wrote in message
...
Hi GF fans,
I am considering the inevitable needs of tank cleaning, and want to
bounce
an idea off of you.
I have an undergravel system, with about and inch +/- of stone. What I
propose to do is buy a D.E. filter, which traps all particles down to 1
micron. Put the fish into a holding bowl with some of the tank water, and
an air stone. Remove the air stone and top piece from the undergravel
riser tube, and connect the input from the D.E. filter directly to the
riser. Use the exhaust jet from the D.E. filter as an agitator to move
the
stone/sludge around and just let it flow into the bottom intake screen of
the undergravel system. This would just produce a loop of water that
traps
all the debris in the D.E. filter for disposal. I also plan to do a 25%
change out at the same time.


My main concerns are . . .

- Will this introduce too many organics into the water by disolving the
waste products to smaller that 1 micron?
- Is the Dietimacous Earth (forgive spelling) safe for GF tank chemistry?
- Would a less efficient canister filter and powerhead be better suited
for
this?

I believe this is the tried and true method, but your idea s/b safe and
effective.

Although I'm not sure what your UGF is buying you if you're using stones
rather than gravel. ie. the large grain size isn't adding much to your
Biofilter. If the UGF isn't your only source of filtration, I would be
tempted to just remove it. They tend to be bad news with GF.


- Should I use manual agitation, and just let the water circulate through
the whole tank?
- Would it be better to just use the D.E. Filter as a power vacuum, and
leave the bottom basically undisturbed?
- What brand/size of D.E. filter would be adequate?
- Has anyone ever done this, and what were your results?
--
With all due respect
Kevin