Dual use of UGF?

[meBNme]

When I bought my 150G it came with an Under Gravel Filter and powerheads.
thats what Ive been using. (along with an over the side filter)

I would like to replace the over the side filter with a canister.
I have been told the UGF is old school, but I kinda like it.
(No one has bothered to explain why its not good, or cracked on so much)

I am wondering if it would be a good idea to hook up the canister filter to the undergravel plates so that the water being pulled out will also be pulled from the gravel.

This of course while leaving the 4 powerheads as they are, hooked up to the plates as well.

I "think" this will just create even more pull through the plates and help keep the gravel cleaned up, and that can only help the bio filter even more.

Any reason NOT to do this?

 

[jdhuegel1]

UGFs work, just not as well as other filters. Problem is waste is pulled into the gravel to decompose, but what you end up with is dirty gravel. You'll still have to vacuum it. I used a UGF exactly opposite. I plumbed powerheads to force water up through the gravel to keep waste from settling, thus getting pulled into the canister filters. Seems to work well and my crayfish love it.

 

[Ghost9001]

As said before UGFs trap waste underneath the plate, which can be hard to gravel vac out. Also studies have shown that UGFs add a negligible of beneficial bacteria to the gravel bed. IMO I would just pull it out and run a hang on and a canister.

 

[meBNme]

When I had marineland 600s on the plates I DID have a lot of waste under them. I even saw live black worms and snails crawling/living in it.
Since changing to 1200s its as clean as a whistle under the plates.
I mean, algae doesn't even grow there.
Laying under the tank right after feeding, you can see small particles being yanked along the bottom and up into the tubes to the power heads.
When I vac the gravel (about once a month) I get very little dibri sucked up.
And even then, what comes up is larger particles that are pretty much sitting on or near the surface of the gravel.

I do like the idea of reverse flow on the plates though.
I'm thinking you'd need a pretty seriously powerful canister to keep clear water with that, but it sounds quite effective.

Thanks for the comments guys.
If junk WAS collecting under the plates, I would certainly see why they are disliked.
I'm wondering though, in those cases, did the owner just not have enough power/flow to properly operate the UGF as designed?

 

[jdhuegel1]

When I had marineland 600s on the plates I DID have a lot of waste under them. I even saw live black worms and snails crawling/living in it.
Since changing to 1200s its as clean as a whistle under the plates.
I mean, algae doesn't even grow there.
Laying under the tank right after feeding, you can see small particles being yanked along the bottom and up into the tubes to the power heads.
When I vac the gravel (about once a month) I get very little dibri sucked up.
And even then, what comes up is larger particles that are pretty much sitting on or near the surface of the gravel.

I do like the idea of reverse flow on the plates though.
I'm thinking you'd need a pretty seriously powerful canister to keep clear water with that, but it sounds quite effective.

Thanks for the comments guys.
If junk WAS collecting under the plates, I would certainly see why they are disliked.
I'm wondering though, in those cases, did the owner just not have enough power/flow to properly operate the UGF as designed?

Before I ran the powerheads under the gravel forcing waste up, I sat them near the bottom to keep a current down low. The canisters keep up easily (but remember, there's 3 of them)

I don't see why more power couldn't increase the effectiveness of the plates, for cleanliness that is. If a powerful canister can pull crap through the gravel and plates, I don't see it being a big problem.