Nutritious substrate for under gravel filter?

[Essjay]

the ph is the ammonia levels right?

No it's not; pH is a measure of the acidity of the water, not the amount of ammonia.
Hardness is the amount of calcium in the water.

We always ask for the hardness as soft water fish shouldn't be kept in hard water and hard water fish should not be kept in soft water. We need to match the type of fish to our hardness.
If you're using coral gravel, that will increase the hardness of the tank water because coral is calcium carbonate. When you take it out, the hardness of the tank water will change.

Ammonia between 0-5mg/l

Ammonia should always be zero as it harms the fish.

 

[StevenF]

The is nothing wrong with using coral in a fresh water tank. It is mainly calcium and magnesium carbonate which will dissolve in acidic water. So it can increase your water hardness. How much will depend on your tap water. It may or may not be a significant change in GH. Also note plants and animals need calcium and magnesium.

The coral also has a buffering affect on your PH. Meaning it will help stabilize the PH and prevent you water from getting overly acidic. That is also a good thing but again the PH it will stabilize at will depend on your tap water. My guess sit is going to be about 7 to 7.5.

With an under gravel substrate you can get good plant growth with an inert substrate. The plants will get the nutrients they need from the water circulating through the gravel / coral. This however means you need a good fertilizer that supplies all 14 nutrients plants need. Unfortunately most fertilizers assume your tap water will supply some of the nutrients plants need. Since you live on a island your water is likely a mix of rain water and RO so I would guess your tap water won't supply much in the way of nutrients.

 

[Chen jing kai]

No it's not; pH is a measure of the acidity of the water, not the amount of ammonia.
Hardness is the amount of calcium in the water.

We always ask for the hardness as soft water fish shouldn't be kept in hard water and hard water fish should not be kept in soft water. We need to match the type of fish to our hardness.
If you're using coral gravel, that will increase the hardness of the tank water because coral is calcium carbonate. When you take it out, the hardness of the tank water will change.



Ammonia should always be zero as it harms the fish.

Ok thank you

 

[Fishiemang]

For what it is worth.....

I currently run an UGF in my 30 gallon. I have pea sized gravel in there for substrate, sitting directly on the filter. 30 pounds of it. I also have this tank moderately planted. Well, it was very fully planted at one point, but, now just maybe 50%. You can see the roots in the UGF from under the tank. They are....prolific....haha.

You can plant a tank using a UGF. I read lots of people saying you can't before I said "I believe in at least 5 impossible things before breakfast" and did it anyways. Worked out.

I will tell you, sand, clay or any other fine grain substrate will not be a good plan. I have not tried placing a plant mat under anything.on top of a.UGF, but I suspect that would get clogged up pretty fast and defeat the purpose.

If you do what I did, it will work out.

To note, just because I like overkill sometimes, about a year ago I added a Penguin Emperor 400 to the back of this tank as well, and only use 1 uptake tube with 1 power head. The UGF for the superior bacterial filtration, and the Emperor 400 just as a good measure to mechanically keep the water free of detritus. It's actually crazy overkill for that tank, but, works great.

 

[Chen jing kai]

For what it is worth.....

I currently run an UGF in my 30 gallon. I have pea sized gravel in there for substrate, sitting directly on the filter. 30 pounds of it. I also have this tank moderately planted. Well, it was very fully planted at one point, but, now just maybe 50%. You can see the roots in the UGF from under the tank. They are....prolific....haha.

You can plant a tank using a UGF. I read lots of people saying you can't before I said "I believe in at least 5 impossible things before breakfast" and did it anyways. Worked out.

I will tell you, sand, clay or any other fine grain substrate will not be a good plan. I have not tried placing a plant mat under anything.on top of a.UGF, but I suspect that would get clogged up pretty fast and defeat the purpose.

If you do what I did, it will work out.

To note, just because I like overkill sometimes, about a year ago I added a Penguin Emperor 400 to the back of this tank as well, and only use 1 uptake tube with 1 power head. The UGF for the superior bacterial filtration, and the Emperor 400 just as a good measure to mechanically keep the water free of detritus. It's actually crazy overkill for that tank, but, works great.

Oh wow so many filters lol. But I want to try grass carpeting. Would I still need to put root tabs? Thank you

 

[Fishiemang]

I don't have any grass in that tank, but, I don't see why not, as long as you don't have anything that will dig it up. You can plant it directly in the gravel and.let it fly, and it will.carpet the tank in a.couple.months.

Keep in mind, however, the more stuff you place over that UGF, the more likely you are to have it hang on to old food and cause ammonia spikes. Make sure you have critters in there that will.go.around and.clean up in the grass or you will run into issues.

 

[itiwhetu]

I had a grass carpet growing in my peat based tank it works fine. I had a DIY under gravel filter that was made out of 1" pvc pipe and run off an air stone. I have suggested on here that type of filter most probably would work with sand as well. It is what I call a passive filter so it is only moving small quantities of water.

 

[Chen jing kai]

I had a grass carpet growing in my peat based tank it works fine. I had a DIY under gravel filter that was made out of 1" pvc pipe and run off an air stone. I have suggested on here that type of filter most probably would work with sand as well. It is what I call a passive filter so it is only moving small quantities of water.

So I might not need to switch out my filter?

 

[Chen jing kai]

I don't have any grass in that tank, but, I don't see why not, as long as you don't have anything that will dig it up. You can plant it directly in the gravel and.let it fly, and it will.carpet the tank in a.couple.months.

Keep in mind, however, the more stuff you place over that UGF, the more likely you are to have it hang on to old food and cause ammonia spikes. Make sure you have critters in there that will.go.around and.clean up in the grass or you will run into issues.

Oh ok so I should just change my substrate?

 

[itiwhetu]

So I might not need to switch out my filter?

It depends on the type of UGF you have

 

[Chen jing kai]

It depends on the type of UGF you have

This is the brand.

 

[itiwhetu]

View attachment 123005This is the brand.

Check out pvc pipe under gravel filters, that is the type I use

 

[Chen jing kai]

Check out pvc pipe under gravel filters, that is the type I use

Oh ok thanks. But if I use like other types of nutritious substrate it won’t fall through the cracks of the filter right

 

[Chen jing kai]

Oh wait I just found out pvc pipe ugf are just pipes

 

[itiwhetu]

Oh ok thanks. But if I use like other types of nutritious substrate it won’t fall through the cracks of the filter right

It will depend on how fine it is