Undergravel plus trickle

[htm]

I am in the process of making some overhead trickles for a few tanks and was going to put some sponges as pre filters. A guy who tells me does some work for the Sydney aquarium advised that i should run such a set up with an undergravel having the water go through the U/G and then pump it up to the overhead trickle. When i told him that it seems that alot of people think that U/G are old technology he told me that Sydney Aquarium use some kind of U/G system on some of their large displays, saying that it is that best way to utilise the limited space.

Just want anyones thoughts on running an U/G with the water going up the tube into an overhead trickle. Is it overkill? Is there another way that might give me as much bio area and oxygenate the water so that i dont have any problems if wanting to stock the tanks quite high.

[r.d.m]

i wouldnt bother with the ug filter ,apart from the fact their inefficient and block up by the time the water gets to the trickle filter it will be severly depleted in oxygen. just use the trickle filter and pick your media etc for the maximum surface area and you wont have any problems

[YeW]

Htm -

I dont believe UGF or corner or sponge filters are old technology. Though I do prefer the conduit style of UGF to the plate.

I run most of my tanks on plain old corner filters - which work just fine!

You probably don't need both - but its hard to have too MUCH filtration.

[htm]

thx for your thoughts

[nannat]

i dont mind the idea either,though id reverse the flow.the cichlids i keep dig but.

[CThompson]

As I see it, the problem with an undergravel filter is that it forms a mechanical filter AND a biological filter. Why do I say problem? Because as the gravel gets dirtier and dirtier, it will be a less and less efficient biological filter. One could say the same about a sponge filter also, however a sponge can be completely removed from the water and cleaned, where as the gravel in a UG filter hasn’t got the same “user-friendly” ability. Yes you can use a gravel cleaner, but I think that the duel abilities of a UG filter (mechanical and biological) are a bit more than is required when in your case you want to run it through bio balls (I assume you intend to use bio balls if you are installing a trickle filter?).

I’m not saying an UG filter hasn’t got its advantages, but if you are using a trickle filter (with bio balls); the advantages of the UG are superseded by the trickle filter.

The other disadvantage of a UG filter when one keeps cichlids that dig. Once a cichlid digs down to the plate (if that is the style you use), most of the water sucked through the UG will go via the hole the cichlid has dug, dirt and all. Now if this UG was used as the only filter in the tank, then this dirt will stay suspended in the tank’s water, and eventually it will (hopefully) go through the UG’s gravel. However, if you use a UG in conjunction with a trickle filter, this “not fully filtered water” will go into your trickle filter. If the media in this section gets dirty, they will be less available surface area for bacterial colonisation = fewer bacteria = less denitrification….

reddevilman

wouldnt bother with the ug filter ,apart from the fact their inefficient and block up by the time the water gets to the trickle filter it will be severly depleted in oxygen. just use the trickle filter and pick your media etc for the maximum surface area and you wont have any problems

Any form of biological filtration will deplete oxygen from the water. However, if used in conjunction with a trickle filter, this is the most efficient form of biological filtration to put oxygen back into the water (due to it having free access to suface oxygen), so I feel that this advantage of a trickle filter will overcome any downside that a UG will create in this area. Incidentally the form of biological filtration that will most efficiently strip the oxygen of water is a fluidised bed filter – tied in of course with fish numbers (lots of fish = lots of food for the bacteria = lots of bacteria = lots of oxygen being taken from the tank.

If htm wants to set his tank up with a view to having the ability to maintain large/er stocking numbers, then a trickle system is ABSOLUTELY the way to go as his limiting factor will be oxygen which a properly set up trickly filter is best at tackling. However, for my money, I wouldn’t use one in conjunction with an undergravel, as simply, the disadvantages of a UG are outweighed by the advantages wihen used in conjunction with a trickle filter.

You do need to prefilter the water before it gets to the trickle as you know, Yew mentions he uses corner filter in his tanks. These are run on air, as is a UG filter (yes I know you can put a power head on them). If you are in a position to use a UG to prefilter water for your trickle, then one would assume you are also able to use a corner filter and have the water from this to get your water to the trickle filter. If this is so, I would be more included to do this if I was given a choice between a UG and a corner filter.

However, if it was me, I would use a canister filter to prefilter, and pump it to the trickle filter.

Craig

[htm]

Thx Craig. I think i am going to go with a sponge filter as a pre and do away with the whole UG idea.