UGF

[Starfish]

Hi guys!!!

its been a few years since i have posted here ( I used to be Orion) so its
good to see some familiar people still here!!
Anyways I have a question....

Exactly gow do undergravel filters work..Im getting one soon for my 200L
tank but have been told many different stories about how they work!!!

I Have 10 fish now (am getting a 500L tank soon!) and they are doing
fabulous!! Since they are in my room (i cant be without them!!!) they keep
waking me up by spitting gravel at the lid!!!..it works!!! :-) One day i
will post a picture of my little "munchkins"

*Starfish*

[[email protected]]

air pump or power head in corner "lightens" water which creates mild vacuum under the
UGF which pulls water down thru the gravel. gravel is the media. gravel is a good
biomedia. that being said:
Gravel is not recommended for keeping goldfish.
1. Gravel is the leading cause of sudden death when gravel gets stuck in their
throat.
2. Food drifts down into gravel and rots. Goldfish will sift and work thru the
gravel looking for food. Rotting food is toxic for goldfish.
3. Gravel creates "dead" spots where anaerobic bacteria thrive and secrete toxic
gases.
4. Organic compounds contribute to the waste in the tank, driving up nitrate levels.
High organic loads in gravel can easily equal the waste output of an extra fish for
two which drastically lowers the "carrying capacity" of the tank (1 gf per 10
gallons).
5. Organic compounds are acidic and can lower the pH to the point that it kills off
the biobugs. The nitrite converting bacteria are the first to die, which causes a
nitrous acid spike. This will cause a sudden crash that kills the entire biofilter.
Unlike cycling, where the keeper knows and is checking for wastes and changing water,
sudden crashes are not detected until the fish are showing severe symptoms.
6. It is more work to clean gravel and do water changes. Any gravel or rocks on the
bottom require a bell of some kinds to suck up debris that gets caught under the
items. In a bare bottom tank, the circulation of the water in the tank means all the
crud and wastes are sucked out by the filter intake. There is no siphoning required.
7. Fish can be sucked up into a siphon bell and be maimed or killed every time the
gravel is cleaned. When there is no gravel to clean, a nylon sockie can be put over
the siphon and even fry wont get sucked out with the waste water.

INgrid



"Starfish" > wrote:
>Exactly gow do undergravel filters work.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
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Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
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[Tom L. La Bron]

Starfish,

What Ingrid said in the first paragraph of her response
is what happens.

The rest is of what she said is horse crap. I have had
fish for 45 years and have yet had a fish in distress
because of the gravel. I have used UGF's on goldfish
tanks and have had them set up for a record 12 years in
a row and have never had any of the problems that she
mentions. Over years I have added a small powerfilter
to run on tanks with UGF's, but that is only in the
last 6 years.

If you over stock your tanks and overfeed your fish you
will have problems, but those problems would exist
whether you had an UGF or a large powerfilter hanging
on the back of your tank.

That all being said, if you are setting up a tank with
an UGF the sand depth over the plates should be at
least an inch and a half in depth or 2 inches. Most
people run too little gravel over the plates.

If your practice good goldfish husbandry an UGF will
work just fine.

Tom L.L.
--------------------------------------
Starfish wrote:
> Hi guys!!!
>
> its been a few years since i have posted here ( I used to be Orion) so its
> good to see some familiar people still here!!
> Anyways I have a question....
>
> Exactly gow do undergravel filters work..Im getting one soon for my 200L
> tank but have been told many different stories about how they work!!!
>
> I Have 10 fish now (am getting a 500L tank soon!) and they are doing
> fabulous!! Since they are in my room (i cant be without them!!!) they keep
> waking me up by spitting gravel at the lid!!!..it works!!! :-) One day i
> will post a picture of my little "munchkins"
>
> *Starfish*
>
>

[Geezer From The Freezer]

Starfish,

Here's my input.

I have had both Gravel, sand and barebottom tanks (which I keep now).

Gravel collected a huge amount of waste everyweek - I did clean the gravel with
a vacuum religously once a week.

Sand was a nightmare and I definitely would recommend this the least of the 3
options.
It got in the filter and all over the deco and became dirty looking because if
the
fish poop. It's also a pain to get out.

Bare bottom is so easy to maintain. Hardly any vacuuming required. I use bare
bottom
with a few scattered large pebbles and some plants in pots. I would never go
back to
gravel in a goldie tank again, thats for sure.

At the end of the day though its all about what you like/want.

[Starfish]

I actually dont have gravel in my tanks, i have those glass pebbles..you
know the decorator ones...i had problems with my fish waking me up with the
gravel as they would pick up the gravel and spit it out at the lid...just to
get fed!!!!!...so those glass pebbles will wok ok with the ugf?
"Geezer From The Freezer" > wrote in message
...
> Starfish,
>
> Here's my input.
>
> I have had both Gravel, sand and barebottom tanks (which I keep now).
>
> Gravel collected a huge amount of waste everyweek - I did clean the gravel
> with
> a vacuum religously once a week.
>
> Sand was a nightmare and I definitely would recommend this the least of
> the 3
> options.
> It got in the filter and all over the deco and became dirty looking
> because if
> the
> fish poop. It's also a pain to get out.
>
> Bare bottom is so easy to maintain. Hardly any vacuuming required. I use
> bare
> bottom
> with a few scattered large pebbles and some plants in pots. I would never
> go
> back to
> gravel in a goldie tank again, thats for sure.
>
> At the end of the day though its all about what you like/want.

[so238]

Starfish wrote:
> I actually dont have gravel in my tanks, i have those glass pebbles..you
> know the decorator ones...i had problems with my fish waking me up with the
> gravel as they would pick up the gravel and spit it out at the lid...just to
> get fed!!!!!...so those glass pebbles will wok ok with the ugf?
> "Geezer From The Freezer" > wrote in message
> ...
> [snip]

The role of the gravel is to give filter bacteria a surface to live on.
The glass pebbles should do, although if they're big they don't provide
the biggest surface area. Water flows through bigger pebbles better, but
if the pebbles are much bigger than say peas, they may not have enough
surface area.

Seb

[Starfish]

The glass pebbles are about the size of a thumbnail and are smooth and
flat...I had problems trying to get my plants to stay put with these pebbles
until i designed an anchor system to hold them down...my munchkins cant
uproot them anymore....looks like i have outsmarted them again....for a
while anyways!!!
"so238" > wrote in message
...
> Starfish wrote:
>> I actually dont have gravel in my tanks, i have those glass pebbles..you
>> know the decorator ones...i had problems with my fish waking me up with
>> the gravel as they would pick up the gravel and spit it out at the
>> lid...just to get fed!!!!!...so those glass pebbles will wok ok with the
>> ugf?
>> "Geezer From The Freezer" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> [snip]
>
> The role of the gravel is to give filter bacteria a surface to live on.
> The glass pebbles should do, although if they're big they don't provide
> the biggest surface area. Water flows through bigger pebbles better, but
> if the pebbles are much bigger than say peas, they may not have enough
> surface area.
>
> Seb

[johnhuddleston]

> Hi guys!!!

YO!

> its been a few years since i have posted here ( I used to be Orion) so its
> good to see some familiar people still here!!
> Anyways I have a question....

welcome back

> Exactly gow do undergravel filters work..Im getting one soon for my 200L
> tank but have been told many different stories about how they work!!!

There are two types, undergravel filters work by drawing water from the
tank, down through gravel and via an uplift (usually airstone powered) back
into the tank. Reverse flow undergravel filters work by pumping water down
through the uplift and up through the gravel. The latter is supposed to
prevent crud building up in the gravel (tho i`ve not noticed a difference -
crap will build up whatever) although slightly out of style at the moment,
they offer a massive surface area for beneFISHial <insert groan here>
bacteria. I think they are great, maintenance is just a matter of not
overstocking and not overfeeeding and the occasional vac, which can be
performed whenever you do a water change. I once ran an overstocked 25g UGF
tank without any maintenance, just waterchanges and it took a year and a
half for the ph to start dropping.