What am I forgetting about UGF?

[Guppysnail]

Many decades ago when dinosaurs roamed as a kid I used UGF with gravel. I’m looking to culture better in tank microfauna to raise Pygmy and panda Cory fry.  My separate live culture skills are laughable at best. And I have ZERO luck with breeder boxes I think because they are too sterile. I do great hatching and raising fry in ugly tanks I setup but I really do not want to go that route again, hubby hates kitchen tanks. I remember the microfauna thriving when I was a kid with UGF because it was one of the most fun things to watch.  The only plants I had were things I dug up in the creek.

I for the life of me just don’t remember any flushing or maintenance other than gravel vac sort of with a garden hose 🤣 yup Hicksville. I don’t remember having issues with them.  I think I just fell away from using them as I set up new tanks with new fancy gizmo HOBs as the latest greatest thing. I hate squishing sponges it downright feels gross even with gloves and the bag method so this would be a lovely alternative. The videos I’m finding focus a lot on crazy substrate to get the anoxic thing. I don’t really want all that.  I have bags and bags of leftover unused big box gravel plus the seasoned gravel already in the tanks the fish do well with. I like it for the simplicity and want to stick with it and use up the leftovers taking up space in my basement storage.  I’ve tried fancy substrates. Probably operator error but I don’t like them at all.
 

So what am I forgetting? Is it really as simple as I remember and if so I’m kicking myself for falling away from them. A lot gets forgotten between childhood and senior citizenship by me. I have ACO battery pumps running on all the tanks which will work even in a power outage to run the UGFs plus a generator for long outages.  I have ACO powerheads for tanks I want more flow. I just have to move the gravel to lay them in and replace the gravel.  

How do you folks with planted tanks like them.  I don’t let my plants root because then I can’t clean the gravel which simply bugs me no matter how good or bad.  This way they could root and I can clean by sucking through the UGF. Because even stems and root feeders do great for me suction cupped to the wall I think my plants will adjust well maybe even benefit from rooting in UGF. It just seems to simple I feel like I’m missing something.  You folks have me hooked on getting crypts.  How do they do with UGF?  

How do neocaridina shrimplettes do? I’m thinking they will ok and can travel out through the uplift tube if they get sucked in but I could be wrong. I don’t want underground dying shrimp. 
 

UGF folks that have them or had them more recently than decades ago help me out please.  Thank you 🤗

[gardenman]

They really are pretty easy. If you're trying to raise microfauna for bottom dwellers, then skip the gravel vacuuming. You'll be sucking out the very food you're trying to raise.

[Guppysnail]

On 4/6/2022 at 9:11 AM, gardenman said:

They really are pretty easy. If you're trying to raise microfauna for bottom dwellers, then skip the gravel vacuuming. You'll be sucking out the very food you're trying to raise.

Yup that’s what I was thinking but once the fry are grown I can suck up the excess buildup. I only want a few more for my colonies. My LFS doesn’t even give store credit so excess fry is fun only. 

[Tanked]

I don't think you are forgetting anything.  I have been using the same UGF in my 29 for decades.  I prefer powerheads, but use them both ways.  I do a deep gravel cleaning every 2-3 weeks. to insure that there is no clogging. I will occasionally run a smaller syphon hose down the lift tube, just to see  what else I can remove.  The plants don't seem to have any problems.  One of the biggest benefits for me other than no additional expense, is that with a power head, the lift tube can be almost any height you want.  The power head can be hidden.

[Widgets]

You are not forgetting anything. The venerable UGF still has all of the advantages that made it popular all those years ago. As newer equipment came onto the market, the manufacturers developed successful advertising campaigns that convinced consumers that the benefits of the UGF were actually undesirable.

My Community Therapy tank is heavily planted and uses a UGF with power heads, and a large HOB. I do not really have any decent size bare spaces where I could easily gravel vacuum. I can do some light surface vacuuming, but that is about all. This tank is only 4 months old. I have a few plants with roots that have reached down under the UGF plates. This is bad if I ever wanted to move those plants, but it is great for the plants as their growth has exploded.

My Least Shrimptopia tank has only been cycled for a little over a month. It has a UGF with 4 airlifts. I had cycled sponge filters in to help kickstart the cycle, but have since moved the sponges to my QT. There are all sorts of microfauna thriving in there. The surprise Zebra Danio spawning has thrived in there with the microfauna and some ACO Easy Fry Food. Now there are another mystery fry in there that hatched out from something. The Least Killifish and their fry are hanging out in a holding tank waiting for the other fry to grow out and me to decide where to move them.

My attempt at a video of some of the microfauna in Least Shrimptopia. 

 

[Guppysnail]

On 4/6/2022 at 10:29 AM, Widgets said:

You are not forgetting anything. The venerable UGF still has all of the advantages that made it popular all those years ago. As newer equipment came onto the market, the manufacturers developed successful advertising campaigns that convinced consumers that the benefits of the UGF were actually undesirable.

My Community Therapy tank is heavily planted and uses a UGF with power heads, and a large HOB. I do not really have any decent size bare spaces where I could easily gravel vacuum. I can do some light surface vacuuming, but that is about all. This tank is only 4 months old. I have a few plants with roots that have reached down under the UGF plates. This is bad if I ever wanted to move those plants, but it is great for the plants as their growth has exploded.

My Least Shrimptopia tank has only been cycled for a little over a month. It has a UGF with 4 airlifts. I had cycled sponge filters in to help kickstart the cycle, but have since moved the sponges to my QT. There are all sorts of microfauna thriving in there. The surprise Zebra Danio spawning has thrived in there with the microfauna and some ACO Easy Fry Food. Now there are another mystery fry in there that hatched out from something. The Least Killifish and their fry are hanging out in a holding tank waiting for the other fry to grow out and me to decide where to move them.

My attempt at a video of some of the microfauna in Least Shrimptopia. 

 

Thank you. This is exactly what I was hoping. I’m glad to know the shrimp do good as well. I just hit the order button for the first 3 ugf UPGRADES 😁. Old school is still good school!  I love the clear bladder snails. 

Ps. Your tanks are gorgeous 

[lefty o]

it has been decades, but i dont think you are missing anything. they havent changed at all.

[Widgets]

On 4/6/2022 at 10:42 AM, Guppysnail said:

Thank you. This is exactly what I was hoping. I’m glad to know the shrimp do good as well. I just hit the order button for the first 3 ugf UPGRADES 😁. Old school is still good school!  I love the clear bladder snails. 

Ps. Your tanks 

These are the ones that I prefer.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002APV9S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_K05SJG932SXKKFXBZB6A

[Brandon p]

I love my UGF’s, they are the tanks that do the the best. I have some with gravel and I have one that has a 20 ppi filter all the way aroccros and from to back..the one with gravel is a little torn up because I added clown loaches from a different tank and the are tearing the moss off the gravel. this the tank I have with my UGF and gravel I wanted it to look like a grassy filed with the other plants being trees. 
 

the to pics are the UGF with the use the 20 ppi filter and moss on top off the 20 ppi  filter. Top pic the right two was the second shiopment and the fist was much shorter about 3-4” the top ranged for 8-16 inches I use what the shortest of those and the longest to to make moss trees. The last two pics used have hair cap moss the perferwaet areas. I top pic is moss from my back yard and would have love to us that but I can only 3x3in/sq pieces would halve taken forever to grow enough to cover the 55gal.

UGF  i rarely  vac’ed gavel the first pic never because the the moss  over moss of the tank . The second is no vacuuming  because it is totally covered with mos from 3” -16 inches 

[Guppysnail]

On 4/6/2022 at 10:54 AM, Widgets said:

These are the ones that I prefer.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002APV9S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_K05SJG932SXKKFXBZB6A

Why these other than they have been around forever vs pennplax?

 

[Widgets]

On 4/6/2022 at 11:37 AM, Guppysnail said:

Why these other than they have been around forever vs pennplax?

I just like the deeper water channels in the old school design, and that it gives better flow across the tank. I have the Lee's Deluxe in Least Shrimptopia.

I have a different design that is smaller flat plates that interlock like puzzle pieces. There are more slits in the top of these plates, and there are also slits on the sides for plate to plate flow. Even with the power heads pulling, I don't think there is enough flow in the plates towards the center of the tank.

[Guppysnail]

On 4/6/2022 at 12:07 PM, Widgets said:

I just like the deeper water channels in the old school design, and that it gives better flow across the tank. I have the Lee's Deluxe in Least Shrimptopia.

I have a different design that is smaller flat plates that interlock like puzzle pieces. There are more slits in the top of these plates, and there are also slits on the sides for plate to plate flow. Even with the power heads pulling, I don't think there is enough flow in the plates towards the center of the tank.

I cancelled the original pennplax order and ordered 1 lee 10 1 pp 10 and a pp20L The reason I asked these are established tanks. I was going to slide the gravel to one side put in 1/2 plate cover then snap part 2 in using zip ties vs the snap underneath the plate. I’m going to look at both up close.  Thank you for your help. 

On 4/6/2022 at 11:14 AM, Brandon p said:

I love my UGF’s, they are the tanks that do the the best

I just don’t remember the ones I had as a kid having so much yuck settle on the gravel.  Maybe it was a kid thing. Even in high flow tanks more than I’m comfortable with rests on top of the gravel. I’m keeping the canisters on all of my tanks but the hobs and sponges need to go. Mega PITA. I’m probably going to set these up and feel like a fool for not having them in the first place. 

[Widgets]

Here is a shot from below. Top of the picture is the back of the tank. Left side of the picture is the right side of the tank.

The uplift tubes are in the back corner plates. You can see the mulm that has built up in the central plates. I would have done better to have the uplift tubes maybe 1/4 or 1/3 in from the sides. I didn't know better, and it might have interfered with the terraces that I made. You can also see how the roots of the Crypts have gotten below the plates.

I know how it is a pain to tear down an established tank to add a UGF. I have a replacement Lee's Deluxe model, that is missing the uplift tubes, waiting to go into my Community Therapy tank. I stole the uplift tubes to give me 4 for my Least Shrimptopia tank. I will wait until I need to tear it down for some other reason. I might be moving in the next year or so.