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The Loach Forum Archives (1)
I'm Not A Fan of UG Filtration.
Posted By: Joe Loach <jloach@onlinetoday.com> In Response To: Attention all experienced fishkeepers: What kind of filtration is best? (Fishface_Jr)
Date: Sunday, 1 August 1999, at 8:18 a.m.
IMHO, it just makes for a waste trap that is frustrating to deal with in the long term, especially when waste collects underneath the plates. I did have a method of cleaning underneath my UGF plates without breaking down the tank, but still it's a hastle.
Also, I'm a big fan of Corydoras catfish, and I was simply never able to get their barbels ("whiskers") to stay intact until I switched to a thin layer of sand (1" or less to avoid anaerobic conditions). You can't use a UG with sand.
I'd prefer a canister type, or over the back type, combined with an internal sponge filter that has a powerhead attached.
I know this doesn't help your situation, but ultimately, I'd prefer some over the back filtration combined with a large plant filter. If I ever get a little extra money, I might just finish this project. I attempted an outside the tank floating plant filter a couple of years back, but it was a bust. The floating plants "cycled" too rapidly, leaving too much decay to handle. I've still got the containter that I used for this project, but I haven't redesigned it for the plants I now wish to use ("marginal" -- bog type plants -- with roots underwater and leaves above -- no need for CO2 for them to do well). To me, plants, combined with an amount of biological filtration, would be the best filtration method of all. It would keep the water sweet smelling and naturally take care of nitrAtes. The first couple of weeks I had the floating plant filter up and running, the water had a pleasant smell to it. I want to achieve this again.
Joe Loach
