Undergravel Filter Question

[sxyatsxty1]

I am moving into an apartment this weekend so my space is even more limited than it is in my small house. Was thinking maybe I could save a little space if I eliminated my hanging filters and went with an undergravel. However, in all the years I've had fish I've never used one and my pee brain tells me keeping the tank clean is going to be a real chore because all the 'yuk' is going to be under the gravel so I'll be tearing down the tank more often than I am now which is usually once a year. Am I right?

LIB

[ssrprelude]

Yeah I wouldnt go with an under gravel at all. Get a small canister filter instead.

[wesleydnunder]

I've used UG for decades and with the right substrate I find it to be effective, easy-to-maintain filtration. The water stays clear and if maintained (like any other filter), UG is pretty worry-free. The substrate needs to be vacced regularly and about every other year I slide a length of airline down the uplift tube under the filter plate to get rid of the fine mulm that can accumulate beneath. My favorite substrate to use for UGF is "0" size blasting sand, available at Aqua Zoo.

Mark

[Fancyfish]

When I had lots of tanks going, I used UG as well as other types. The ug was great in display tanks. I maybe tore the tank down for full cleaning every couple years. If set up right, they are less work then any other type filter I've used. But you do need to have several inches of substrate on top of the filter. Vacume the gravel once a week or once a month, depending on your fish load. You can get powerheads(?) that will go on the uplift tube. If you reverse it so the water goes down, that is pretty easy way of cleaning out the mulm that collects under the filter. again, depending on the fish load, you may need to do this once or twice a year.

Now, while you'll save some space from not having hanging filters, you do need to figure out where your going to put the air pump for the undergravel filters. And one problem I had with air pumps is they always seemed to be vibrating against something. And my cats liked to chew through the airline tubing.

Hope this helps.