I dont have a nitrate test kit, maybe ill pick one up today. With the
UGF running along with my current power filter, the water seems to be
pretty clear...of course my brown muck problem probably wouldnt show
this early.

I guess my current power filter is ok. Another reason I was thinking
cannister was because I noticed by the time I put the filter media,
carbon and ceramics on the hold of this PF, the output water level was
so high in the housing (due to displacement) that water was coming out
not only from out the output but also around the intake tube. The only
way I could help that and get the water level lower to prevent this was
to decrease the filter flow. I dont know if this would have caused the
muck problem, but it seems it wasnt cycling the water as it was meant
to. Maybe this filter wasnt originally made to hold 3 filtration
components....