My undergravel filter isn't getting anything!
- Thread starter reptileguy112
- Start date
@Reptileguy112
And what we're telling you is that it is NOT designed to PULL anything up. You will get some waste going through the gravel as it falls apart. It's used to work in conjunction with gravel for your Beneficial Bacteria to colonize and break down organic compounds. You appear more concerned about its value as a Mechanical filter. It is not designed to be an efficient Mechanical Filtration system. Yes...with a power head you "may" pull a little more detritus brought the gravel and under the plate...but it is not gone. You will need to do regular gravel vacuuming to actually remove the waste even with more suction through the plates.
And what we're telling you is that it is NOT designed to PULL anything up. You will get some waste going through the gravel as it falls apart. It's used to work in conjunction with gravel for your Beneficial Bacteria to colonize and break down organic compounds. You appear more concerned about its value as a Mechanical filter. It is not designed to be an efficient Mechanical Filtration system. Yes...with a power head you "may" pull a little more detritus brought the gravel and under the plate...but it is not gone. You will need to do regular gravel vacuuming to actually remove the waste even with more suction through the plates.
I thought UGF actually sucked up the poo and left over food and it stayed in the carbon compartment until replaced??
Nah, Buddy...just go get a decent mechanical filter it should do what you are trying to accomplish.
Hello; I agree with this. Keep in mind that you will still, very likely, need to vaccum the gravel on a regular basis. Also that if you do overfeed and have excess food lying about, it will cause you additional problems and increase the need to do the water changes and gravel vacs.
Good luck
It's amazing how many people think that UG filters are supposed to pull waste material down through the gravel...A friend who got me into Fishkeeping years ago even gave a similar description when I saw the set up on his tank and asked him about it.Shortly after I went out and bought one for the tank that I would be starting and the box that the UG came in and the enclosed instructions never mentioned anything about the filter removing solid waste.Do all these people purchase their filters second hand with no included instructions?
I guess there are a lot of fake reviews on amazon!I am going to get a 250 GPH filter.Is that to strong for my aquarium?
hello; Your initial post stated a 40 gallon tank. At 250 GPH you will turn over the entire volume about five times or more each hour. While some have proposed that you cannot have too much filtration, I am not among them. My basic take is that 250 GPH is way more than is needed. More power in a filter usually costs more as an initial purchase and uses more electricity to operate. A 250 GPH will work on your tank but is not exactly necessary.
In the distant past I ran tanks with air bubbler operated HOB filters as they wer what were available. They probably did not manage to flow the volumn of a tank even once an hour. The tanks ran well. The point being that you can have a healthy tank setup using much weaker power filters.
Much will depend on how densely you plan to stock the tank, if you plan to have live plants and/or snails and some other stuff. A stronger filter may give you some cushon with a lot of fish, but with a reasonable amount of fish will not be needed. Even with a strong filter flow the tank will have to be vaccumed and water changes done.
