# Under gravel filters



## oldgerry (Dec 20, 2011)

Your thoughts on under-gravel filters. I did use some as a kid (a long time ago) and it seems to me they worked great with little maintenance.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Unless you are in the habit of substrate vacuuming on a weekly basis to keep it clean, I would avoid UGFs. 

You could consider using a reverse UGF, however...


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## bob123 (Dec 31, 2009)

I find that they work great for about 6 months, just do water changes of 30-40%every week, and then after about six months a complete tear down of the tank to vacuum under the filter bed and remove all the gunk. On the other hand you get to rescape the tank every six months. With under gravel filter I never had any problems with desease, just lucky I guess. Over all I like them but I only have one in use right know.


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## characinfan (Dec 24, 2008)

Reliable but LOUD. I hate those stupid pumps. (Used one for about 10 years).


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

I don't have any right now but the last one was setup for about 8 or 10 years without a tear down. For what it's worth the Whitby Big Al's still uses them on most of their tanks.


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## RR37 (Nov 6, 2012)

I ran one for almost 10 years on a cichlid tank I had. Never tore down and never had issues. I think they are great, Ugly but great.


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## SmokeSR (Jan 28, 2009)

I've been running one in a crayfish tank hooked up to an HOB for a long time without issue but the gravel does get very dirty and require regular vacuuming. I just picked up an external canister for that tank and am debating between UGF hooked up to canister in normal or reverse direction, or just ditching the UGF plates completely. 

Not quite sure which way to go...

Any suggestions?


I'm also confused as to why people are saying they're loud or ugly. Mine is silent and invisible.


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## kev416 (Aug 22, 2010)

I agree with you about how dirty a thin layer of gravel can get with some fishes. I still use UG in most of my set up. I have a few mat filters on some tanks with sand in them. My breeding set up creates lots of waste and the UG does a great job of keeping the water clear. I do frequent water changes to clean the gravel beds. A powerhead produces heat that can be a small benefit when the temperatures fall. If you choose only a powerhead for a UG and skip the air pump you can have a virtually silent and humidity free fishroom with the use of glass tops on all your tanks. However if you like sand as a substrate you have to choose a canister, hang on or mat filter.


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## SmokeSR (Jan 28, 2009)

I should add that my cray tank is filled with rocks, decorations and lego so it makes gravel vac quite difficult and I also try to avoid gravel vac since there's constantly babies in the tank. 

Any suggestions on a filter setup that could reduce/eliminate gravel vac? Maybe I should just go bare bottom.


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## kev416 (Aug 22, 2010)

Why not try a mat filter? I'll give you a good read on it in a link. You can google it to see some set ups. There must be a few using them on here...

http://www.janrigter.nl/mattenfilter/


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

I Have one on a 20 gal long with gravel. I would not use one with sand. So there are 4 intakes I have 2 pumps running one on each side the 2 in the middle are capped I have rocks in front of the caps so you cannot see them. Once every 6 months I shut the pumps off take one of the caps off and suck out the crap. I like mine I even found plants seem to grow good in them


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## SmokeSR (Jan 28, 2009)

I've been doing a lot of web reading on this topic and decided to give RUGF a try with my canister. Will put a sponge on the canister intake and hook the output to the UGF. I'll also be running an air powered sponge filter but may change this to an airstone instead. 

I read that with the UGF plates, it's better to use the center ports instead of the outside ones. Not sure if that applies to UGF and RUGF but since I only have 1 output from the canister, I think I'll use one of the middle ports. I am considering buying a Y splitter to use two ports, but I'm not sure if that would improve anything. 

I want to eliminate gravel vac because my tank is very dense with hiding spots for my crayfish. I have a lot of snails in there as well to move gravel around. Am I right to believe that any dead spots on a RUGF would act the same as gravel without a UGF? People say UGF trap gunk and create deadzones, but I'm not sure how this differs from a tank with gravel and no UGF.


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