UGF and Substrate

[Dare2smile]

Hi everyone! It's me again, back with some questions about under gravel filters.

I'm wanting to set up a nice big fish bowl (10" tall/6" deep = 2 gallons?). I believe what I have for it is an under gravel filter, at least that's what someone said when I posted it before.

My questions are:
- How do I use it? Is it gravel, filter, gravel? Do I mix charcoal, sponge filter stuff, biomedia or anything else for the under part?
- Live plants. When I use the google, about two thirds say don't and one third say go for it. I /really/ want live plants, as this will likely hold snails and a betta.
-- Along with the live plants, what about using dirt as a substrate? I assume it's a silly thing to ask, but you can't know unless you do lol. What about under gravel stuff, under gravel filter, thin layer of gravel, thin layer of sponge filter stuff, gravel, dirt, gravel? My gravel is on the smaller side, so I'm not worried about thick layers.

Thanks! This will hopefully be a far easier setup than the little metal tank haha

[Fresh2o]

You could use gravel or very coarse sand with that filter. That's it. The granules acts as a mechanical and biological filter. Regular sand will clog up the slots on the filter plate.
As for plants, you could use ones that do not root directly into the substrate such as Anubias, Java Fern, and various mosses. Others such as hornwort and Anacharis should work in there.
No soil. It will only get pulled through the filter plate and back into the water column resulting in a cloudy mess.


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[Dare2smile]

Got it! Fresh, you're so good to me. <3

Also, am I correct in believing that an air tube is what the little spout behind the big tube is for?

Figuring this out without my dad nearby is not easy haha

[Wy Renegade]

See if there is a way to set it up to run in reverse (i.e. so the flow comes up through the substrate rather than flowing down through the substrate). Don't know if you will be able to do that with that particular filter. Yes, the air tube should connect to the little spout - if you can power it with something else it will do a much better job. Can you cut the big tube down and put a small powerhead on top of it?

[Dare2smile]

Originally Posted by Wy Renegade

See if there is a way to set it up to run in reverse (i.e. so the flow comes up through the substrate rather than flowing down through the substrate). Don't know if you will be able to do that with that particular filter. Yes, the air tube should connect to the little spout - if you can power it with something else it will do a much better job. Can you cut the big tube down and put a small powerhead on top of it?

I'm very inexperienced with UGFs (this is my first! Exciting!). I have no idea how I'd turn it around or anything about a power head lol

[Brookster123]

This would work perfectly, it comes with many attachments and flow is fully directional and adjustable
http://www.amazon.com/AquaClear-Powe.../dp/B000256566
I would reccomended this as a substrate as it's a banging biomedia and woukd look pretty ok atop the ugf, marina offers small bags of colored gravel to supplement awesome...
Look forward to seeing this come together!
http://www.amazon.com/Seachem-Matrix.../dp/B0002A5VIO

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[Dare2smile]

Originally Posted by Brookster123

This would work perfectly, it comes with many attachments and flow is fully directional and adjustable
http://www.amazon.com/AquaClear-Powe.../dp/B000256566
I would reccomended this as a substrate as it's a banging biomedia and woukd look pretty ok atop the ugf, marina offers small bags of colored gravel to supplement awesome...
Look forward to seeing this come together!
http://www.amazon.com/Seachem-Matrix.../dp/B0002A5VIO

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Wow Brookster, that's some awesome stuff! When I clicked the link for the power head though, it looked entirely too powerful for what I've got. The fishbowl is only (an estimated) 2 gallons, so anyone I keep in there probably won't want his water churning around so much haha. But thank you for the substrate idea! I can look into that part definitely!

[Brookster123]

It's fully adjustable, you can knock it down to nothing and point flow ar surface!! I have it in a 5 gal.

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[Dare2smile]

Originally Posted by Brookster123

It's fully adjustable, you can knock it down to nothing and point flow ar surface!! I have it in a 5 gal.

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Oh okay! You don't think it'd be too big for a two gallon? The bowl is only ten inches tall by about six deep. Space is at such a premium.

[Brookster123]

Originally Posted by Dare2smile

Oh okay! You don't think it'd be too big for a two gallon? The bowl is only ten inches tall by about six deep. Space is at such a premium.

May be a bit large actually... the air pump seems the best option.

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