Undergravel Filter

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Cloudk

Cloudk

Candiru
MFK Member
Oct 25, 2010
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Swimming in a mountain river
First off. This will obviously NOT be my main filter. Main filter is FX5. Tank is 125gal, will have 2 tiger oscars, and maybe a fish or 2 more. So. My question. I'd like to put an under gravel filter as support(minimal though it may be) and because my oscar plays in bubbles:screwy:. Tank will also have a circulator(can't remember model). I've only used canister filters so I'd like some advice on an acceptable under gravel filter for a 125gal. Thanks for any help.
 
actually,a UGF will provide better biological filtration than the FX5 could ever hope to provide, and will give you water clear enough no-one could want a better particulate filter.
the only drawback to UGF's is getting the detritus it collects out of the tank.
doing a gravel vac on a 125 will be a lot of work and a UGF isn't a filter you want to just skip it on. if you don't keep it up you'll end up with a lot of crud under the plate.
you could go with a reverse flow UGF to use the gravel as biomedia and avoid the buildup, but I've never tried it like that.
David R's post is a common misconception, having the plate exposed in spots isn't the end all of your filtration since the plate regulates the flow. but you will have big ugly white sections that you will need to go in and re-cover (daily at least) , which will piss off your oscar, but will give it something to do re-digging it's holes.
 
Live plants did wonders for ugf's the roots weave into the grating and they eat a lot of the built up gunk under the UHF that's my personal experience not sure how Oscars are with live plants though. I don't have any

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Gill Blue said:
actually,a UGF will provide better biological filtration than the FX5 could ever hope to provide, and will give you water clear enough no-one could want a better particulate filter.
the only drawback to UGF's is getting the detritus it collects out of the tank.
doing a gravel vac on a 125 will be a lot of work and a UGF isn't a filter you want to just skip it on. if you don't keep it up you'll end up with a lot of crud under the plate.
you could go with a reverse flow UGF to use the gravel as biomedia and avoid the buildup, but I've never tried it like that.
David R's post is a common misconception, having the plate exposed in spots isn't the end all of your filtration since the plate regulates the flow. but you will have big ugly white sections that you will need to go in and re-cover (daily at least) , which will piss off your oscar, but will give it something to do re-digging it's holes.
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Really depends on the amount of gravel and bio used to be fair. I don't own an fx5 but I know I can put alot more bio in my sump than gravel that I care to view in my displays.

I use sand for all my cichlids so its a non issue for me, but if I were going to add bio, it would be on the form of a sump.

As messy as Oscars are, you'll kick yourself for doing it the first time you have to clean under there. And you'll have to clean it alot for it to work properly and not cause other issues.

Personally, the whole idea of putting the crap in the least accessible place in the system makes no sense to me. To each his own, but I've run them both ugf and rugf and will never run one again.


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I used to use UGFs all the time. Had a bunch. They do indeed require very regular maintenance or they'll collect immense amounts of gunk underneath. A strong vacuuming all the way to the plate is a minimum.

If I had to choose now for a 125, and I had an FX5, I'd add either an HOB or a large sponge filter. Each would supplement the bio needs and present a lot less problems. The sponge filter can also give the bonus of bubbles.

Fwiw, my oscar never dug up any gravel but then again he had the tank to himself and might not have felt a need to.
 
if you like ugf , try a sponge filter or 2 run on air....... same effect as ugf .. only a LOT easier to clean.... and your O will have BUBBLES :)
 
Personally, the whole idea of putting the crap in the least accessible place in the system makes no sense to me. To each his own, but I've run them both ugf and rugf and will never run one again.
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Exactly. I know UGF's work will, I'm old enough to remember when they were pretty much the only thing used! They still work just as well as they did back they, the difference now is that there ate many other far better options available, especially for messy digging cichlids.

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Love UGF's and RFUGF's, but as mentioned in this thread they do require good maint! It'd be a great secondary IMO but I would go with sponges before either of the GF's. still love em though lol.


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