Undergravel Filter

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butterflyjenni

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Oct 7, 2011
Messages
74
I'm picking up a 38 gallon I found on craigslist today. It comes with a HOB filter and an undergravel filter. Is it even worth using the undergravel filter or will it just cause more problems?
 
Honestly, i would skip the UGF altogether. I tried using one that came with a used tank i got. After a few months, it turned into a nightmare because there is no way to clean under the plates (where a massive amount of poop & gunk & filth collects). Everything had to be ripped apart & removed to get them out & clean the muck & filth out of the tank. Never again!!!!! Just make sure the hob is adequate for the size of the tank & the fish you want to keep. You may need to add another filter if the one is not sufficient.
 
Hi! Opinions on UGFs vary widely. I happen to be a fan, but ONLY if they are powered with a hefty powerhead to pull the water down thru the gravel and the plates. Air power for a UGF is a guarantee of failure. If muck is collecting under the plates, then not enough circulation is happening.

I recently re-installed a UGF system in my 75 gallon tank with fancy goldfish. (I am also running a cannister filter on it.) Each UGF plate has a large powerhead on it. The only reason that I removed the UGF a year ago was that I thought the new cannister filter would be enough for the tank. (Turns out goldfish poop vanishes much faster with a UGF in place.)

A nice side benefit of a UGF is that you can tie fake plants to the plates with fishing line. That way, when you gravel clean, the plants stay put. (Speaking of which, do not use a UGF system if you intend to use real plants...the roots will clog up the slits in the plates.)
 
UGF are one of those dated ideas from the "olden days" of aquariums, along with wpg and continuous salting of tanks. While not necessarily defunct, it has been replaced by far superior methods and technology.
 
I tried an underground filter pnce, but i hated it because it only traps the gunk and poop under the plates. I would suggest not even getting it. I wish i didn't get it.
 
smileyface9...out of curiosity, were you running your unsuccesful UGF with air power, or a powerhead?

I ran a UGF on a 29 gallon tank for years. This particular tank was memorable for me because it was on a wrought iron stand that was open under the tank. If you knelt down on the ground and looked up, you could see the bottom of the tank. I always had a large powerhead on this UGF, and the underside of the plate was a clean as a whistle. After several years, there was a small bit of brown crud in the two corners furthest from the powerhead, but maybe 4 square inches each, max.
 
Mine was the airfilter one :/ i'm not an expert on this matter, that's just my opinion. I'm sure if i could find one like yours i'd be in love! :)
 
glassbird said:
smileyface9...out of curiosity, were you running your unsuccesful UGF with air power, or a powerhead?

I ran a UGF on a 29 gallon tank for years. This particular tank was memorable for me because it was on a wrought iron stand that was open under the tank. If you knelt down on the ground and looked up, you could see the bottom of the tank. I always had a large powerhead on this UGF, and the underside of the plate was a clean as a whistle. After several years, there was a small bit of brown crud in the two corners furthest from the powerhead, but maybe 4 square inches each, max.

I have a ugf, where can I get a good powerhead online?
 
Everyone has different opinions on UGFs. I tried mine with two Aquaclear 50 powerheads & honestly thought running the ugfs with these would work as long as i kept up with regular vacumming (3x wk). Then i startd hooking up a shop vac to the uptake pipes to try & suck stuff out from underneath the plates. This was only mildly successful & extremely time consuming. And live plants dont work well either. The mess when i finally pulled them out was VILE. I think i prefer efficiency & ease of more modern options over UGFs any day. Lesson learned. :)
 
UGF issues diatome algae

UGF pros
- Large beneficial bacteria surface area.
- When used with a powerhead it will help circulate aquarium water which will help evenly distibute heat from a aquarium heater if the heater is properly positioned in the tank.

UGF Cons
- Trapped debris causing diatome algae
- Must clean gravel more often
- Must clean uptake tubes or powerheads could get clogged over time
- Plants can not be planted over underwater gravel plates cause of root problems and water moving past roots to swiftly

In my opinion I would stay away from an UGF and this is from personal experince. I used to use UGF in every tank I had.
 
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