Undergravel filter - surprise surpise

[Chaoticzen]

Hi everyone! Recently set up a new 10 gallon tank and wanted to try something new. Since the tank is for my endler fry and some shrimps, not a ton of bioload, I setup a "controversial" undergravel filter. So far I have to say I really like it! The water clarity is GREAT, I tend to overfeed my fry but water is always crystal clear, parameters are solid with all my tests. So I have to ask, why all the hate? Is there any hurdle I would have to cross when the tank ages? I really like the simplicity of it, only regret is that I should've put some small bio rings under the filter.

 

Thanks!!

[Brian]

I love my UGF.   I have been keeping fish for a while now.  My wife got me a 90 gallon setup for our 15 year anniversary, this April we will be celebrating 34 years.  My 125 gallon has been up and running since 2001.   
I think/believe plants love them as well (UGF  that is) if the aquarium is well seasoned.

 

Good Luck 

[Daniel]

18 minutes ago, Chaoticzen said:

So I have to ask, why all the hate?

No particular reason for the hate, they were popular when I got started keeping fish. Like everything in life fishkeeping has its fashions and trends, but nothing really changes least of all the fish and plants.

Okay, maybe one thing has changed in the last 50 years. Aquarium lighting has improved markedly and the availability of good quality aquatic fertilizers. And inexpensive water test kits and strips. And the availability of rare fish and fish market places like Aquabid. And communications like this forum, but other than that nothing changed...🙂

[Brian]

7 minutes ago, Daniel said:

No particular reason for the

 

 

7 minutes ago, Daniel said:

Okay, maybe one thing has changed in the last 50 years. Aquarium lighting has improved markedly and the availability of good quality aquatic fertilizers. And inexpensive water test kits and strips. And the availability of rare fish and fish market places like Aquabid. And communications like this forum, but other than that nothing changed...🙂

lol.  I remember aquarium keeping when we didn’t have power heads.  I remember every air pump I owned was a air master or dynoflow (or something like that, was like a dome). Tanks with slate bottoms and stainless corners.   Oh and my first HOB filter was suction and didn’t have a motor.  
But that’s it.

 

[lefty o]

there is nothing controversial about under gravel filters. they work. now there are a lot of narrow minded people on this earth who think if you dont do things how they say to do them, you are wrong. maybe those types of people are where the negative comes from with under gravel filters, idk. they arent modern, techy, nor fancy, and may have fallen out of favor, but they do the job.

[Maggie]

I think it's mostly marketing by corporations. They get to sell carbon filters over and over and over again, and the motors themselves in HOBs eventually wear out. I've never heard anyone who actually has an UGF complain about it. Look at the stories here  - one running since 2001!?! Has anyone on here had a HOB for that long?

[DShelton]

1 minute ago, Maggie said:

Has anyone on here had a HOB for that long?

I just broke down a tank that had a Marineland BioWheel 330 and a Magnum 350 canister on it. Both of the filters were purchased in the early to mid 90s and have been used off an on (i.e. not continuously) since then.

I bought a new impeller magnet for the canister once, and have changed the tubing on the canister maybe twice, but other than the they are stock filters. The biowheels are so mineral encrusted that soaking in vinegar for 3 or 4 days had no affect on the mineralization of the fabric, but otherwise I could put them back into service tomorrow if I needed to.

[lefty o]

i have 2 HOB's on my 120. they've been going strong since 1997. original motors/impellers. its like a timex, takes a lickin' keeps on tickin'!

[MJV Aquatics]

The substrate is a great place for beneficial bacteria and an undergravel filter can be great. Trouble happens when too much flow is created to pull uneaten food and waste too deep into the substrate...and without routine gravel vacuuming, it becomes a foul nitrate factory!!! So it can be great, or god awful as the case may be!

So back off on the air flow so water is only pulled gently down through the gravel and vacuum as required to get and keep the crud out. 🙂

[MJV Aquatics]

Also, with all the surface area of gravel, you don't want or need bio-rings or anything under the UGF plates.

[Tanked]

My HOB would have lasted that long had I not cracked it.

The hate for the UGF comes in part from not being able to sell the owner new "stuff" every few weeks.  I've been using the same UGF for 30+yrs. The original floss and charcoal filters are still in the box. The only upgrades they have ever gotten were new powerheads on day1.

[aehageman]

On 3/19/2021 at 12:24 PM, DShelton said:

I just broke down a tank that had a Marineland BioWheel 330 and a Magnum 350 canister on it. Both of the filters were purchased in the early to mid 90s and have been used off an on (i.e. not continuously) since then.

I bought a new impeller magnet for the canister once, and have changed the tubing on the canister maybe twice, but other than the they are stock filters. The biowheels are so mineral encrusted that soaking in vinegar for 3 or 4 days had no affect on the mineralization of the fabric, but otherwise I could put them back into service tomorrow if I needed to.

so funny,  I was cleaning out a big box today and found a magnum 350. Probably in the box about 15 years, at least.
still runs, but the seal is shot.  Fell off into pieces when I took of the lid.  It was installed on my 110 show's under gravel filter, before the tank seal started leaking and I put it all under the stairs for a rainy day project.  The 110 used an UGF with the magnum attached via 3/4 PVC.

Edited June 5, 2021 by aehageman

[aehageman]

This 1996 fish magazine lives on my desk.  Not sure how many times I have read it.

[Guppysnail]

My personal theory is they are not touted anymore and somewhat discouraged due to commercialism.  Companies don’t make a ton of money on them up front and there are no residual sales of junkie cartridges replacement parts etc and they last virtually forever no motor to clog etc. so they won’t be selling you a second one for the same tank. I don’t believe one type of filter is better or worse than another just depends on what you need in the tank...flow speed, directionality, airation, invisibility aesthetics etc.....

[Spewing_nonsense_]

So, I think there is some link to being financially charged, but I think the main thing with ugf is that if it ever stops or you need or want to take it out at some point you gotta tear apart your whole tank, plus as the hobby has moved towards planted tanks under gravel filters are even harder to tear your aquarium apart and also all the roots decrease the effectiveness of the filter

[Gideyon]

When sand tanks became a thing, UGFs became trickier to use.  But I'm willing to try.  

I've seen them work in a 55g for years and never a sick fish. 

[tnnlynch]

I was thinking of using a UGF for a 10g shrimp tank with only column feeder plants and gravel.  Debating between that and a nano sponge filter I already have.

[lefty o]

On 6/12/2021 at 10:14 PM, tnnlynch said:

I was thinking of using a UGF for a 10g shrimp tank with only column feeder plants and gravel.  Debating between that and a nano sponge filter I already have.

if you already have the sponge, id go with that. either will work, no point in buying something when you already have 1 that will do the job.

[HenryC]

aren't they like a gigantic pain to clean?

[kwyjibo]

On 6/12/2021 at 3:23 AM, Guppysnail said:

My personal theory is they are not touted anymore and somewhat discouraged due to commercialism.  Companies don’t make a ton of money on them up front and there are no residual sales of junkie cartridges replacement parts etc and they last virtually forever no motor to clog etc

Sponge filters are practically the same thing... what replacement parts?

That AqCoop recommends them is how i know they want us to be customers because we're successful and not because we are dependent on their proprietary equipment.

[Guppysnail]

On 6/13/2021 at 3:34 AM, kwyjibo said:

Sponge filters are practically the same thing... what replacement parts?

That AqCoop recommends them is how i know they want us to be customers because we're successful and not because we are dependent on their proprietary equipment.

AGREED..my PetSmart/Petco doesn’t even carry sponge filters. Probably my hatred of greed for the almighty dollar paranoia but I believe that is why they don’t carry sponges either. 

I hated sponges all I ever found were the fine ones that clogged. Tried the ACO coarse and now I am a huge fan. 

[anewbie]

On 6/13/2021 at 1:02 AM, HenryC said:

aren't they like a gigantic pain to clean?

You don't clean ugf.  The concern over ugf is long term issues that can arise in a planted tank; but there are other issues that can arise in planted tanks depending on the type of substrate you use and if it compacts. Long term is usually several years. I had on in a 70 gallon tank a long time ago and liked it but after a couple of years the tank began to break down - i can't say this was due to the ugf but it might have contributed. There is also some benefits to a reverse ugf (instead of sucking water down through the substrate you push it up). I've read a lot about ugf but there is usually not enough details to correlate the problems folks run into with ugf but i've seen some interesting desings where people run pipes (small pvc) through the substrate to keep the substrate aerated (the pvc has tiny holes drilled in it). Anyway good luck.