I've been a bad, bad, boy....

thewolfman777

thewolfman777

Member
I started a fo sw tank approx. 1 month ago before I discovered these message boards. I put an ugf into the tank. Reading opinions from everyone here I have come to learn that an ugf is probably the ultimate no-no for a swf tank. My question is, how do i take it out now with fish and l/r, and about a 6-8" base of cc in the tank? I dread the thought of even having to do this because everything thus far is going quite smoothly. I am half way through the cycle and the tank is looking pretty damn good. I know once i go in there and start stirring things up, it is going to be a cloudy, catastrophic mess. Will the fish survive this? Also, if I decide to do this should I wait until the tank is fully cycled? Any suggestions or alternative opinions will be greatly appreciated.
 
petey

petey

New Member
just leave it lay and plug the inputs, in essence you have a higher cost plenum bed...should be fine
 
mac

mac

Member
Before you do anything too drastic, keep in mind that although the advice/opinions you have read are good/true; CC and UGF systems have sustained SW aquariums for decades with tremendous results. So IMHO what you are doing isn't wrong so much as perhaps not the best. If you are planning on fish (as opposed to inverts) the additional Nitrate that is connected with CC & UGF is not as significant of a concern, but your maintenance and water changes will have to be done much more often.
 
thewolfman777

thewolfman777

Member
mac, thanks for the info. i do have fo but would eventually like to get some inverts i.e: a cleaner crew. it is my understanding that inverts are more sensitive to the water parameters. What are good water parameters to house inverts?
 
lordofthereef

lordofthereef

Member
A PLENUM IS A LOW OXEGEN AREA UNDER YOUR SANDBED WHERE A CERTAIN TYPE OF BACTERIA( WHICH I CAN'T THINK OF THE NAME OF RIGHT NOW) GROWS THAT LIVES OFF OF NITRATES. A PLENUM IS USUALLY MADE OF 2'' PIECES OF 1'' DIA. PVC PIPE WITH EGGCRATE ON TOP OF THAT , AND PLASTIC SCREEN ON TOP OF THAT SO THE SAND DOSEN'T FALL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE TANK.
 
mac

mac

Member
I don't have my "cheat sheet" with me so take these numbers with a grain of salt (pun intended). Where a fish may tollerate Nitrate levels of up to 50 ppm. (but don't let it get there); coral must be bolow 1.0.
There are many other "paramaters" to be considered for coral/inverts., my comment is focused on Nitrate because of the CC/UGF discussion.
Again, don't take these numbers as factual, I brought them out of memory (and that is failing these days).
 
josh

josh

Active Member
Hi,
As far as the nitrates go, as long as you can keep them under 5 or so it won't cause any problems at all. As far as the post concerning the CC, I won't get on the soapbox, but it will be fine. Just gently vacuum it when you do water changes and all will be ok. There is a move to DSB as I am sure you have read. It is not too big of a deal then yes I would take it out, but if it is going to be a big deal then don't worry about it. There are pros and cons with everything, and yes that includes DSB's. Just remeber there will always be something new out there and everyone will want to do it, that dosen't mean that your way won't work. Trust me, having CC substrate won't hurt the tank it will only require a bit more diligence on your part.
Good luck,
Josh :D
 
stupid_naso

stupid_naso

Member
I have a ten gallon tank with an UGF and a bio-wheel. I don't know what's the problem. Well, I started my tank like a month ago, and things are going great so far. No fish death, well I did experience the ammo spike, but that's part of the cycle.
I 'connect' my UGF to my powerhead. It works fine with me. I have one question though (sorry for asking this here), but does UGF produces extra nitrates?
Thanks,
stupid_naso
 
wamp

wamp

Active Member
I know a guy running a 150 gallon reef tank with crushed coral and a UGF. His tank is one of the most beautifull tanks I have ever seen. He keeps some really rare blastomosa welsis in this tank. I cant spell. but anyway, in his talkings to me he told me that Nitrates were his only problem area. he combats this with a homemade de-nitrator and like I said it is beautifull. Now I am not advocating UGFs but they can be succesfull if you maintain your tank well. Good Luck.. BTY he has very good protein skimmers on this tank. his opinion is that strong skimming on this tank makes it succesfull with the UGF..
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
Some excellant advise for and against the old cc vs dsb/plenum vs no plenum debates !!! Safe to say that any set-up that is maintained and monitoried will be successful...personally I use a dsb(6-8 inches) it's composed of natures ocean ls/caribsea oolite/caribsea sea floor grade...plus some active LS from a trusted LFS...I think the benefits of less maintenance /de-nitrification/diversity of fauna are enough to justify the additional expense and trouble of setting up a DSB.......for me it's working fine....and looks nice
 
ky

ky

Member
Both fish and inverts can live and thrive with nitrate levels as high as 15-20. Most reef-keepers bust their balls trying to keep nitrate levels less then 1. Read up on it, a nitrate level of 15 won't hurt your inverst. Nitrate is the least toxic of the Amonia/Nitrite/Nitrate chain.
 
codestopr

codestopr

New Member
I found the ugf to work well with 2 power heads on it low flow out and reverse on the other side. It keeps a low amount of water movement under the grave but if you have sand then don't try it it will mess up the pumps. I find great feed back from my costomers at my store on this one.
 
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