plants and UGFs?

NewObsession

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Aug 27, 2007
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Can a tank with a UGF be planted? or does the UGF have to come out?
 
It can, but you risk the roots getting tangled in the plastic plate. It could clog it and ruin your filtration.
 
true, but if it is a secondary filter..(have a HOB filter running as well)
 
I've never tried it but I would think that plants should do well in a setup like that, especially when the roots get under the plating and are basically resting in mulm.
 
Works fine in my 4 planted RUGF tanks. Yes, the roots of deeply rooting plants can get into the filter plate, but so what? I don't see why this is a big deal... So far, I've seen no damage, only a few tangled roots. I'd recommend 2" + of gravel over the RUGF plates.
 
I've never tried it but I would think that plants should do well in a setup like that, especially when the roots get under the plating and are basically resting in mulm.

Yep and they will grow there in a couple of weeks.

Roots systems on my sword plants are 6" plus in length and having as many as 50 root stems spread out under the filter. I dont care about that cause I dont move my plants. I have like 3" of gravel and am really happy they are there to absorb all the nitrogen and bad stuff down below. I think many plants are necessary for a successful UGF system.
 
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