Time To Show My Ignorance Here!

[Lance76]

A lot of the threads to do with UGF`s state that “dead”spots can and do happen when the substrate you use gets clumped together with waste and so “unhealthy” areas appear,
How is this different from a nonUGF tank were the whole substrate is inert and any waste that does find its way down threw the substrate starts to decompose, or is it all a matter of scale?




"EDIT" sorry mods wrong area

 

[bobf]

I think practically there is no difference - we are talking about aneorobic (sp?) bacteria here.

I guess the main reason it is cited with UGFs is that the whole filteration method is to draw the detritus down into the gravel, whereas without a UGF it is more likely to sit on top of the sand or gravel. This is why it is important to vacuum the gravel and stir the sand a little (if you don't have fish doing that anyways) to prevent build of aneorobic bacteria in a non-UGF set up.