# Undergravel Filter



## rhom15 (Dec 20, 2009)

i was just wondering i notice alot of members do not use undergravel filters set ups is there a reason why just wondering


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## Soul Assassin (Nov 21, 2006)

rhom15 said:


> i was just wondering i notice alot of members do not use undergravel filters set ups is there a reason why just wondering


they dont do a good job at anything and frequently get clogged up and you have to take your whole tank apart to deal with problems, they suck IMO

next time post these kind of ?s in the equipment section


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## Ba20 (Jan 29, 2003)

rhom15 said:


> i was just wondering i notice alot of members do not use undergravel filters set ups is there a reason why just wondering


Undergravel filters can have dead spots. These dead spots allow Bad "oxygen depleting" bacteria to grow/ flourish. They can also become nitrate factories if not gravel vacumed reguraly.


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

Moved to Tank and Equipment Questions


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## rhom15 (Dec 20, 2009)

Ba20 said:


> Moved to Tank and Equipment Questions


sorry new to this site


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## Ba20 (Jan 29, 2003)

Sand will fall through the UGF plate rendering it useless.


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## rhom15 (Dec 20, 2009)

never tried sand going to have to try it out always went with gravel


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## burton12387 (Jun 17, 2004)

Sand can be very nice to have in the fact that it is much finer than the course gravel that you are use to using. This makes it so that much of the debris never gets a chance to sink into the sand, it instead stays on the surface. This makes it much easier to see when your tank is dirty and in need of water change.

When you are doing a water change just hover the hose or the vacuum above the sand at height that the suction will suck up the debris, but not the sand. I find that it is easiest to place an old net in the drain when pouring out the water to stop sand from going down the drain of your sink (or other drain, i do not know what your pouring your water into).


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## HGI (Oct 27, 2009)

Under gravel Filters are such a 19th century thing......


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## rhom15 (Dec 20, 2009)

its nice to hear everyones thoughts on this i use a python to sink to clean going to set one up guys will take pics as soon as i learn how to going to try this weekend mess with camera pics soon i hope


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

In addition to what everybody else said its also harder to add any plants to the tank. IMO sponge filters> UGF as they work on the same principals, but a sponge filter is much more accessible and easier to clean


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## Doktordet (Sep 22, 2006)

Well looks like all the bases about UGFs have been covered. In short, DO NOT USE them. It is outdated and poor technology for aquarium filtration. P's produce astounding amounts of waste so using UGFs, especially in a p tank, is setting yourself up for failure. If you have UGFs, take 'em out and throw them away. There are many splendid filters available to us.


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