Power filter for 20 gallon tank?

"dc" wrote in message
...
Köi-Lö $##$$@$##$$.#$$ wrote in news:4507665d$0$15906
:

Also, some people like live plants and claim they don't do well with an
UGF.

They do fine. As much as I dislike UGFs, we use them at work because
they're dirt cheap and you never have to replace any part of it.

The powerheads to run them needed replacement about every 18 months.

My own
tank at work runs on one and probably has more plant material in it now
than water.

I had no problem with plants and UGFs either but then I have really tough
plants. ;-)

The real issue is the UGF is very hard to clean without disturbing your
plants. This is less of an issue if your UGF is not your primary filter.

It wasn't my primary filter and still mulm would collect under the plates.

Really? Where did the mulm go that was sucked into and under the gravel?

Most of the mulm remains trapped in the gravel; what passes under the
plate
is generally pulled out by the powerhead and blasted back into the tank--
eventually settling back into the gravel.

In my tanks there would be a collection of mulm on the tank bottom. You
could see it by looking up at the tank's bottom. My stands don't have solid
tops.

After an extended amount of time
(years) some significant material does build-up under the plate, but it is
usually easily pulled back out of the plate through normal gravel
siphoning.

The gravel vac didn't have enough suction to pull it up through the plates
and gravel. I would shimmy a hose down the uplift tubes and squiggle it
around trying to suck up as much mulm as possible..... one day I said to
hell with this and removed them altogether as my friends were doing.

I suppose if one used airstones intead of a powerhead mulm deposits
beneath
the plate would be more of a problem.

I used both. Powerheads on the 30L and both 55gs and airstones on the 10s.
All the UGFs are now stored in the outbuilding. :-)

Again... not a fan of the UGF myself. I do not use them away from work.
They are too much of a hassle than they are worth IMHO.

I agree.
--
KL....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
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