Undergravel Filter, Good or Bad, Yes or No

[sprieto]

I am setting up a 60 gallon with a canister filter.
I was recommended this would eliminate the power filter w/ bio wheel.
I was also told I would not need the UG.
Is this true? Could or should I still use one?
Would a UG help in the cycling process better than just the canister filter?
The tank will be mostly fish only, but maybe someday a invert or two (Anemo.)
Would the UG be bad for inverts? What about a small eel? Whould the UG be a bad thing?
Please advise asap, this is the last thing slowing me down from setting up.
Thank you.

 

[reefnut]

UG Filters are not used for salt water tanks anymore. Most use live sand, which is a natural filter in place of any type of mechanical filter.
So NO to the UG FIlters!! They typically cause more problems than anything.

 

[thomas712]

This is my standard answer to the Undergravel filter:
As for undergravel filters, I've been through this, won't go through it again. Why?
1. Frequent water changes to try to get the ditrus and nitrates out.
2. If you put live rock on it you will build up more dead ditrus spots that will pump out more nitrates in you system. This just makes them simply non reef compatible. They were meant for a crushed coral bottom and are no good with sand.
3. You run the risk of Carbon dioxide poisoning that builds up underneath.
4. Although it can help with the bioload it is only low bio load friendly.
5. With what can seep out from underneath the algea blooms can be spectacular leading to what is called New Tank Syndrome even if you think your tank is seasoned, and if you do not vaccum well you will simply reintroduce the waste back into the water colum. This can reek havoc on your water chemistry and your PH.
6. Even though you use the best strongest powerheads on it, it will just pull the waste and ditrus down into the substrate traping it till it decays and fouls your water or waits to be removed by you and the vaccum tube. Much better to use sand and good water flow to keep the ditrus in suspension in the water to be removed by the protein skimmer or machanical filtraition.
7. No matter how you slice it the UGF is just a detrius trap. If anything deserves the name nitrate factory it is the UGF.
Just my OPINION.
Thomas

 

[bigarn]

I think that covers it all.

 

[sprieto]

What would consist of a "good water flow", or how can I improve it?
If seen in other tanks (at the LFS) power heads pumping through a tube that looked like a UF, what might they have been using there power heads for?
So will the canister filter be enough to cycle and maintain the tank (w/ a protein skimmer).
Thank for the advise, sorry for the extra questions.

 

[thomas712]

Originally Posted by sprieto
What would consist of a "good water flow", or how can I improve it?
If seen in other tanks (at the LFS) power heads pumping through a tube that looked like a UF, what might they have been using there power heads for?
So will the canister filter be enough to cycle and maintain the tank (w/ a protein skimmer).
Thank for the advise, sorry for the extra questions.
Good water flow starts at about a 10x turnover rate and can go as high as 20x the tank volume. so if you have a 55 gallon tank then you would start with 550 gph and go up from there. This would be the total of all pumps pumping water combined.
Powerheads can be used as you point out inserting the intake into a UGF tube, but as I point out is still pulls the waist down into a larger substrate and traps it, UGF's create only a poor biological area to convert ammonia and nitrItes into nitrates, and that is most often what you are left with when using a UGF. Its always up to the hobbyest to have ways to reduce nitrates.
What is the gph on your canister filter?
Thomas

 

[sprieto]

Canister filter is 350gph.
Thanks again for the advise, hopefully this will be enough water flow.