drdale Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 I am a first time user of a reverse flow (in this case freshwater) under-gravel filtration system in 75 gal planted aquarium. So far the only issue is the suspension of very fines in the water column. One factor in this is the flow rate through the gravel substrate. Using manufacturers data, I estimated the flow as somewhere bertween one-half and a whole gallon per square inch of substrate, about 2 inches of medium size pea gravel. Of course, the gravel texture, how clean it is, the pump's 'head,' tubing sizes, etc all potentially make a difference in flow rate. However, in all my searching, I can not find any mention of recommendations for (forward or reverse) flow rates for under-gravel filtering. Which leads to my question, have any of you out there seen reputable information published or on the Internet about under-gravel filtering flow rates, substrate density, timing for such filtering to "mature," etc., for this user? Of course, if so, I appreciate a shout out, especially if you could cite the source, but even if y ou only remember some infromation from "somewhere," I'd still be interested. Thanks, guys and gals of the forum. drdale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSwissAquarist Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 Good Luck and keep us posted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drdale Posted October 7, 2022 Author Share Posted October 7, 2022 Thanks to the Swiss guy with MTS, albeit my opinion is that MTS is not a disorder of any significance. 🙂 drdale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSwissAquarist Posted October 7, 2022 Share Posted October 7, 2022 On 10/7/2022 at 8:23 PM, drdale said: Thanks to the Swiss guy with MTS, albeit my opinion is that MTS is not a disorder of any significance. 🙂 drdale. 🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwallace Posted October 9, 2022 Share Posted October 9, 2022 When I started in the hobby 45 years ago (yes i'm old!) UG filters were used extensively. And yes some people used them in reverse along with some type of mechanical filtration to polish the fines out of the water column. I have never seen any reliable data about flow rate. Due to the tremendous number of variables I don't think you will ever really know the actual flow per square inch. Estimates of UG flow rate abound but no verifiable data seems to exist. I still use UG filters in several tanks though I use them in the traditional manner and only consider them "bio" filters. Good luck in your quest! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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