under gravel filter good or bad

[baytown]

have 55 gal cichlid tank am a newbie any advice/have aqua clear 70 and elite hush 55 hob.

 

[KaiserSousay]

UGF`s have kept billions of fish comfy, seems like forever.
But, if you are going with sand/tiny gravel their use would be 0 as filtration. With med. to large gravel and reverse flow powerheads they start making sense again. Be aware of the xtra work involved in keeping UGFs functioning, super-duty gravel vacing, right down to the plates. If not kept clean they can start producing a nasty form of bacteria that will eventually start killing off your fish.

 

[Bderick67]

I would disagree with most everything said above, nasty bacteria

UG filters work just fine(the G stands for GRAVEL so don't use sand). Gravel requires cleaning whether you have a UGF or not. I would not recommend that you use with cichlids though. Cichlids will uncover the plates and then they water can bypass the gravel and be unfiltered.

 

[KaiserSousay]

Anaerobic Bacteria - This type of bacteria lives in the deeper parts of the substrate and consumes nitrates. However it produces the harmful Hydrogen sulphide gas. Looks like black muck when you stir up the tank substrate.

OK?

 

[Bderick67]

Anaerobic Bacteria - This type of bacteria lives in the deeper parts of the substrate and consumes nitrates. However it produces the harmful Hydrogen sulphide gas. Looks like black muck when you stir up the tank substrate.

OK?

By clicking on the "Anaerobic" in what you quoted

What is Anaerobic
An anaerobic organism or anaerobe is any organism that does not require free-standing oxygen molecules for growth.
Typical organisms in a freshwater aquarium is anaerobic heterotroph bacteria found in the deep layers of the substrate where fresh water can't easily flow and so the water becomes depleted of oxygen and the bacteria takes oxygen from the nitrate molecules in the water (As nitrate molecules are made up of nitrogen and oxygen atoms) thus leaving pure nitrogen. Some heterotroph species of bacteria will even convert nitrogen back into ammonia and nitrite in such anaerobic conditions.

Now does this sound like the conditions provided by an UGF? To bad, if it was we may have a cheap filter that could consume nitrates.

 

[tcarswell]

LOL UGF rock for the money I use one on my 55 works great.

BTW Every under gravel filter thread someone has to get owned huh ?