I have a 26 gallon bow front tank with pebbles for substrate. My HOB filter is doing a good job of collecting any debries that's floating around but when I look at the bottom of the tank, I see a lot of fish poo and uneaten food. Is a underground filter a good option for me? I'm thinking if I have a UGF, I won't have to disturb my pebbles while getting all the nasties out of the tank. Also, the tank is pretty high up so it's a bit difficult for me to compeletly clean the bottom of the tank. Is this a good ideal? Pebbles are about the size of dimes and quarters.
Question about underground filters
- Thread starter highland
- Start date
I like UGF but that is not going to solve your problem. A reverse flow UGF would help some, but it isn't going to solve your problem either. The uneaten food makes me think you are over feeding. Poo is poo and that is that.
If your HOB intake is too short to reach close to the bottom get an extension for it. That will help some too.
No matter what you do, you will have to vac!
If your HOB intake is too short to reach close to the bottom get an extension for it. That will help some too.
No matter what you do, you will have to vac!
Under-gravel filters are very controversial systems. If you are running them from just an air pump and airstones in the tubes, they will not perform very well. If, however, you put powerheads on the uplift tubes instead of airstones, then you will have an awesome filtration system. Periodically though, you will still have to physically remove the mulm (decayed crud) from the tank as most mechanical filters do this and UGFs do not unless you siphon underneath the plates or gravel vac.
About the only way you can avoid gravel vacuuming is if you have a very densely planted tank and the plants consume ALL of the fish waste. Feeding lightly so the fish don't unnecessarily poop is another way to drastically cut down on gravel vacuuming.
About the only way you can avoid gravel vacuuming is if you have a very densely planted tank and the plants consume ALL of the fish waste. Feeding lightly so the fish don't unnecessarily poop is another way to drastically cut down on gravel vacuuming.
If you have a noticeable collection of poop and stuff in the gravel then for sure you will need to start vacuuming with a siphon. If you get a small siphon it will give you enough time to vacuum thoroughly when you are doing a water change. When you have cleaned enough, switch to a larger diameter hose to empty the water faster to complete the water change.
UGF's ... which I used many years ago ... are a pain. But if you do use one ... definitely as mentiioned, power it with a powerhead instead of just an airpump. Also get a powerhead with a reverse flow feature. Vacuum, then reverse the flow to flush out the UGF ... the HOB will pick up the stuff that is flushed out. I'm not a fan of UGF's personally, especially for planted tanks.
As mentioned, definitely monitor your feeding. 1x per day is plenty and then it is best to watch what is consumed ... add as necessary instead of dumping in a bunch of food and then walking off.
UGF's ... which I used many years ago ... are a pain. But if you do use one ... definitely as mentiioned, power it with a powerhead instead of just an airpump. Also get a powerhead with a reverse flow feature. Vacuum, then reverse the flow to flush out the UGF ... the HOB will pick up the stuff that is flushed out. I'm not a fan of UGF's personally, especially for planted tanks.
As mentioned, definitely monitor your feeding. 1x per day is plenty and then it is best to watch what is consumed ... add as necessary instead of dumping in a bunch of food and then walking off.