is it worth buying a undergravel filter

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
oh man, theres tons fo threads on this one. I myself had one closed because it turned into too much of a heated debate LOL. anyway from what i gathered its a NO....... it makes it easy to pick up but the bacteria isn't really stable in there or something....... its just easier to get an HOB filter unless your going massive then just make a sump
 
yeah i only use gravel / river rocks
reason i want to know is becuase even thou i water change every 2 to 3 weeks my tank with the gravel and bigger 1cm rocks mixed in is a bloody mess even after a water change and usieng a gravel syphon witch takes ages cuase of the bigger rocks my water turns almost black i have to refill my tank 2 or 3 time and syphon it 2 or 3 times to get mojority of it out and that still leaves a fair bit in there of it

im useing a 2000lph powerhead and a 1200lph cannister filter with 4 stages of filtration
occasionaly i have let it go for 2 months with out a water change cuase of work and upholding 5 tanks gets a bit over the top in cleaning department
 
A lot of old school keepers swear by them, and they do do a pretty decent job if you don't have plants or cichlids that like to dig. The only real problem in my view with them is that eventually you have to break the tank down to get rid of all of the poo that packs up underneath. Myself I use h.o.b. filters, and clean weekly with the gravel vac. I had a similar problem in one of my tanks that I was using a lot of bigger stones in. Eventually I got rid of them, and used just a fine substrate in there. It doesn't look as natural as it did but is a lot easier to vac.
 
You need to do WC more often like once a week....And perhaps get smaller gravel or sand with rocks in places so you can just shift things around....And IMO UGF are worthless vs Sponge or HOB
 
well looks like im ditching the river rocks might change to argonite 2mm or 3mm should look pretty nice actualy with me droping my spare volcanic rocks in
 
Personally i'm not a big fan of the UG Filters, only because A) you need to use larger gravel, B) If you ever want to change the filter system you have to tear your whole tank down C) you can still get build up in the UGF and you still have to clean it up every once a while... meaning once again tear down the whole tank...
 
packer43064;4249444; said:
Their useless.
Click to expand...


what he said....
and of course old timers swear by them thats all that was around when they were young fishkeepers. get a hob or canister bud you wont regret it
 
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