10g and undergravel filters?
- Thread starter Tekhna
- Start date
I personally am not a fan of air pumps at all and would reccomend a small powerhead instead. If you do go with air, I'd use two uplift tubes rather than one.
Dave
Dave
the problem with using one pump with dual output is that that air will use the easiest path to run, so one air tube will have most of the air and the other will get hardly any. They sell little inline air flow regulators for like 75 cents, but they (definatly in my experience) dont always work. The only way i have successfully used a dual output pump and had equal air flow was by crimping one of the tubes and rubberbanding it that way (and figuring out exaclty how much it needed crimped took a while). If you want to use just one pump i'd buy a single output pump and one of those (intended to hang on the tank) splitter, their valves work very well at regulating flow.
ryan
edit: powerhead do do the same thing as the bubbles do, but with exponentially better efficiency. more oxygen gets to the bacteria (and decaying detris) this way, which is better filtration. The ultimate upgrade however would be RFUGF theres a link to a site about it that gets traded around here, i'll try to find it. its essentially forcing the water the other way (down the tube and up through the gravel. this is prefered because instead of sucking detris down into the bed it keeps it in the water collom (geez, how do you spell that word?
) to be sucked up by a complimentary filter OR (and most likely) caught in the sponge of the powerhead running the RFUGF.
In my experience though 10 gallons are easy enough to gravel-vac that a regular UGF is fine.
ryan
edit: powerhead do do the same thing as the bubbles do, but with exponentially better efficiency. more oxygen gets to the bacteria (and decaying detris) this way, which is better filtration. The ultimate upgrade however would be RFUGF theres a link to a site about it that gets traded around here, i'll try to find it. its essentially forcing the water the other way (down the tube and up through the gravel. this is prefered because instead of sucking detris down into the bed it keeps it in the water collom (geez, how do you spell that word?
) to be sucked up by a complimentary filter OR (and most likely) caught in the sponge of the powerhead running the RFUGF. In my experience though 10 gallons are easy enough to gravel-vac that a regular UGF is fine.
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sorry i edited my reply before i saw your post, so i anwsered some of your q's up there. If it were me i'd use the powerhead. but im an avid over-filtrater (if there is such a thing). a small one will work, and in my opinion one is enough for a ten gallon (you wouldnt need dual ones i dont think).
BUT with good air flow from the pump bubble run will work just fine.
Either way, gravel vac often, thats the key to any healthy UGF.
ryan
BUT with good air flow from the pump bubble run will work just fine.
Either way, gravel vac often, thats the key to any healthy UGF.
ryan