Undergravel Filter Yes Or No?

[denzil1nil]

just purchased a 4ft tank and ive never used an undergravel in any of my setups are there any advantages/dissadvantages??? tank will be set up with live plants.

 

[Man of fish]

No. That's all that needs to be said

 

[denzil1nil]

sound thankyou

 

[onidrase]

Advantages: ---

Disadvantages:

High maintenance
dirty
unnecessary
may cause fish to get infections
if you pull it out if it breaks down or take it out in the process of moving or something, it'll make your water so dirty, you could cut slices out of it with a knife
you'll still need to clean the gravel even with the UG filter
noisy
intrusive

Did I miss anything?

Basically, what man of fish said

 

[Cazgar]

There are lots of very good internal filters now that are so much easier to maintain, & do the job so much better
I'd definitely say no to an under gravel one

 

[Fishy friend2]

the only advantage is that its not as noticeable compared to internal filters

 

[denzil1nil]

thanks like i say ive never used them before but then again ive never set up for real plants but i bought this 4ft fluval today and want to make sure i get it right first time so im not mucking around in the water once the fish are in.

 

[denzil1nil]

will be using an external filter anyway so no advantages with undergravel i guess lol

 

[Jammiedodger]

My opinion... External all the way

 

[Cazgar]

Ash I didn't read the op properly.
In a tank that size, external is the way to go.
I'll be looking at an external for my 130 litre when it arrives

 

[Man of fish]

I would be getting an external but mire than I can afford right now so I'm getting a penguin 350 instead.

 

[denzil1nil]

im lucky just bought this tank with everything included to set up its a fluval 240 i think cabinet and unopend conditioners,food and bacteria mint condition £130

 

[BigbruiserAl]

UGF are very good they have served the hobby more years then some of members have been alive. You would need to know how to look after them for example gravel vac every day is not good, the reason they are not mainstream any more is we have better(better flow rates,better filtration etc etc) does not make the bad.

 

[fluttermoth]

Advantages: ---

Disadvantages:

High maintenance
dirty
unnecessary
may cause fish to get infections
if you pull it out if it breaks down or take it out in the process of moving or something, it'll make your water so dirty, you could cut slices out of it with a knife
you'll still need to clean the gravel even with the UG filter
noisy
intrusive

Did I miss anything?

Yes, you forgot;
Can't use a sand substrate, so no good for bottom dwellers like loaches or cories
plants don't grow well, as they dislike the flow over their roots

they can be very good; they have their place in fry tanks that aren't set up fo very long, as they are gentle with a large area to act as media and no chance of the fry being sucked up, and they're cheap to sert up and run, but in a general planted community, no.