Going taboo

Jekyl · Mar 9, 2019

Went to a not so LFS today due to the reviews and it being the largest in the state today. Talked with the owner for quite some time and he has me talked into a real taboo. His facility operates more than 50,000 gallons of frag and live stock tanks. The kicker is that every one is ran on an under gravel filter system. When I was shocked he told me how he used to design skimmers and at one point had over 50 of them on his tanks and paid someone full time just to maintain them. He then said once they were removed that his livestock all showed noticeable improvement in color and growth. I think he has me sold. I'm going to give UGF a shot on my reef tank. I just purchased a new 90 gallon tank today. Tomorrow should be the start of my build thread in which I will be mounting it in wall. Any tips from veterans still running this minimalist setup would be greatly appreciated

Wolf89 · Mar 9, 2019

Sounds interesting!

Flippers4pups · Mar 9, 2019

That's news to me. Haven't seen a under gravel filter sold in decades in the aquarium trade. Where the heck can you get one?

Jekyl · Mar 9, 2019

He has everything I need at his shop. I don't mind if later on I need to switch to a sump/skimmer setup. For the cost of a few plates and a couple pumps I think it's worth a shot. His system that he has ran for 30 years housing 10s of thousands in livestock is what he is selling me on. Hard to argue with a shop owner of that caliber who is actively trying to get me to spend less money

Aquarium Junkie · Mar 9, 2019

My lfs does the same thing and then runs a canister filter after each clean for a day.

lapin · Mar 9, 2019

@Paul B
@Subsea
Both have UG filters
I have one on my remote fuge. Reverse flow
.

jtl · Mar 10, 2019

I used them back in the 80's before live rock and corals were popular, fish only back then. I don't see the advantage over live rock. Iirc the UGF was just an attempt to get some flow though the gravel to promote nitrifying bacteria. I do remember they were prone to clogging up. The next step back then was to use a sump with a drip filter and bio balls.