Undergravel Filters

B

bozco

AC Members
Dec 4, 2003
215
0
0
Canada
Visit site
Ok heres my story. I bought a starter kit when I got my first aquarium. It came with an air pump and a UGF for the 10gal aquarium. The pump broke down after three months and the stacks never really gave off very many bubbles in the first place. They do a little better now that I got a proper pump (but I'm still cranky about having to replace it) but I've noticed that its is a very tempermental systems, such as when I change the water the air output becomes very low for a fews days, is fine for about three days then I have to clean the tank again :mad: The cycle starts all over. Has anyone else ever had this problem?

I did actually buy another undergravel filter system for my 5gal, because it was on sale for $4.00 and I was kind of broke, that and the 5gal, which I got for $10.00 at a used goods store came with an airpump anyways. This is a Clearflow UGF and I have had no problems with this one at all. Its perfect for my frog tank because the little guys can't swim up any intakes. So I don't understand. Other than the fact that they are dirt cheap though I don't think I'd recommend them. I have to sleep with earplugs in because those two pumps are so dang noisy.

Why do you suppose one of my UGFs is so crumby and the other works just fine? The first one isn't clearflow by the way but is the same basic system. Also does anyone have any cheap alternatives to the UGF for my 10gal? And let me know if you're giving prices in American or Canadian currency please.

Thanks a bunch folks!
 
noone really recommends undergravel. you can use a powerhead to power the filter they are stronger, if the airpump dosn't make much bubbles you might have to change the air stone.
 
IMO, if you are going to opt to use an ungderground filter, in should in no way be your only source in filtering your tank. I believe if you are going to use it, as some people do, it should be your secondary source.
 
If you want something else for taht 10 gallon I would highly suggest picking up a simple AC Mini or a Whisper 5-15. I have both and they work great and filter the water. Neither of mine are very expensive or loud.

While I have never used a UGF, from all that I have read they seem more of a bother than they are worth.
 
I hardly dare to wade in on this one, because I'm about to pull the UG filter from my 125 marine. That being said, let me tell you about a setup I've had some success with in a turtle tank.

The turtle is a softshell and spends 95% of his (her?) time dug in for security. To accomodate this behavior, the tank is a 10 gal with 8-10 inches of fine gravel. I was worried about the deeper parts going toxic, so I layed it down on an Undertow model UG filter. I then stuck the intake siphon of a Whisper 1 down the stack, filled the thing with water and let 'er rip. This produced surprisingly good flow through so much gravel. Enough so that small grains of sand made it to the impeller. A little (cotton ball sized) wad of filter floss in the stack prevented damage to the magnetic inductor until the grit settled down. Now my turtle enjoys the best of both HOB (I think this means Hang On the Back) and UG filtration.

The small Penguin (160, I think) HOB also has the intake siphon in the right place for an Undertow 10gal size.

Good luck with your filtration :)

By the way...

For a noisy air pump, try this:

Put the pump in a small cardboard box (shoebox is perfect), poke holes in the ends for the electrical cord and airline, wrap the whole assembly in a towel :cool:
 
undergravel is the bees knees for biological filtration, especially in tanks with deep gravel beds, or when you have no money, but thats where it comes to an end. the old bastion of fishkeeping is slowly being replaced by powerfilters (but no-one bothers to update the books, so people still want to buy UG's, and refuse to acknowledge any other filter type)
 
Originally posted by Dangerdoll
IMO, if you are going to opt to use an ungderground filter, in should in no way be your only source in filtering your tank. I believe if you are going to use it, as some people do, it should be your secondary source.
Click to expand...

Ditto.

I like the UGF, but only as a secondary source and only for biological reasons (of course I do run bio-wheels on both my power filters, so I guess it's less than a secondary system on my tank).

I just like being able to use air stones vs. air stone bars and a power head connected to it, rather than free floating or whatever the term is...

The pain is, you HAVE to clean them. Frequently.
 
thats what i hate about UG's, the cleaning. 99% of our stock tanks at work have them (they're cheaper than buying a whole set of internal filters or setting up centralised systems), and it's a complete pain to get in there and sort them out properly...
 
http://www.aaquaria.com/aquasource/rtrrfug.shtml

UG/RFUG are undoubtedly the most abused filter opion around, but are remarkably easy and effective units IF the tank keeper 1) knows what they should do and 2) actually maintains the unit.

So, "no one" recommends under gravel? Well, perhaps I should change my name to 'No One", as I certainly do, but only to folks whom I know will and can maintain them properly - which is required of any filtration device.

BTW, in the years since that article was written, I have added RFUG planted tanks (after Tom Barr's reports on doing them) and found that they work fine as well.
 
I clean the UGF every other time I clean the tank (which is usually every weekend) and I change the airstone about once a month, clena the old one and let it dry out before I put it in the next time, that way I use two sets of airstones. The thing is I have no problem with the UGF on my 5gal and I think for such an underpopulated environment such as my 5gal it is fine for filtration.

I'm just fed up with the problems in my 10gal filter. I got the starter kit from Petcetera and I think maybe that the UGF system was crud when I bought it because the much cleaper clearflow is wonderful. That and other reasons having to do with my tank supplies is why I don't buy from that store anymore.

Thanks for the alternative filter suggestions, that article (RTR), and the box and towel idea (DEmigh) I already have both pumps sitting on some bandanas to dampen the vibrations between them and the cabinet tops.

I'll probably go to the fish shop to pick out my Christmas persent this weekend and I'll check the prices on those filters, thanks folks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom