Undergravel bed screen filters

[SKEET]

I am about to buy a 55 gal. aq kit tomorrow, questions about undergravel screen filter.

Are they benificial?? Do you recommend??? Use a power head pump??? Or just use air pump/diffuser method??

I currently have a 10 gal tank with several types of fish, had about 2 mounths, only had one fish die so far.

I am very new to this and eager to learn and be advised, Thanks.

 

[rich311k]

Under gravel filters are not a good idea. A cannister filter would serve you much better. with an under gravel filter you would need to rip your tank apart at least once a year to clean it and they are nitrate factories. An rena xp3 would work much better.

 

[SKEET]

Thank you much, NO undergravel.

Do I use the canister filter instead of or in junction with the hang on filter that comes with the kit, which I planned on switching out for a BIO-wheel??

Or can I use the bio-wheel filter and the kit style filter (kit is TOP FIN at Petsmart) and the cannister all at the same time??

 

[rich311k]

The xp3 would be enough all by itself.

 

[SkullJug]

Cannister filters are fantastic - I use Ehiem myself and have NEVER had detectable Ammonia or Nitrite in the tank (I bought two models up from what was rated for my tank)- awesome. I also use a UGF on reverse flow and it is indispensable.

It simulates the natural ground water leakage that occurs in nature (As a substitute for expensive substrate heating) and allows you to keep your substrate really clean, especially if you are using gravel.

Just remember to get a syphon down your uplift tube and right under the plate and you suck out all kinds of crap.

UGFs are pretty useless if used by themselves, if used correctly with a good quality cannister they make a huge difference!!!! I use a layered substrate and my tank blossoms but always started dying of after about 12 months - The UGF fixed this problem.

 

[BillD]

SkullJug makes a good point about reverse flow UGF. It never needs cleaning, if a prefilter is used on the powerhead. In addition it will keep dtritus on the surface of the gravel, which the other filtration can remove, or which can be removed by siphon. UGFs are not nitrate factories, any more than a cannister that isn't cleaned enough. The amount of nitrate produced in a tank is dependent on the bioload in the tank, not the type of filtration.

 

[SKEET]

So glad I can view these posts now, had trouble last night.

Thanks for the advice.