Do you use an undergravel in your shrimp tank?

mellowvision

mellowvision

Seafood Lover
May 17, 2007
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Brooklyn NY
www.mellowvision.com
Real Name
Bill Brissette
I've never used an undergravel filter, but have one that fits a small tank I've been looking to redo. I've been interested in trying it out, but thought I'd get see how it has worked out for others here on AC.

The tank in question is a very small tank, a column that is about 4 gallons. The footprint is around 8" square. I currently use a tiny tom micro filter but it's not incredibly effective, and is no more or less beautiful than a clear UGF up tube. I've often thought the tank would benefit from additional o2 as well.

I'm also curious to hear if anyone is using anything similar to the Fluval/ADA soil with an UGF, as I have some I was also considering, before I started thinking UGF. I'd imagine it would break down over a year or so, but I'd probably redo the tank by then anyway.
 
UG filter plates with standard filter intake pulling water from the lift tube work quite well for shrimp. The shrimp are protected from the intake by the gravel and the gravel becomes a huge bio filter. On 10g tanks, I use airline tubing to seal the gap between the filter intake and the 1" lift tube.
 
the top of this tank requires that any filtration be in the tank. I decided on the fly to just give it a go, since I was already to start, and I chose to use peagravel in the center of the plate, surrounded and capped with an inert clay substrate. it's just now declouding, and then I'll be adding some mosses.
 
I have used UG filtration on a 2 gallon hex, all the way up to a 10 gallon standard. I've used coarse sand as well as rough pebbles - always with air, not powerheads. I am a big fan of UGF filtration, as long as you are prepared to do a semi-annual thorough cleaning or break down within a year or so. There is just no other way to clean it, other than to drain most of the water up through the uplifts. I think it works great for shrimp, who seem happy to root about in muck ;) The best part is that it's great for places where it's hard to reach and service a filter, such as near the floor, under a bigger tank or against the wall where there is little clearance. I have a bookshelf under a window with a 2 gallon hex currently that mostly receives natural sunlight (although there is a 7 watt nightlight over it for the evening...I used an adapter to convert a standard socket to candelabra). It grows algae like a champ, and the plants are hanging on also. Not growing super fast, but obviously not dying. I hardly do anything to that tank. I seldom feed it (maybe once a week or so). All I do regularly is top off water, and I have a steady population of ramshorn and MTS (food for my assassin snails) :)
 
yeah, I'm considering it a semi temporary solution for the next few months. At some point, I think the tank is destined to be a vivarium. but for now, I used petrified rock, brown substrate and a fine bright moss that I had. Not sure where it's from, it's finer than my other java and had a ton of riccardia growing through it. I lined most of the floor with it and filled in around the bottom of the lift tube, which is buried under a good amount of gravel in the corner, with a petrified wood keeping it back. on the whole, a decent look so far. I'm going to have to let it settle for a day or so, it's pretty clay-cloudy, but it's coming along. I'm going to wait until the water is clear to add the manzanita branch back in, which has a years old, but tiny java fern growing on it.
 
I have four twenty gallon shrimp tanks with live plants and UGF. My substrate is quartz blasting sand. The grain size is about the size of the zero on my keyboard and makes an excellent substrate.

Mark
 
Mellow,

I've also had shrimp tanks with under gravel filters for over 10 years. I do however, remove the shrimp and plants about every three years or so, to do a good cleaning. To clean I take out the filter platform and half of the substrate and put them in a bucket. Next I do a through gravel vacuum. Then I put everything back. I don't know if this is absolutely necessary, but the tank hasn't ever had old tank syndrome.
 
hey everyone, thanks for all the input. I still haven't taken any shots, but the tank went together super fast and easy, and I gotta say, it was pretty refreshing dealing with something as simple as the UGF. knowing I'll break it down in a year or less, and redo it is also a good feeling. I sometimes lose sight of the fact that only the most perfectly designed and maintained systems can go multiple years without developing some problem or another, and refreshes are fun as well.

pics soon
 
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