tossing this powerehad out the window.....

[m3rma1d]

ok i'm not really going to throw it out the wondow (it cost money!)

but i keep getting my crushed coral subtrate sucked up & clogging my intake...the crushed coral i use is VERY fine and i unhook the PH every day & pull it out from the UG tube i stuck it in & shake it out...this is getting annoying. how can i stop it..?

[Macaw Guy]

hey princess-

I had the same problem, just moved the intake so it was a little farther away from the bottom...is that an option for you?

just an idea...

[chewie]

1. get rid of the ugf!!! or 2. there are strainers that can be used. sounds like a Hagen PH. you can buy an Intake sponge like the ones Maxijet uses. 3. you could make it a reverse flow UGF. do you have any diggin' fish?

[Macaw Guy]

OK I'm an idiot, I have NO experience with an undergravel.

duh....sorry

needless to say, ignore my prior post.

[chewie]

Who sez you're an Idiot. lengthening the tube might work.

[m3rma1d]

the p.h. is already right up at the top of the tank, i guess it has a "strong suck" if you will


i can't lengthen the tube, it's as high as it'll go...

oh well...

[PJenkins]

Ok, sounds like you have an under gravel filter plate, right? Also sounds like you've gotten some sand under it. If I'm right you might try this: remove the PH next time you do a water change. Take a siphon hose & stick it down the uplift tube( be careful not to jar the tube loose) suck out as much of the sand as you can. Maybe try a smallish hose that can get under the filter plate and get the sand. This may help in the imediate term, in the long term if the sand continues to be a problem a smaller PH or one with a flow control may be an option, removing the filter plate & going with a DSB may be even better.

Hope this helps.

[Jimbo]

Hi,

I have to agree with most people that you remove the filter plate on your Under Gravel filter (UGF). You might experience a mini cycle(Ammonium,Nitrite increase) after doing this. Do you have a baby sitter for the fish for a week or so. Your tank will be cloudy for a few days if you remove the filter. You can use the power head for tank circulation.

Hope this helps

[Doug1]

Sounds like your sand has too much fine stuff in it and its sifting thru the slots in the UGF plate. Personally I wouldn't use it but................. you might try removing as much as you can slowly and replacing it with abit larger grained sand. If it werent 3000 miles I would happily slap your LFS

[JMOR]

IMO, this is what I would do:

Remove the UG filter completely (you don't need it)

Get somebody to watch your fish for you (or worse case scenario, keep them in a large bucket with an airstone and some rock, do a partial water change in the bucket daily.

This would be a good time to do a major clean up in your tank.

[m3rma1d]

yikes everyone!

i dont have anyone to watch my fishies....and i kinda like the UGF (i use it in *addition* to the whisper)

i'll just keep emptying out the powerhead, it's easier than all the other stuff i would have to do....and my tank is happy right now, i would rather leave well enough alone, once i start messing around, i already know the whole PROJECT will go out the window...

[m3rma1d]

i wasn't trying to sound disrespectful of anyone's advice in my last post, i *do* appreciate everyone here very much, i just don't feel like i should "fix if it aint broken" right now...it's annoying, yes, but not broken

[CaymanLoversII]

Princess -

You might as well get ready to get rid of the UGF. It will be a "nitrate factory" that will, to some extent, limit what you can do with your tank.

Steve

[tdwyatt]

Originally posted by spam_princess
i just don't feel like i should "fix if it aint broken" right now...it's annoying, yes, but not broken

Its broken...

Your tank is young enough and the sandbed is immature enough to take the plate out now. Don't worry about the tank getting cloudy or the silt rising in the water column. Keep running the whisper with filter floss until the water clears, then run the Whisper without any filter media for circulation (or possibly to run carbon) only. If you don't want to remove the undergravel filter plate, then cut the lift pipes off about 3 inches from the substrate and put a solid plug in the pipe (check home depot), then drill several holes in the upper section and reattach the top part to support your power heads. This will seal off your filter plate so that the anaerobic benthos will be able to establish itself. Don't get rid of the sand; fine (sugar-sized) aragonite is the substrate of choice in reef aquaria. If it is not already, increase your sand bed depth to 4 or 5 inches deep. This is, in the long run, the way to keep the nitrates down that would otherwise feed nuisance algal blooms from here to eternity (and no, I'm not talking about Burt Lancaster rolling on your sand bed... ) Using an undergravel filtration system will prevent the establishment and maturation of your sand bed as a carbon and nitrogen processing environment. It will make your sand bed a great filter/trap for detritus and uneaten food particles, where they will decompose and become a source of excess organic acids (and tons of nitrates) that will clump your sand bed, resulting in decreased flow through the sand bed, ultimately shutting down the efficacy of its filter function as well. Now is a good time to fix the broken machine, do it now before your system begins to develop problems, or you have more creatures that must be considered in a later repair. Changing later will be much worse than changing now.

Sorry to put it so bluntly, but fixing it now will prevent a lot of heartache later.

[chewie]

If you plan on upgrading tanks in the future then I would say just leave the UGF alone. You could try a Pre filter sponge though.