Marbles over undergravel filter?

[Gobrian44]

Hi, I have that exact setup in my 55g except for the marbles I use polished river stones bought at a dollar store. It leaves gaps for waste to seep through and into my external canister filter. It looks more natural than marbles and I never see waste on the bottom. I do notice that over time some of the waste/bb collect bellow the UGF tray and I just have to siphon it out through the stones about once every 2 months. I check my canister filter at that time just to make sure its not getting clogged. This method is very good for setups with larger fish or turtles(as is my case).

If you want to try this method I recommend you get a good canister filter, as the setup will mostly rely on it for the bb growth and not the media over the UGF.

***MORE IMPORTANTLY*** you need a good flow rate so that the waste doesnt just settle down underneath the tray but gets sucked up. I have a flow rate of about 350 gallons per hour for a 55 gallon tank, and I think the system would work even better if i had 400 gallons per hour. so consider a turnover rate of about 8-10 times the volume of your tank.

It is also a good idea to consider your decorations in the tank. not many plants will grow in such large substrate and other decorations sitting on the bottom may actually impede the water flow, and cause debris to settle underneath the tray right below the decorative item.

you may also want to consider what type of fish/animals you have and their feeding habits. you will not be able to feed sinking food to the tank inhabitants as it will quickly be sucked up through the gaps. However I overcame this situation by having a 3" x 3" slate rock so that my sinking pellets can rest on it.

I hope that helps

This is exactly what i meant...i'm not relying on the ugf for bio filtration because i will have a canister filter. But do u have any pics of the set up? and as far as marbles i would just put a tin layer so with the 8-10x turnover rate the cracks of them being side to side would be enough for the waste to get through. And make sure i would have enough mechanical filtration for all the waste.

 

[Gobrian44]

bump

 

[john73738]

Sounds like a disaster in plastic.
The idea that a tank “needs” waste, while it does have that Touchy/Feely, Green sound to it…
Has really got me scratching my head.
Unless you have a planted tank, the thought of your tank benefiting from Nitrate is new to me.
If true, we spend an awful lot of time in cleaning and water changes in order to keep this “benefit” under control.

Guess I am not explaining it as well as it was explained to me. I do not have piles of poop in my tank, yet I do not go crazy pulling it all out. As I have been attempting to get across is just that waste in the tank (not in excess) helps keep a natural ecosystem. And Yes I do use live plants in my tanks.

Sotty if I am not explaining it correctly..

 

[dawnmarie]

As I have been attempting to get across is just that waste in the tank (not in excess) helps keep a natural ecosystem.QUOTE]
I'm not saying you need to continually tweek on the tank in some vain attempt to keep it spotless, but how can any level of untreated waste be beneficial ? I must be missing something.

 

[turtlesrock]

its possible.

i have my return from my sump hooked up to the ugf. the water flows down into the UGF, pushing all the waste into the air where it is either sucked up by one of two HOB's or skimmed of the surface by my overflow. this system has the same effect as an UGF. the water flows past the gravel and the gravel provides beneficial Bacteria. so this is called an RUGF (reverse under gravel filter) or UGJ (under gravel jets)

i know this post does not help with your problem but i just wanted to put this out there. maybe you might consider this option.

that's just my 2 cents,
luke

 

[john73738]

Maybe I just misunderstood what was taught to me... Gonna have to go back to this person and get a clearer understanding of what he was trying to tell me.

Sorry if I was giving out incorrect information/.

Bear

 

[john73738]

To all I have clarified my misunderstanding, and posted here as not to hijack.

Sorry for misinformation

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=308623

 

[FSM]

Marbles for substrate would look really bad, I think.

 

[dawnmarie]

Different strokes for different folks. Every now and then I throw a piece of Kmart decoration in the tank just to watch the fish have a good time with it. My guess is tank decor has a lot more to do with what we want to see and a whole lot less with what the fish "need".

 

[m1ste2tea]

But do u have any pics of the set up?

okay I took some shots last night they are not that good but hopefully I can explain whats going on here...

(excuse the dirty looking tubes, I havent cleaned inside of them in a LOONG time)

the undergravel filter trays for the 55gal has 4 exit tubes which can be placed at either corner of the 4 trays. these trays are all interconnected from bellow. the 4 exit tubes are all connected via a DIY 4-into-1 tube junction made of pvc. here it is...

and trying to see from behind the tank...

and one more from behind the tank...

in the last shot you can see the junction all ending up going into one tube that connects to the hose for the canister filter. the shot from the front of the tank shows the return from the canister filter that leads into the spray bar.

I looked through my videos that may show you more and this is the best I can find... it shows the transparent tubes, the black river stones and as you can tell te water and the rocks are clean given the dirty nature if it's inhabitants.

[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu2kxC4hwis[/YT]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu2kxC4hwis