UG filtering

C

cioutlaw

AC Members
Dec 31, 2005
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I am restarting a fish only sw 55gal tank after being down 3 years. I have been doing some research to catch me up to speed & realized my UG filter w/crushed coral is outdated. Exactly what benifits will I see by updating & would appreciate what system would be best to go with & a brief description of how it works. My tank is veiwed front & back so I would like to have nothing large that hangs on the side(but wouldnt completly rule it out) I have 2 power heads, a biowheel power filter(which i dont use all the time, only to clear water with carbon or to filter solids while vacuuming the crushed coral) & a protein skimmer already. Im 3 weeks into my cycle process but would consider starting over unless there is a way to transfer.
Thank you
 
Try google searchs for the Berlin style filtration, all it uses is live rock 2lb per gallon and a protien skimmer, works for me, and i like the fact that its a more natural way of filtering a tank. Plus you get a great deal more biodiversity with all the little critters that come on the rocks

for mechanical filtration you have your cleanup crew, crabs, snails and starfish ect
 
You say you want a fish only tank? Wet/dry filtration or some other variety of aggressive bio filtration in combination with your skimming would work well. Keep up on water changes. I tried to embrace the undergravel filter years ago after shunning it during its heyday, it just didn't work for me.
 
I have had some luck with the UG years ago but always kept somewhat hardy fish. Im just thinking if Im going to switch now is the time. I assume you cannot adda sump sytem later without tearing down & starting from scratch? With a wet/dry sump what happens when you lose siphon or pump goes down? I assume when a pump shuts off & the tank doesnt get return water you lose siphon..when the pump restarts & you no longer have siphon do you overflow the tank? What type of maintenance is involved with a sump system?

The local store pushes Eheim products what do you think of the Eheim 2227 WET/DRY canister? 1 plus would be replacement parts in town.
 
What types of fish are you planning to keep?
 
FloridaBoy said:
What types of fish are you planning to keep?
Click to expand...

have planned a pair of clowns, royal gramma & maybe a dwarf angel
 
for fish only a cannister is fine, as i am successful in keeping my nitrates down to around 1-2 ppm, and fish can easily survive 20-30 ppm of nitrates. other things you may consider are skimmers, or sump with wet/dry filter. also you probably know Live rock ans live sand is the best biological filtration you can get, so, you should get 1/3 of the tank as LR, and seed your sand bed with LS. Less than a weeks worth of Skimmate from Deltec Ap600 skimmer.

skimmate.jpg
 
For that use, the undergravel and regular of water changes will work. Sure, it's old school but the cannister and wet dry solutions are also outdated by some standards. Fact is, there are many filters which can/will work... I think what you need to do is decide on a system style. Are you going to be happy with fish only, or will you maybe one day want a bubble tip anemone for those clowns? If you wanted a more natural system using live rock and inverts then you would look to the publshed work by Paletta and follow a different model. However this would require more research and equipment, lighting, expense for live rock, calcium dosing etc... it's a bit more involved. At any rate my friend, no matter what you do, the one piece of equipment I would add is a good skimmer... out of all the popular boxed filters on the market it is the only one that will actually export nutrients and dissolved organics for you... something an undergravel or cannister will not do.
 
Well said, but note it is good to have a place such as a sump etc, where bacteria can form (aerobic and anerobic) both which will remove nitrates from the water. it is also useful in having a refugium, incase any animals become injured and a place to put algaes in which will widthdraw nutrients from the water eg, phosphate, nitrate and removing them ives you a balanced system, but skimmer is probably the most important, unless you are willing to do bigger water changes.
 
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