had tanks setup and continuously operating for as long as 15 years utilizing only UGFs for the filtration.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

I just don't see a point in using an undergravel filter. There is nothing they do that another form of filtration doesn't do better and can be more easily serviced should anything go wrong. If something does go completely wrong with your ugf system you will have to remove everything in the tank and all the gravel to get to it. If something goes wrong with a power filter/hob or cannister you can just lift it off the tank or disconnect the intake and output tubes for repairs and maintenance. Unless your seriously overstocking a tank or keeping several messy fish you really don't need more biological filtration than any hob or even small sponge filter along with standard gravel or sand substrate could provide, it won't oxygenate the water more, and it isn't that good of mechanical filter. In fact many have issues with detritus building up when using a ugf and causing water quality issues. It is possible to clean them but more difficult than say an hob where you just pop out one cartridge and slide in another and you generally won't clean out more detritus with one than the usual gravel vac and any other type of filtration. A cannister is usually the ultimate for mechanical filtration and often biological as well. Only thing better might be a wet/dry but aside from just being one of the most expensive forms of filtration(unless you DIY) they also have some downsides.

For cannisters most prefer eheims over fluvals but there are some people who realy dislike eheims. Few and far between though. Fluvals have more complaints about trouble starting and media bypass than eheims. Eheims are a bit harder to do maintenance on unless you buy the media baskets. Otherwise you have to scoop out each layer of media and place it in a seperate bucket or container to get to the next layer. With loose media that's a pain but since you usually only have to clean it every few months most don't consider it to be much work. Personally I like my odyssea cannister. It's got some cheaper parts than the eheim which means a higher chance of breaking but also 1/4th or less the cost with nearly the exact same design and water flow but contains media baskets. So far no problems with it and it takes me 5mins to change any of the media and have it hooked back up again. Some cannisters come with inline heaters that heat the water as it goes through the tubes to the tank so you don't have to look at a heater sitting around in the tank.

Hi,
From your initial post, it sounds like the tank is up and
running, and has been for a number of years. For you to
switch to a UGF, you would have to strip the tank out
completely, set the plates that make up the UGF on the
bottom, and then readd the gravel, water, plants and fish.
That would cause the tank to cycle all over again.

Living in the States, I've no idea how big that tank is
or anything about the filter.
However, generally speaking, I would use a HOB filter on
any tank up to about 55G. After 55G, I would switch over to
a "canister" type of filter.

Personally, I have a UGF on my 30G tank that has been in
operation for over a decade with absolutely no problems and
I've been using UGFs for over 5 decades of fish keeping.
Some folks love them and others hate them. Some would not
even think of using what they consider outdated equipment
prefering to use the latest and greatest.

Each has its good and bad aspects. But, I gotta tell you,
I don't have the regular expense of replacing worn sponges
or worn out carbon, or any other of the media that todays
filters use to "clean" the water. All I do is clean the
gravel, regularly, with a gravel vacuum.

Frank


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