Should I remove my UGF?

[ryorgason]

I have a 30 gal that my sis gave me with a ugf, and a Milennium 3000 power filter. Right now all I have in it are 3 white clouds and a cory. I plan on getting more of each, plus I would like to put a betta in too. I always wonder if the UGF really does much, and when I vacuum, I feel like I can't get everything because there's probably stuff under the ugf that the vac can't get. Also, I know bettas don't like much current, and with the ugf and power filter, there is current on both sides of the tank, but if I removed the ugf the current would only be on one side. So would it be more trouble than it's worth to remove the ugf, or would I be better off just leaving it as is?

[youronlysin]

I cant speak much for the UGF. When I was a kid, all we had were UGFs in our tanks...we didnt even have power heads installed on them. I know there are more disadvantages than advantages to a UGF.

What I can tell you is: You have a Millenium 3000 Power Filter. That filter is big enough to filter a 60+ Gallon tank, so it is MORE than adequate to filter your 30 gallon tank. IMHO, I would remove the UGF, go with only a small layer of substrate and use the Millenium 3000 as my sole filtration method. You have more than ample filtration without the UGF, so I would get rid of it.

[nyghtone]

Heya dude, story is, you NEED a biological filter, and your ugf seems to be filling that gap. If you add a better one, like a bio-wheel, you can get rid of the ugf after the bio-wheel breaks in, and that is a MUCH easier tank to maintain. You can even cut the gravel to as low as 1/4" after a good bio-wheel is broke in. For a 30 gallon tank you can probably get one for less than 40 bucks at your lfs. But don't just go and remove it, that will mess up your bio load and you have to re-cycle your tank.

Do some homework on different setups before you make any decisions though, all setups have their advantages and disadvantages!!!

More importantly, welcome to the hobby!!

[youronlysin]

I dont think that removing the UGF would cause that large of an impact on the biological filter. Your not removing the substrate. Most of the bacteria should be in the substrate....I would think that removing the UGF would, in the worst, cause a mini cycle to occur. I dont think a mini-cycle would cause any harm to 3 white clouds and a cory cat. If its a multi part unit, maybe you can remove sections of it and watch the water parameters for a while to see if it does impact the load.

[nyghtone]

Thats a good point youronlysin. I guess I was just trying to give the most cautious advice I could. Thanks for the correction though!!

[ryorgason]

Thanks for the advice! I might be able to pull out half of the ugf now, and the other half later. I will also look into getting a biowheel, or some other form of bio filtration, although that won't happen until after my hubby gets a job. But then, I won't be getting any new fish until then either. It would be nice to get down to 1/4" of gravel, as the sinking pellets often fall between the gravel now, so my cory can't get at them. Hopefully having less gravel will help with that.

[nyghtone]

Sounds like your going in the right direction, just remember, don't 'change anything to fast, be patient, can't stress that enough in this hobby!!!

[poikilotherm]

Pull it out carefully. Vacuum it first, then sweep the gravel off the panel you're removing, carefully lift one panel, and vacuum underneath it right away. I removed my ugf, and fouled the water the first time, but was more careful the second time, and hardly stirred up the mulm. You'd be amazed how much builds up under there!

[AtodaJ]

Originally Posted by ryorgason

Thanks for the advice! I might be able to pull out half of the ugf now, and the other half later. I will also look into getting a biowheel, or some other form of bio filtration, although that won't happen until after my hubby gets a job.

Is this the filter you got?

http://www.aquahobby.com/products/e_millennium.php

If so you don't need a bio wheel or any other kind of additional filter. The Millennium 3000 will provide adequate biological filtration. It's a wet-dry system so it will actually have excellent biological filtration.

hth

[ryorgason]

Yep, that's the filter I have. Good, I won't worry about getting any more biological filtration then. I took out half of the ugf today. I tried to follow poikilotherm's advice, but didn't do a very good job of it, as quite a bit of stuff got stirred up. The water was still a little cloudy when I turned the light off tonight, but hopefully by morning it will be clearer. I'll have to be more careful when I remove the rest of it.

[Medusa Head]

I keep hearing bad things about them. The last horror story I heard was a guy had a goldfish tank for a little over a year and deceided one day to get rid of the undergravel filter. When he removed the gravel and lifed the filter plates up, they were loaded with live fry! The fish had laid eggs, the filter pulled them under the gravel and under the filter plates, there they hatched and the fry had been living there for who knows how long!