UGF question

[rumblesushi]

so you don't think a filter sponge or bio media serves as biological filtration?

Strange, I was always under the assumption that de-nitrifying bacteria did actually cultivate in sponges and bio-media

 

[repair]

so you don't think a filter sponge or bio media serves as biological filtration?

Strange, I was always under the assumption that de-nitrifying bacteria did actually cultivate in sponges and bio-media

De-nitrifying bacteria does live in the sponge filters ..... I think his point is that when you concider the area of the gravel and the area of the sponge the gravel wins. I have a aquarium service and I don't use UGFs but one of my competitors only uses UGFs and his tanks lok as good as mine.... I'vs started thinking about setting up a tank at home and trying an UGF.

 

[Ornatapinnis]

I agree 100% that nitrifying bactering (not de-nitrifying-entirly differant bacteria) lives in sponges as well as on every surface inside the aquarium. The problem with using a canister or hang on type filter as your only filter is that you must clean it regularly. When you clean out your filter you loose the bacteria (or at least some of it) that makes your aquarium work. I know...I can hear people thinking it...."well I only clean or replace one part of my filter at a time"....When this is done you loose a portion of what makes the aquarium stable and often have a temporary water quality issue. Most people don't even know they have a water quality problem because they test their water while performing maintenance. The problem happens after the maintenance has been performed. THis is why a dedicated biological filter is safer. I don't use undergravel filter very often but we'll use it for an example. (I use trickle filters mostly) One of the most important things we need to do as the aquarium owner is provide an enormous place for nitrifying bacteria to live and phycially force our aquarium water to that place several time per hour to expose polluted water to the bacteria so it can brake down the waste. This may take several passes. Now, right off the bat, a couple inches of gravel in an aquarium has much more surface area to house bacteria than a sponge or spinning wheel (penguin bio wheel) and you don't remove the gravel and replace it like you do a filter sleeve of a bag of carbon. THe bacteria population stayes very constant and stable. A dedicated biological filter that is supplemented by mechanical & chemical filtration is much more relyable than a box or canister filter alone.

 

[guppy]

I might have misunderstood the initial question, I took it to mean that he was using a single powerhead to run the ugf with no other functioning lift tubes. IMO this is barely adequate in a 20G but not in a larger tank, the ugfs I have used only had a single lift tube on each end until You reached 35g or larger. I would generally use 2 or more smaller filters for a larger tank because I liked areas with no ugf for my plants. As for cleaning the gravel regularly I do just the surface layers generally though I do stir the gravel sometimes, I also do only a third or so of the tank floor at a time.
I like using both a hangon or two as well as the ugf, they act as mechanical filters to remove gross debris. I replace the charcoal section with biomedia such as small lava rock fragments and that part seldom gets cleaned (just sometimes rinsed. The sponge pad gets washed fairly often. That way the filter keeps a good flow without wiping out the bacterial colony. Between the two filter types tank parameters stay very stable and since the power sources to the filters come from different circuits it gives me a little time cushion to fix things in case of a failure.

 

[elevatethis]

I might have misunderstood the initial question, I took it to mean that he was using a single powerhead to run the ugf with no other functioning lift tubes.

Thats correct, the powerhead was the only thing running with no other functioning lift tubes.

Well, I went ahead and got a whisper power filter yesterday. Pretty easy to hook up.

Seems to be working alright. I haven't seen any difference in water clarity or anything yet though.

 

[guppy]

If both filters are working like they should either should keep your tank within working parameters, together they should keep your water perfect. the hang ons are better for catching debris but the ugf is great for nitrogen product control.