Under-gravel filter - is it necessary?

[Sureng]

Hello, may I first and foremost thank all those responsible for having this forum.

My wife and I have decided to have a reef aquarium and have read several books on reef tanks. All of them suggested the use of an under-gravel filter. However, I was told at the local aquatic store, that they don't recommend the use of an undergravel filteration system and hinted that perhaps the books I've been reading may be older editions.

I like to get your opinion on this please, along with any other suggestions. Following is a list of equipment I'm planning to purchase.

110 gal Auarium (48"x18"x30"H)
48" Formosa 4x 55W HOC lighting
Overflow kit
Prizm or Sealcone Skimmer
sump tank
water pump
2-3 power heads

[Jimmyjam]

Hey there.
What sort of corals/fish are you planning to keep, and what kind of bioload are you going to have in it?

If you're going to be keeping light-loving corals, I'd scrap the idea of the Formosa hood and go with a metal halide hood. There's a good thread at the following: http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin...?threadid=7129
This guy was able to put together a 500watt metal halide system for 250 bucks.

Also, I'm not sure about your choice of skimmers-I'm always of the school that you should massively overskim your tank, so you might want to consider buying a heavy duty in-sump skimmer-you don't have to run it all the time.

And if you're going to have live rock, undergravel filters aren't strictly necessary-live rock and skimming usually does well together.

Undergravel filters and reef do not go in the same sentence. I don't know what books your reading,but a UGF for a reef tank will do more harm then good. A 110 gallon is a nice size tank. It also requires alot of knowledge from the owner as do all reefs. Buy Dr Ron Shimiks new book may help you out. To give you a rough idea of what you need Ill break it down.
1- Deep Sand Bed- 4"-6" deep using suger grain sized sand No crushed coral. Seed using either IPSF kits or Inland Aquatics kits or heck go for both.
2- Live Rock- Good quility live rock dont be cheap on this one. Look at premium aquatics or Jeffs exotic fish. It pays to get good rock in the long run. Local Fish Stores may carry Live rock but i debate paying $9 a Lb when you get it on the internet for 99 bucks 45 lbs to your door
3- Skimmer- there is some debate on this one. I too believe in haveing a big skimmer. I overfeed all my tanks and need additional fitration to remove unused nutrients. The debate comes in with starving the system which is something you most decide for yourself. Look for companies like ETS, EuroReef, Lifereef.
4- Water movement- Have a good sized sump for additional water volume and a pump that circulates 10 times the aquariums volume. Plus the addition of power heads on a 110 I would do 4 Maxi jets 900 on a wavetimer.
5- Lights- you can never have enough and there is noooooo such a thing as to much. Corals love light. 4 55pc is nothing and you will need to upgrade in the future. I have 2 96w on a 46 bowfront i just finished setting up. I would go with either 2- 175 or 250w halides ( depending if you wanna keep SPS go with the higher wattage) and supplement with 2 110 vho attinics
6- Read Read Read. Julian Sprung, Ron shimik and sometimes guys in here give you really cool hints on how to be successful if you want an idea of what im talking about look at my friends 46 i just finished look at the equipment he has on a tank half you size you need to shoot alittle higher
here is the site www.imdec.com/reeftank

If the link does nto work type it out on your server. www.imdec.com/reeftank/

[JJGeisler]

Greetings Suren and welcome to the group!

I agree that any books your are reading that recommend Under Gravel Filters for a reef tank must be very out dated! The closest ecuivelent in the reef world would be a plenum system which is still quite different. From your idea of a proposed tank you will need to think about your lighting as the extra depth of a 30" tank will require metal halide lighting if you plan on keeping any type of corals that like light. Fluorescents don't penetrate well.

If you take any one piece of advice regarding starting a marine or reef tank let if be RESEARCH! Read the posts, read the books, check the internet, ask questions and then do it all over again! Research is the most valuable investment you can make that will save you the most in time, money and grief!

I have been going through a lot of the same research myself, have a new set-up and working on another larger one so I know the process well. I have a lot of information that should be very appropriate for your new project on my website. Click on the homepage link along the top of this post to go to JJ's Reef Tank. Good luck and enjoy!

[Doug1]

Sorry to be bearer of bad news but any book recommending UGF is way out of date. Ssearch the archives for a list of suggested reading.
Plenumns are OK I guess, I use a non plenum deep sand bed. I have to agree on the lighting, personally I run 440 watts of VHO on a 75g soft coral tank and am upgrading to 600+ Needless to say I would consider 220 watts PC lighting marginal on a 110. Best thing is too look at some reef tanks and corals and get an idea what you want to keep, we would be happy to help you come up with best, cost effective way to get where you want to go

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Hi There!!! Although I have a DSB of 5-6" in my 80 gallon reef tank, my wife has a 20 gallon mini-reef tank with 4-5" of CC(bad I know) and a hang-on filter with bio wheel and carbon(bad I know) and a under ground filter system(bad I know)but her system has been running for over 14 months and it is beautiful(never has had a algae bloom of any sort). She takes care of this tank like you would not believe and maybe that is her success.
I would not reccommend any of the above as far as my wife's tank but so far so good for her but it bothers me and I guess we will see. Johnny