jgc8fan
Aquarium Advice Activist
I've had a freshwater aquarium for 15 years with the exception of the last four when I kept a marine aquarium. Failing to successfully maintain (after sinking several thousand $$$ in equipment) it I decided to go back to freshwater.
So now I've got a 40 gal tank with power compact fluorescent lighting (120 Watts) with a Magnum 350 Bio-Pro cannister/Bio Wheel filter. What I'm noticing are the same problems I had with the marine setup seem to be coming back in fresh (uncontrollable green hair algae). I have algae eaters working overtime right now to get it under control.
I always had a UGF in my freshwater tanks, and never had algae problems... Matter of fact... When I first set up my marine tank I used a UGF for 6 months and the algae problem didn't develop there until I removed it (just a couple weeks after I removed it to be precise), so now that I'm back to freshwater I'm thinking of putting one back in, but I don't want lift tubes, and another electrical piece of equipment (air pump/powerhead). I had an idea about how to get around this and wondered if anyone else has tried it... I'm thinking of adapting a UGF to connect to the intake of the Magnum. It seems simple in theory, and the Magnum is powerful enough that it should keep the UGF plate fairly clean underneath while filtering out the garbage that I suspect is building up in the gravel. Yes... I know I should be vacuuming the gravel more often, but remembering my old setup with a UGF to a powerhead it never seemed to be a problem.
Anyway... Any opinions?
P.S. I know all of the UGF controversy already, but as I've had better results with one I choose to ignore it.
So now I've got a 40 gal tank with power compact fluorescent lighting (120 Watts) with a Magnum 350 Bio-Pro cannister/Bio Wheel filter. What I'm noticing are the same problems I had with the marine setup seem to be coming back in fresh (uncontrollable green hair algae). I have algae eaters working overtime right now to get it under control.
I always had a UGF in my freshwater tanks, and never had algae problems... Matter of fact... When I first set up my marine tank I used a UGF for 6 months and the algae problem didn't develop there until I removed it (just a couple weeks after I removed it to be precise), so now that I'm back to freshwater I'm thinking of putting one back in, but I don't want lift tubes, and another electrical piece of equipment (air pump/powerhead). I had an idea about how to get around this and wondered if anyone else has tried it... I'm thinking of adapting a UGF to connect to the intake of the Magnum. It seems simple in theory, and the Magnum is powerful enough that it should keep the UGF plate fairly clean underneath while filtering out the garbage that I suspect is building up in the gravel. Yes... I know I should be vacuuming the gravel more often, but remembering my old setup with a UGF to a powerhead it never seemed to be a problem.
Anyway... Any opinions?
P.S. I know all of the UGF controversy already, but as I've had better results with one I choose to ignore it.