Aquarium Filters. Everything you need to know

Fishkeeper71 said:
The tried a true UG, there's a lot of love hate relationships with these filters and it is the filter a lot of people started with, at least before the other styles became cheap enough to compete.

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This filter consists of 1 or more "plates" that are placed obviously underneath the gravel. 1 or more lift tubes can be attached and then usually connected to an air pump. The airlines create a bubbling effect <more if an air stone is in the tube> drawing water through the gravel bed and into the uplift tubes back into the aquarium. Some people will attach power heads to these tubes making this filter much more efficient.

Reverse Flow Undergravel:
You can also install power heads that will pump the water from the tank down the tubes and up though the gravel bed from underneath. This known as a Reverse Undergravel or Reverse flow UG. Most advanced Aquarists prefer this setup as efficiency in increased vastly and the prefilter sponge on the power head keeps the plates underneath clean and debris free, This is the method I would recommend if someone wanted to go with the UG filter.

Your Gravel bed will act as mechanical and biological filtration as the beneficial bacteria colony will setup home in the gravel bed and under the filter plate as well. Debris and detritus will be pulled down into the gravel bed where it gets broken down.

The filters are extremely efficient and very inexpensive, and if a few basic chores are kept up these filters will last a very long time, however they do suffer some drawbacks. These filters require meticulous cleaning of the gravel bed surface and herein lies their biggest drawback...If you clean the bed you must be extremely careful not do go to deep as you will vacuum up all your Biological bacteria and force a recycle. You must gently disturb the gravel bed and get what comes loose and leave it at that.

These filters have a nasty tendency to get overloaded quickly usually as a result of a recent gravel cleaning. However once established and going the load these filters can handle is quite remarkable being so simple in design.

Keeping live plants in a Tank with an Undergravel is difficult <impossible with some species> and depends on the kinds of plants you wish to have. Other than potting them I wouldn't recommend this style filter if you plan on having a fully planted tank.

Hope I didn't miss anything if so put it up here.
Click to expand...

Not true at all...bacteria are attached to surfaces....even the most robust gravel vac will not remove them.
 
Fishkeeper71 said:
The tried a true UG, there's a lot of love hate relationships with these filters and it is the filter a lot of people started with, at least before the other styles became cheap enough to compete.

.View attachment 181506

This filter consists of 1 or more "plates" that are placed obviously underneath the gravel. 1 or more lift tubes can be attached and then usually connected to an air pump. The airlines create a bubbling effect <more if an air stone is in the tube> drawing water through the gravel bed and into the uplift tubes back into the aquarium. Some people will attach power heads to these tubes making this filter much more efficient.

Reverse Flow Undergravel:
You can also install power heads that will pump the water from the tank down the tubes and up though the gravel bed from underneath. This known as a Reverse Undergravel or Reverse flow UG. Most advanced Aquarists prefer this setup as efficiency in increased vastly and the prefilter sponge on the power head keeps the plates underneath clean and debris free, This is the method I would recommend if someone wanted to go with the UG filter.

Your Gravel bed will act as mechanical and biological filtration as the beneficial bacteria colony will setup home in the gravel bed and under the filter plate as well. Debris and detritus will be pulled down into the gravel bed where it gets broken down.

The filters are extremely efficient and very inexpensive, and if a few basic chores are kept up these filters will last a very long time, however they do suffer some drawbacks. These filters require meticulous cleaning of the gravel bed surface and herein lies their biggest drawback...If you clean the bed you must be extremely careful not do go to deep as you will vacuum up all your Biological bacteria and force a recycle. You must gently disturb the gravel bed and get what comes loose and leave it at that.

These filters have a nasty tendency to get overloaded quickly usually as a result of a recent gravel cleaning. However once established and going the load these filters can handle is quite remarkable being so simple in design.

Keeping live plants in a Tank with an Undergravel is difficult <impossible with some species> and depends on the kinds of plants you wish to have. Other than potting them I wouldn't recommend this style filter if you plan on having a fully planted tank.

Hope I didn't miss anything if so put it up here.
Click to expand...
You can increase the effectiveness of both filters if you hook a canister or a hob into your ugf. Get a piece of lift tube long enough to break the surface of the water and insert the intake siphon of a hob into it. Or direct the output of a canister down the lift tube to get reverse flow.
 
Quite correct you are I totally wrote that down all wrong now that I'm awake and looking at it lol. You won't pull out your colony as I wrote hehe What I was meaning to say and had total brainfart in writing it was: Be certain that when cleaning the gravel that you do not move the gravel off the plates and leave the plates exposed it severely hampers filter operation and will cause problems. Do not know what I was getting at with the forced recycle comment, I swear I don't remember typing it that way but there it is lol.

P.S. okay now I remember. I was having a discussion via chat with another person just before I wrote this and I made a note on Gravel, fertilizer layering for live plants and told him don't vacuum to deep as you'll remove your fertilizer up the tube. Wow I should had some more coffee before that article lol. Thanks for the catch Rbishop.
 
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"You can increase the effectiveness of both filters if you hook a canister or a hob into your ugf. Get a piece of lift tube long enough to break the surface of the water and insert the intake siphon of a hob into it. Or direct the output of a canister down the lift tube to get reverse flow." -SubRosa


Now this is just pure Genius. Used Power heads on UG's never even thought to hook up a HoB to one. Aside from the fact with a UG you very limited in live plants, that would make a pretty effective setup especially if it's one of those Floss/Carbon insert only cheap HoB's. The canister method sounds good but I would wager that would be overkill in most situations.

Have you ever done this? or just a moment of genius thought? Just curious hehehe
 
I've known a few people who have done the UG into the HOB. From what I've seen, it works incredibly well. Most of my tanks are planted or have heavy rock in them though, so I've never had the chance to try it myself.
 
Fishkeeper71 said:
"You can increase the effectiveness of both filters if you hook a canister or a hob into your ugf. Get a piece of lift tube long enough to break the surface of the water and insert the intake siphon of a hob into it. Or direct the output of a canister down the lift tube to get reverse flow." -SubRosa


Now this is just pure Genius. Used Power heads on UG's never even thought to hook up a HoB to one. Aside from the fact with a UG you very limited in live plants, that would make a pretty effective setup especially if it's one of those Floss/Carbon insert only cheap HoB's. The canister method sounds good but I would wager that would be overkill in most situations.

Have you ever done this? or just a moment of genius thought? Just curious hehehe[/QUOTE
Once I figured it out it's the only way I ever ran a ug.
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is it possible to have a HOB filter too SMALL for your tank? currently I have a AC30 on my BB 55 gal which has 4 comets and 8 pink convicts. The question I have is, would the lack of GPH filtered be more of a problem or the lack of media for bacteria to grow on more of a problem? if it is the latter can't I just toss in another sponge or two?
 
A little help please...

I have a question about a Whisper 30/60 HOB filter. I just got back into aquariums with a 29G tank I got used with a complete set-up including a cabinet stand. It came with a Whisper 30/60 HOB filter. Now these "bio" filters are new to me and this one didn't have a manual. What I would like to know is if I slow down the water flow of the filter, does that in any way affect the amount of "good" bacteria that "lives" in the filter? Also, I take it, that the "brown stuff" on the sponge like material in the filter is the "bio" part that has the living bacteria? So would I be wrong to guess that the more "brown stuff" on these sponges, the better it is?
Thanks for any help.
Ghpr1957:confused:
 
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