wrote:
My air pump for UGF on a 20g tank (established for 4 years) has given
out. I would like a quieter option and have been looking into other
types of filtration. I am considering pulling out the UGF and replacing
with a power filter of some sort with the aim of finding something
quiet, economical, and easy to maintain. The fish load is light and
there are some live plants (certainly not thriving, though). My
questions are (1) should I pull the UGF (or go with a powerhead (trying
one now and it makes a racket), and (2) if removing the UGF, what kind
of filter to go with (eg, is a bio-wheel necessary in a cycled tank
like this if I keep the gravel)?

Thanks for your input.
-Barry

I would encourage you to rinse the gravel and clean under the UGF plates
no matter what you do. There will be a lot of gunk under the plates
after 4 years.

Reverse flow UGF is supposed to be a nice filter system if you put a
prefilter on the powerhead, and it would use your gravel bed that is
already full of bacteria. I've never run RFUGF myself. I haven't
generally found powerheads to be noisy unless I'm using the venturi inlet.

Without a lot of plants, a bio-wheel would be good if you don't run UGF.
I've learned from Frank in alt.aquaria that it will grow heterotrophic
bacteria that break down dissolved organic compounds. This greatly
improves the water quality, much in the way thriving plants do. Bio
wheels also keep the tank cycled as you change filter cartridges. If I
were to run an unplanted tank, I would put a bio-wheel filter on it.

For my planted tanks, I love AquaClears. Inexpensive, easy to clean,
generous carbon bags, sponge that lasts forever, and very quiet.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com