Ok so not many of you use the UGF... why the hell not? It is the only form of filtration that I ever use other than right after a water change I sometimes use a diatom to pick up the extra crap floating around the tank. So what I want to know is who uses an UGF? and who does not and those that do not what is your reasons for not doing so?
filtration
- Thread starter rweedon
- Start date
i just started fish keeping last year. i have a 105gal that has 2 aquaclear 70 and an UGF on half the tank... i didnt really see how an UGF would work very well untill here recently.. i am still not sure how it can replace oyher fiters completely... i dont know too much about them.. if you can school me on UGF i will listen..
So other than keeping your water clear the most important part of filtrating your water is the biological filtration... meaning the beneficial nitrifying bacteria that grow in your tank... with the UGF the entire gravel bed becomes your biological media... with the power filters it does not get any oxygen down into the gravel bed the bacteria is not able to grow in the bed... since the bacteria are aerobic they require a lot of oxygen in the water and since they can not swim around they are unable to grow and multiply in the gravel bed... the other fault with the external filters you lose a great deal of the bacteria that you have been growing... ways around this is with a bio wheel or extra sponges placed inside the filter... but when you compare the surface area of the bio wheel compared with the surface area in your gravel bed you can come up with your own conclusions... downfalls to the UGF would be you can not use sand as a media as it is too fine. some say it does not work with fish that dig but my parrots used to dig all the way to the plate and it still did just fine The last thing is that you can keep a hood that does not have holes cutting down on evaporation thus making your life easier... hope this will help you make the switch over... on all of your tanks...
them are some good points, thanks. can you use the UGF's with the powerhead or is it better to have the airstone in the tube. i wont throw out my hang on filters but i will prolly add some UGF's to my tanks..
powerhead is far superior they all come with an attachment that allows you to add in oxygen that will spit out air from outside the tank with the water it is cycling tends to be a lil loud though...
I do not support UGFs as i find that they are a pain to clean. Further more, there is a risk of dead spots forming and hence toxic builds up in the gravel bed. UGFs were no doubt a very good biological and mechanical filter in the past, but by todays standards, many other from of filtration beats it hands down with the right filter media. However i think they would still make a fair supplementary filter or if you use it as a reverse flow one, even better.
I have used them in the past, but I found canister and now wet/dry filters to be superior, reasons:
1. I use sand as a substrate
2. The uprights/power heads spoil the look of the tank.
3. UG would probably not cope with the bio load in my tank.
4. The gravel gets loaded with decomposed material that eventually clogs the UG and requires a thorough cleaning of the tank. I find that everythin gets drawn into the gravel so no solid wastes are actually being removed from the tank.
I've just built a wet/dry and have been running it for only about 3 weeks. So far its looking like a far better option for me than a UG or canister.
But, depending on your needs, an UG could be a good option for filtration.
1. I use sand as a substrate
2. The uprights/power heads spoil the look of the tank.
3. UG would probably not cope with the bio load in my tank.
4. The gravel gets loaded with decomposed material that eventually clogs the UG and requires a thorough cleaning of the tank. I find that everythin gets drawn into the gravel so no solid wastes are actually being removed from the tank.
I've just built a wet/dry and have been running it for only about 3 weeks. So far its looking like a far better option for me than a UG or canister.
But, depending on your needs, an UG could be a good option for filtration.
One thing you miss with an UGF is the aireation that you get from an over the back filter and even moreso with a wet/dry. Sorry but canister filters don't aireate the water.
This is a subject that will be decided by what kind of a bio load are you going to run on your tanks. My big tanks run such a large bio load that an UGF would never be able to handle it even witht the help of a canister... not only from the bacteria point of view but from the aireation of the water.
Remember that the little bubbles you get from an airstone don't exchange enough oxygen to mention they only help because they move the water to the surface where it come in contact with air.
This is a subject that will be decided by what kind of a bio load are you going to run on your tanks. My big tanks run such a large bio load that an UGF would never be able to handle it even witht the help of a canister... not only from the bacteria point of view but from the aireation of the water.
Remember that the little bubbles you get from an airstone don't exchange enough oxygen to mention they only help because they move the water to the surface where it come in contact with air.
I think it depends on how you arrange the spray bar of the cannister, near the surface to cause some turbulance and you would have aeration. Other than that it just circulates water to the surface to aid oxygen exchange.
I have never been a fan of UGF's. Many of the fish I keep dig them up, making them useless, and I don't find that they do as good a job as other methods. No offense to those who use them and like them; they just haven't worked for me.