Maybe I'm Old-school, but I have done just about every sort and type of filter, and the good ol UG Filter is hard to beat. I have 3 Goldfish that are all about 6" in a 35 gallon tank with a UG filter and one powerhead. I have a hob filter with pothos plants for nitrates, and I honestly NEVER do a water change, only add water, and I vacuum the gravel maybe once a YEAR... if I remember to. Never any problems, I feed daily quite a bit if flake food, cuz they are big fish, and flakes don't seem to have alot of sustenance for bigger fish, so I am prolly over-feeding, NEVER cleaning, and I never have any problems.. EVER! By the way, I bought that powerhead that is still running, in 1995! So for a clean, non intrusive cheap low-maintenance filter, stick with the good ol UG filter!
A Tribute to the Under Gravel Filter..
- Thread starter thepotz
- Start date
You aren't really providing real details that support your point. You could have the same braggalicious thread with just a couple HOB and pothos
I am curious though, is this tank bare bottom aside from your UGF?
I am curious though, is this tank bare bottom aside from your UGF?
Hello; I started using the under gravel filters (UGF) back in the late 50's. I also had some setups with no filtration at all. I now have tanks with UGF and tanks using other filtration. I have found that most any system can be made to work well enough if used properly. Like any tool, the UGF has a place.
Be prepared for some serious criticism of your stance on the UGF. Many have panned the UGF quite strongly. Due to such negative comments I set up a tanks about three years ago with an old UGF. I have yet to observe any problems with that tank.
I, however, do not see how you can go so long with out doing more regular and more often gravel vac's and water changes. I have fairly dense growths of live plants in my tanks and still will get some detritus during bi-weekly gravel vacs during water changes. I also went to very low density fish stocking some years ago. I also have been doing fast days at least once a week and light feeding. Even with measures such as these I still get some tank detritus build up. Nothing like from years ago when I overstocked and feed too heavy.
Be prepared for some serious criticism of your stance on the UGF. Many have panned the UGF quite strongly. Due to such negative comments I set up a tanks about three years ago with an old UGF. I have yet to observe any problems with that tank.
I, however, do not see how you can go so long with out doing more regular and more often gravel vac's and water changes. I have fairly dense growths of live plants in my tanks and still will get some detritus during bi-weekly gravel vacs during water changes. I also went to very low density fish stocking some years ago. I also have been doing fast days at least once a week and light feeding. Even with measures such as these I still get some tank detritus build up. Nothing like from years ago when I overstocked and feed too heavy.
Ugfs and rugfs can work just fine, but they do not work well with sand at all and all of my current tanks are sand or bare bottomed.
I used rugfs for years with good results.
I would be curious to hear your water parameters and wouldn't short change that hob/pothos filter you've got running.
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I used rugfs for years with good results.
I would be curious to hear your water parameters and wouldn't short change that hob/pothos filter you've got running.
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I have been keeping fish for years, with many tanks, and I have tried elaborate setups, that will work great, but there always seems to be alot of tinkering, cleaning, maintenance etc., and I almost like the tinkering, sometimes, but I also have a very busy life that doesn't allow me alot of time to tinker with stuff, so I have simplified things, and found #1 UGF's rock! for unplanted gravel tanks. #2 Growing plants in SOIL with a layer of fine sand to trap it rocks! #3 Using House plants to filter water rocks! and #4 Polishing your water through Foam rubber rocks! (although high maintenance) I've tried algae scrubbers with success, but you have to polish the water with foam rubber filter, and clean the screen every 7 days, Canister filters work successfully, but cleaning them often is a pia, and then sumps work well, but the space, equipment, setup, plumbing, cleaning, etc. all PIA! I get it that this is a hobby, and detailed maintenance is fun to some, but sometimes I think all the water changes, and problems arising from screwing with stuff all the time is ridiculous. I see w/c in almost every post, and I think you are just trying to for lack of a betterterm "throw water at it" instead of letting things work the way God intended it. For example, the detrius at the bottom of the tank gets sucked into the gravel to feed the bacteria in the gravel. vacuuming the gravel will starve the colony, thus shrinking it, so the only reason I vacuum the gravel is to break it up so that water can flow thru it easier, otherwise it turns into a solid chunk of concrete! Other than that, the nitrates are eaten up by the houseplant in the hob filter, like plants beside a river would do. All problems are best solved by The Master Engineer GOD.
Your post shows how tough goldfish are. Don't think a lack of maintenance would work well long term with other tropical fish.
I recommended a undergravel filter to my friend the other day. He has large river stones and a messy turtle. The turtle will rip food apart and most of it ends up under the stones. Underground filters do fit a niche not many filters do. I have all sand so it does me no good. You need one thats uses a water pump one, the ones that use a air stone suck.
I think the biggest negative with them is that it has to be installed before setting up the tank for it to be convenient. If the tank is set up it is a pain.
I think the biggest negative with them is that it has to be installed before setting up the tank for it to be convenient. If the tank is set up it is a pain.
Quite true about the set-up prob. There would also need to be actual gravel under those stones too, and it takes a while to establish a strong colony, so water changes in the beginning would still be a must. I have used the intake tube on a HOB filter, stuck it down the tube of the UG filter with an o-ring to seal against the uptube and used the HOB to suck the water up the tube making the UG filter work.
Yeah, gonna have to disagree here. Sumps are a breeze once setup and the setup really isn't that bad at all. Nothing easier than pulling a filter sock off every once on a while. Space, maybe you have a point, but every setup I have has a stand and that's where the sump goes.
And God didn't design aquariums to hold fish. Humans did. Rivers and lakes have a constant supply of freshwater so technically a river is mother natures continuos drip system. lol nothing but constant wc.
And to play devils advocate, what's the difference in a canister filter never being cleaned vs what you are suggesting? Bio colony lives in the canister right? Why would you need to clean a canister but not vacuum your gravel? I know hobbyists who go months on end without cleaning a canister sometimes longer. Basically the same thing you're doing.
I'm with Joe. Try some rams in that tank and I'll bet they don't do so well.
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