How does an undergravel filter work???

Joele - even the alternate area vacuuming is not required. If the filter is well maintained and not loaded with mulm, all of the beneficial bacteria will be substrate attached and will not be pulled off by vacuuming. If they could be pulled off easily, fluidized bed filters which are essentially vacuumed 24/7/365 would not work, and they do work.
 
RTR said:
Joele - even the alternate area vacuuming is not required. If the filter is well maintained and not loaded with mulm, all of the beneficial bacteria will be substrate attached and will not be pulled off by vacuuming. If they could be pulled off easily, fluidized bed filters which are essentially vacuumed 24/7/365 would not work, and they do work.
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Ohh well I doubt it hurt ;-) but what you say makes sense, thanks for the tip...
 
an air-driven rugf?

I only have a 10 gallon tank and am rather knew to this.......so sorry if this is a stupid question......i'd just appreciate some help. I have a ugf and an air-pump, now from what i have read a rugf is much better and i was wondering if i could convert my rugf with just my air-pump, or would i need to get the power-heads?
 
You need to use powerheads to go reverse flow--with just air, there's no way to force the water the other direction.
 
Excellant info you guys, I have used UGF's from day one and have always had excellant results with them. I do use other types of filters on some of my other tanks, but the ugf has to be my fave.

daveedka said:
Too little information too late I am sure, but next time insert a 1/4" (or bigger if it fits) airline through the riser tube hole and then vaccum under the plates with that. once the majority of the gunk is out, you can influence flow by making thin spots in the substrate (temporarily of course) this will move the mulm around and allow it to flush out.Dave
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Like Dave said, there are ways to manipulate the debris under the filter, to make it easier to vacuum it all out.

Great tip there!!!
 
HOB Placement

I have both UGF and an Emperor 400 HOB on my 55g.

When converting to RUGF, should the intake of the HOB be moved further up, or left at the bottom (1-2 inches above the substrate)?

I'm wondering if the reverse flow will suspend debris higher up in the tank, in which case it would make more sense for the intake to be at the mid-water level rather then the bottom to be most efficient at mechanical filtration.

TIA!!
 
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but a power head is pretty useful. my yoyo,and dogo loach love to swim aginst the stream, and for some fish like glass catfish, a strong stream is required
 
Thanks for all of the good UGF info folks. I have always used them. My brother was a marine biologist and used them, and taught me to use them as a little girl. I never gave it a second thought until I read here or somewhere that it was antiquated technology. Unfortunately, my big brother is no longer with me to ask. Anyhow, I have dabbled with HOB filters since, but I still think my undergravels are wonderful, they've never failed me. So thanks.
Take care,
Mary.
 
Many folks have been damaged by UG filtration because they were not taught how to maintain them. An ignored UG is a time bomb. But so can an ignored HOB or canister filter be such, or simply under-maintained substrate can do the same. All tank components require care - if properly handled, all formats of filtration can do the job. Improperly handled, all can be major problems.

I love the folks who claim that UG is antiquted tech - Canisters, power filters, and UG all came in about the same time (I was in the hobby already then). Wet/Dry filters popularity came later, fluidized beds later still. All the first three were based on changes in the pumps available to the hobbyist. All have developed technically. UG has been the most misused and misunderstood, and unfortunately it still is.
 
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