I have an undergravel filter in my 40g tank that doesn't realy have much gravel at all so the basicly no gravel on the undergravel filter.I thought it wasn't sucking up the poop because the bubbler was divided onto 3 tubes for the undergravel filter so I switched it to just 1 tube on 1 of the plates and it still didn't do anything.Poop will literaly just sit on top of and in the cracks of the undergravel filter and the filter gets nothing.I spent $30 on it.Can anybody help and show me how to make it work?
My undergravel filter isn't getting anything!
- Thread starter reptileguy112
- Start date
Reptileguy, under gravel filters are not the most efficient type of filtration & unless you put power heads on your tubes,they aren't going to suck up any waste ( even then,it's just under the plates, you'd need to vacuum it out...and that's a pain).What you are looking for is good mechanical filtration if you are concerned with pulling waste from the water column. Get a good Hang on the Back power filter like the others recommended and suck up the remaining waste when you do your water changes.
There are advantages and disadvantages with the undergravel filters. It is old school but very effective in maintaining the water. With the proper amount of gravel covering the filter plate, it is a very good filter. The gravel should not be too course because it will not filter too well. Basically the gravel is the media and you have a lot of it. It can grow sufficient bacteria to keep an over crowded tank clear. With a small power added to it, it will do an excellent job. Cleaning the gravel is a lot of work involved. You will have to vacuum the gravel on a schedule. When you do vacuum the gravel, don't take out more than a third of the water. If there is more gravel that needs to be vacuumed, you can continue to vacuum the rest on the next water change. No hanging filter can do as good of a job than the undergravel filter. The best is the wet and dry filter. It can do an excellent job but the cost is up there. That's what I have now on my large tanks and basically a requirement for me. They were originally designed for saltwater tanks but work wonders in large tanks if properly set up. I have them in my 380 and 175 gallon tanks. Both tanks stay super clear. Good Luck.
After one of my fish almost died because it got sucked in to the intake on my FX5 I hooked my canister filter up to my under gravel filter. I think it works really well. my 220 has 2 plates that are 2ft by 2ft. I hooked the intake hose to the plates. I am doing the same thing with my 625 gallon tank.
Reverse flow the powerhead if you must use a UG, though that won't help your poop problem.
so your problem is that it's doing exactly what it's supposed to?
an undergravel filter pulls detritus from the water down into the gravel. you're saying it's doing exactly that. the second part of an UGF is to provide a surface for BB to colonize to break down ammonia and nitrites. without the gravel you've just got an ugly hunk of plastic sitting in your tank.
if you want to have an UGF you need to cover the plate with medium gravel, a minimum of 2". vacuum your gravel weekly. running the FX5 to pull water through should be fine, I've used magnum 350's hot magnums, and whisper HOB's, but you have to remember that the gravel is the coarse filter material.
with the UGF you shouldn't need any additional biological filtration, so running fine polishing type filter material is OK.
a UGF is one of the easiest ways to get clean, clear water, but it's also one of the easiest ways to mess up your tank if you don't maintain it properly.
Hello; I go along with this evaluation. I will attempt to add for clairity that the UGF does not remove waste. You can add a HOB with filter media to trap detritus and remove it when the filter media is cleaned.
UGF's are an older technology but they can still be of use in an aquarium. Like any other piece of equipment, they have to be used properly to get the benefit.
I imagine that glass is an older old school technology than the UGF but so far I have not seen anyone dismiss it just because it is old.
A search on the forum on UGF should yield many threads on the UGF. I have participated in a discussion about them many times.