Under gravel filter?

[Rtc/tsn]

I’m wondering if an under gravel filter would be beneficial to me, I always see them at high quality fish stores in their tanks but never really thought about getting one until know. Would an under gravel filter make it so that I don’t need to do gravel siphons during water changes or make it so that I don’t have to siphon gravel as frequently? What’s the point of an under gravel filter and what all do I need to maintain one in my 55 gallon tank

 

[fishguy1978]

Undergravel filters (ugf) turn your substrate into a bacteria farm. I ran one on my 90g for 2 yrs and have run them on other tanks too. You still have to gravel vac and remove waste that is trapped in the gravel. They do tend to keep debris and waste from floating around in the water column. Another plus is that you can run them with air, a powerhead, canister or a HOB filter. I like using the ugf in tanks were I have lots of stem plants that drop lots of leaves and would clog the filter strainer. If you run a powerhead you can run with the powerhead sucking water up through the uplift tube or pushing water down through the tube. If you run a reverse ugf you need to run either an HOB or a canister to clear the free floating debris that gets pushed out of the gravel.
This is a 60g that I maintenance and it has a ugf and a hob. The filter used to clog all the time with leaves, not anymore. I do syphon a lot of debris out of the gravel though. I only need to clean the sponges in the filter every 2-3mo.

 

[skjl47]

I’m wondering if an under gravel filter would be beneficial to me, I always see them at high quality fish stores in their tanks but never really thought about getting one until know. Would an under gravel filter make it so that I don’t need to do gravel siphons during water changes or make it so that I don’t have to siphon gravel as frequently? What’s the point of an under gravel filter and what all do I need to maintain one in my 55 gallon tank

Hello; I can answer some of your questions. First is the undergravel filter (UGF) does not change how much or often you need to vac the gravel at all. I am running a set in a 55 gallon currently and have run them for decades.

 

[Rtc/tsn]

Hello; I can answer some of your questions. First is the undergravel filter (UGF) does not change how much or often you need to vac the gravel at all. I am running a set in a 55 gallon currently and have run them for decades.

What all do I need to run one?

 

[fishguy1978]

Drain the tank if it's running and remove everything from the tank. Determine the correct height for your uplift tubes and cut and install them. Cap any of the uplift holes that are not used. Set the filter in the tank and cover with gravel.

 

[LBDave]

These filters are garbage.

 

[Rtc/tsn]

Drain the tank if it's running and remove everything from the tank. Determine the correct height for your uplift tubes and cut and install them. Cap any of the uplift holes that are not used. Set the filter in the tank and cover with gravel.

What about the fish? Wouldn’t that stress it a lot

 

[dogofwar]

Unless you're running a reverse UGF, all of the crud that normally would get trapped in filter media gets trapped in your gravel and under the UGF plate. To rot. Back in the day I used to run a small siphon tube under the UGF plate to suck out all of the gunk.

They need relatively deep and uniform substrate to work properly and fish that dig or disrupt the gravel can expose the plate and result in flow through that area (vs. uniformly across the media).

Honestly, there's a reason why UGFs went the way of the Dodo.

 

[Rocksor]

Would an under gravel filter make it so that I don’t need to do gravel siphons during water changes or make it so that I don’t have to siphon gravel as frequently?

siphoning the gravel/substrate for fish is like picking up your dog’s crap and disposing of it. The less often you pick up after your dog in the backyard, the more your backyard smells. With fish this is worse because they have to swim in the same water as their crap. They can’t escape from it in an aquarium.

if you want to do less work, rehome your FH and get a small school of fish and understock your 55g

 

[Rtc/tsn]

siphoning the gravel/substrate for fish is like picking up your dog’s crap and disposing of it. The less often you pick up after your dog in the backyard, the more your backyard smells. With fish this is worse because they have to swim in the same water as their crap. They can’t escape from it in an aquarium.

if you want to do less work, rehome your FH and get a small school of fish and understock your 55g

Why under stock the tank with a bunch of small fish im not really passionate about or care for? I’d rather have a minimum sized tank with a juvenile fish for it and have to do extra work than have a bunch of small fish i could care less for. Just me though.