Touchy Subject: UGF

thewolfman777

thewolfman777

Member
I know, I know, UGF's are not recommended for SWF tanks, but unfortunetly I already have one in the tank. I have 2 power heads with the option to have regular flow or reverse flow. My question is, if you had one would you have the water flow sucking from the coral bed or have the waterflow coming up from the coral bed. I have no lr or ls if this has any impact on your opinions. All opinions are greatly appreciated but please, no bashing of the ugf, but i'm sure you will, lol. TY
 
nosmada

nosmada

Member
im just speculating on this but IMO reverse flow would push all of the uneaten food and waste out of the CC substrate and possibly out of the UGF giving it a chance to be taken buy a skimmer or filter or even one of your tank inhabitants which i think would be good. anyone else ?
just my .02
chris
p.s. where abouts in NY are ya ?
 
mr . salty

mr . salty

Active Member
Reverse would keep waste from settling into the CC,but you will need GOOD filters on the powerheads so this waste doesnt get pushed into the CC from underneath.Ultimetly you would be better off by just unplugging the powerheads from the UGF plates and capping off the holes.Then setup some other kind of mechanical filteration....This is still not the ideal setup,,,But it's a hell of alot better than the UGF...
 
biggdriver

biggdriver

Member
I worked retail pet for about 5 yrs and at that time all we had was ug filters and what a mess they were .. We were totally cleaning them out once a yr except for the saving some of the cc for the recylcing process..I suggested the reverse method and that seemed to help alot IF you have a good filter to get the particle out of the tank....You also have to make sure you keep the filter material clean so as not to create a nitrate factory...Another thing that could be added is a mist bar to also help keep the water circulating . THe air bubbles will carry the particles to the top where your back or canister filter can get them
 
daluminum

daluminum

Member
Im no expert.. but I do see that alot of lfs still use a UGF.. this may be terrible for a home aquarium.. but you need to remember that most LFS have more than a 1000gal's worth of tank that all use the same water suppy and filtration. a UGF is not a good idea... but since lfs make alot of water everyweek and they spend aprox 10hrs a day everyday with the fish..plus these tanks at the lfs probably have a turnover rate of 100+ inches a week.. Im not sure of the stability of a ugf.. but it has seemed to work for them for years.. plus you must remember that lfs is a business.. and a business is not the fastest to conform.. This post has no real meaning. I just want to inform everyone that they should not be afraid of a lfs that still supports UGF.. it might not be good for you.. but ask the owner how long they have had the tanks running.. then compare nirtrates. let me know who wins.. . Im not trying to be a butt, i just dont want someone to fear the LFS with a UGF..
god bless the little man.. ~DAniel
 
nosmada

nosmada

Member
Originally posted by thewolfman777:
<STRONG>thanks all... nosmada, im from long island, where is amsterdam, ny???</STRONG>
im up north about 25 miles west of albany
 
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