powerheads as filters/circulators

[fish_gal77]

I have two penguin power filters that came with my my aquarium but I decided not to use the UGF. A friend of mine suggested using them as mini filters/circulators but I'm not quite sure how to do that. I know I would get some sponge and put it on the intake of the powerhead but how would I mount them? They are designed to just sit on the uplift tubes and I just can't picture where they might 'reside' in the tank...

 

[Dunluce2]

Why wouldn't you use the underground filter? What alternative are you using? I initially used an ugf with airstones for a long time and now use an ugf with powerheads in both my tanks. I swear by them. My tanks havent been clearer. I had to reduce the flow a bit to stop the turbulance. some fish dont like it rough and fast. if you did want to rig up some sort of mini filter you could use a block of foam and use the uppipes from the unused ugf. cut a hole in the foam and jam the pipe in. give it a try . just dont use cleaning sponge for dishes or such as the often contain detergents and surfactants. bad for fish get something from petstore

 

[mysis]

I disagree with Dunluce2 i personally hate ugf, there old technology and pretty dodgey. No offence Dunluce2, i think that if you rig up a sponge inside your powerhead you will have no problems with water quality, i can show you a picture of a 10gal which i am using a powerhead/internal cannisterfilter. I say if your looking for a low cost filter you can't go past these.
:dance:

 

[Pretender]

You can get the reverse flow kit for the Penguins and add a UGF in addition to your other filters. The reverse flow kit adds a sponge filter for the intake. In reverse flow mode, the gravel bed doesn't collect the waste like a traditional forward-flow UGF, so I don't see any harm in doing that. You can put your extra pumps to work doing a little more filtering and water movement.

 

[TKOS]

Yes, I would start a new thread asking about RUGF. RTR using them on most of his tanks and seems to swear by them. And having seen pics of his tanks I would say he is doing something right. UGF filters work fine and like all filters just need to be maintained. Their problem is just that if left uncleaned for too long they clog up and make a mess.

Otherwise placing some foam over the intake of the powerhead will filter as well, but still needs to be cleaned. Just buy some aquaclear foam inserts and make a slit in them so they can go over the intake.

 

[fish_gal77]

Wow! I didn't expect quite so many responses so quickly. I have gone back and forth about the UGF but decided against it because I am planning on planting the tank. I did look into RFUG but wasn't sure if that would be great for the plants either. I know some people use them with plants and have no difficulty but I just decided to go with a HOB filter and circulate the water.

The tank came with a Penguin 170 filter but I just bought a new Emperor 280 instead. Figured I'd like to start with a brand new filter rather than fuss around finding parts for the old one.

I still need to figure out how/where to mount the power heads in order to use them purely for mechanical filtration (with an AC sponge) and circulation. It's a deep (24") pentagon shaped tank so I figure I should be circulating the water in order for the Emperor to grab more gunk.

 

[mysis]

That sounds like the best idea so far lol. Hope you can decide where to put your powerheaad, post some pics on this thread of the tank when you set it up.