Personally, I like UGF's because they prevent gas bubbles from forming in the gravel bed. I use either hob's or powerheads to run my UGF's, the ones run by powerheads are rigged for reverse-flow. If you use a good-size hob to run the plate/s debris doesn't accumulate under them, but ends up in the hob media. Otherwise, prefiltered reverse-flow setup prevents much of anything from getting under the plate/s to begin with, and the gravel bed doesn't accumulate debris either. Whatever the prefilters don't catch usually ends up in the canister. Cichlids digging up the gravel? I cut bulk pond filter media to the same size as the inside of the tank, and place it between the filter plate/s and gravel bed. Less gravel, literally miles more surface area for bacteria to colonize, and I haven't seen a fish yet that could dig through the filter media. Not sure if it's the texture or just tastes nasty :silly:, but they leave it alone.
