Filters

Hi haven’t had a proper tank in 15+ years. Iam use to running a under gravel filter but now told that’s old school and can’t get them and to go with a canister type.
so my question is can I run some thin 1/4 inch pvc pipe with holes drilled under the gravel then connect canister intake hose to said pvc to create the water the be dragged though the gravel then though the canister filter then back in to the tank.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks Tim.
(hope this make sense)

Ask the local pet shop to order an undergravel filter in for you. They still make them but shops prefer to sell power filters because they cost more.

Welcome to TFF. Lots of helpful members here. To start, what size is your tank? Will it be heavily planted?

How big is your tank?

There are many options to choose from there days. Some of the more popular are sponge, internal, and HOB (Hang On Back) filters.

Thanks for the input the tand is a 2.5 foot.
have asked a few fish shop in my area was told there supplier stopped selling them over 6 years ago. I have ordered a filter justwanted to know if it would work andwhat others thought about the idea.

Have you any thoughts on what fish you will be stocking it with? Just because some fish do better with a sand substrate for instance, which would rule out an UGF

Tims clown said:

Thanks for the input the tand is a 2.5 foot.
have asked a few fish shop in my area was told there supplier stopped selling them over 6 years ago. I have ordered a filter justwanted to know if it would work andwhat others thought about the idea.

Click to expand...

We still need to know your stock. (Or what you plan to stock with)

Will just have standard tropical fish that will live happily with my clowns. Will be running a gravel bottom.
was just wondering where if anyone had run there canister filter hose under the gravel. As in just joining the canister inlet hose to something like in the photo where circled.
one to help keep gravel cleaner
Two to filter the water though the gravel before going into canister.

Undergravel filters were very popular many years ago, my first tanks in the 1960's had them. But they do have drawbacks, the main one being that the substrate being a heavy filter (as opposed to the normal "filter" any substrate is) it has serious risks of becoming anaerobic in a power outage for example. And it is not that easy to keep it cleaned, as is essential for any biological filter.

For a 2.5 foot long aquarium (a 20g long or a 29g perhaps?) A dual sponge filter in the back corner can be adequate, or a small internal filter like an Aqueon Quiet Flow. I have one of these on my 40g tank, and another on the 33g tank; my smaller tanks have dual or single sponge filters. Fish suited to small tanks need less water flow so sponges work well.

That brings me to your "clowns," which I assume are Clown Loaches? Are you aware that this fish needs a group of at least five, and grows to 8-12 inches? A 6-foot tank is minimum though not really adequate, an 8-foot is preferable.

I was thinking the same thing - dual sponge filters would fit in the tank nicely, and do a good job.

I still use a UGF in one of my tanks and just switch over to sand so I took out the UGF in another tank. I bought one new on Amazon last year and have seen them at Petco.