Does anyone use under gravel filters anymore???

[Slaphppy7]

I dismantled a tank with an UG once and found 4 clown loaches that I'd 'lost' about a year earlier living there. They hadn't grown much but they were otherwise healthy so I assume they must've been coming out after dark to feed on snails.
They lived for years after I retrieved them though never grew above 3 inches after that slow start.

Living within the UGF?

What size tank was this, and how big was the UGF? How was it constructed?

 

[Colin_T]

Living within the UGF?

What size tank was this, and how big was the UGF? How was it constructed?

They live under the filter plates. My Botia lohachata did the same thing. They went down the uplift tube and cruised around under the filter plate until food was added to the tank. Then they streamed out the uplift tube one at a time.

My tank was a 4x2x2ft. The ug filter in my tank was made of two plastic sheets. The sheets were 2ft square by 2mm thick. They had little holes drilled through them. Under the plates were pieces of pvc pipe that had been cut in half and glued to the sheets. They held the plates about 1 inch above the glass.

 

[jaylach]

I've always used under gravel and still do.

Back in the 1980s I also had a fish go down a riser and spend time under the filter plates. In my case it was a rope fish. That was when I started using slotted riser caps.

 

[raylove]

Living within the UGF?

What size tank was this, and how big was the UGF? How was it constructed?

The tank was a 48 inch X 12 X 15. I used lots of UG's in those days so I don't recall the actual construction of that particular one.
Seems others have had similar experiences though!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I had a UGF on my first tank, a 45 gal. (36l x 12w x 24h inch). I then converted to a RUGF using a reverse flow powerhead. But I was a noob and I also had an Emperor 400 Bio-wheel filter ont the tank. The tank was ome an angle iron stand and I could look up from below and see what was under the plate using a flashlight. When I changed to the RUGF I got curious after a while about what might still be under the plate. It wasn't too dirty but, there were a number of swordtail and panda cory babies swimming around under the plate.

Thus ended my less than a one year experience using a single UGF/RUGF. I added an AquaClear 200 which was the 1st AC on my way to about 30 at my peak.

However, the UGF/RUGF is one of the best biofilter host media ever. One cannot have much more volume for microorganisms to colonize than the medium size gravel covering the entire footprint of a tank and to depth of about three inches (7.6 cm) of an unde gravel setup.

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[kiko]

I just get bare box tanks and make up some filtration for it...
This one is my latest

 

[Rob2000]

In reading a lot of the threads, it doesn't seem like many use under gravel filters anymore??? 15 years ago, every tank had one, & the newest thing I remember was reverse flow... blowing clean water in, under the gravel... I have always in the past ran under gravel, in combination with hang on the back, or hanging canister filters... when I restarted a few tanks, recently, I removed several of the under gravel filters, & am counting on my floss for beneficial bacteria, & most have live plants now to help

Hi been using UGF for years no problems, the main problem is food quality, cheap food you get for most fish in shops these days will eventually clog any filter, it is all to do with high carbon to nitrogen level, the non nitrogen eating bacteria will grow more than the nitrogen eating bacteria and the extra mucilage they produce will block anything eventually, so food higher than say 40% protein will stop the blockage (like dog food, the manufactures would give you bone and gristle if they could get away with it, cheaper for them). As for the undigested food etc getting under the filter, how long do you think it lasts, obviously it's never digested by the bacteria in the water, again it's the mucilage. The brown gunk (mucilage) you see in the gravel is mainly the ammonia eating bacteria if you use high quality food, ever seen the brown gunk on a fluid media filter? the same thing, but people think it is bad in a UFG.

 

[Colin_T]

If you use a gravel cleaner each week to clean the substrate, and don't overfeed the fish, then you can feed any type of fish food and not have to worry about it clogging up the filter.

The only reason an undergravel filter will have issues is if the gravel isn't cleaned regularly, or there are objects covering large sections of gravel, or there is not enough gravel covering the filter plates.

If you don't clean a filter regularly it will block up. This applies to undergravel, box, sponge or power filters. They should all be done at least once a month so they work more efficiently.