Removing undergravel filter?

[newfish88]

My 80g tank has been set up for 1 monht. Now I decide to use a power filter, should I remove the undergravel filter and can I leave it there?

 

[TLH]

Yes you can remove it but wait until the power filter has established a good bacteria colony,probably in 2-3 weeks.The only problem I can forsee in leaving it there is the stagnant water trapped under it may cause nasty things to happen disease wise.

 

[FroggyFox]

As long as you have the UGF in the tank it needs to be running. When you want to turn it off, it needs to come out of the tank because of all the gunk underneath the plate that has collected there. After a month your tank probably isn't cycled yet so I think I would probably leave everything alone for awhile. Get the powerfilter and run them both at the same time for at least two weeks to a month. After your tank is cycled and your powerfilter is established I'd spend an hour or so and take the tank apart, turn the filters off, take the fish out and put them in a bucket, pull the UGF out, redo your landscaping, do a nice big water change (with dechlor) and gravel vac, then fill it back up to the right temperature, start the filter back up and put the fish back in.

 

[newfish88]

Don't understand why there is still water under the filter.

If the air pump can move water down through the gravel, the power filter, which should be stronger, can move water up. So there must be a water flow.

 

[FroggyFox]

there is much less water flow underneath the entire plate when you turn the air pump off. A UGF actually encourages the water to be pulled through the gravel and up the tube. A power filter does not push water through the rocks...it moves the water around in the tank hopefully pushing loose particles into the filter. My main concern is not the same as TLH's in that I think that a lot of the stagnant water will probably move underneath eventually, but the gunk that has filtered down underneath the plate can create pockets of anaerobic bacteria and just NASTY stuff. You'll see the nitrites raise in your tank (more to a pesky level, not a high level like when your tank is cycling) Its just unhealthy. If you leave the UGF in, it needs to be turned on.

 

[TLH]

I think you and me,Froggyfox,have the same concern expressed in two not so different ways.With the UGF still there I agree that you still need water flow.

Can we clear up one fact here please.When you say power filter you do mean a motorised filter hung on the inside of the tank and not a power head to replace the airstone in your uplift tube?