UG filters are a no-no?

[bpayh]

hey,

About a month ago a moved my freshwater fish to a small 5-gallon K-mart special tank featuring an undergravel filter. *I used gravel from before that had already grown the beneficial bacteria on it.

the tank's been running for a month now with absolutely zero problems. *It stays clean and the fish are quite happy. *My dalmation molly lets me pet him and he kisses my fingers, too.
I don't overfeed my fish, but I don't starve them either. *I have a chinese algae eater that appears to be helping keep the tank clean. *plus i do a small water change once a week--i make sure to vacuum the bottom of the tank when i do this. *i monitor the water quality on occasion and the nitrates remain low. *there's no heater on the tank, so the temperature is varying with room temperature.

so i've been reading lately that UG filters are falling out of favor, that they break down eventually because the gravel gets more compact and/or filled with junk. *should i be worried about my fishies?

PS there's a link to a pic of this tank in my sig below, check it out, you can see all the fish in that one shot. (the algae eater is sulking at the mouth of his cave)

[oside]

I think that the biggest reason that the UGF are not as popular nowadays is that so many are going with planted tanks (which usually go hand in hand with a soil/sand based substrate).
Another reason they seem to be not as popular might be because of the advances made in filtration in the last few years. A good canister filter or wet/dry combo can result in some pretty pristine conditions.
There is nothing wrong with a UGF & if it is working for you than why change?
Matt B

[Old Sloppy]

Hi,
I am new here. This is my first post.
I have a UG filter in my 135 gallon. actually it is four separate plates.
I use them in a reverse flow system. tank floor is drilled in four places.
each pair of holes is y connected to a Magnum 350 outlet. so I actually have two Magnum 350's in the cabinet. each canister has the inlet (pickup) in the rear corners of the tank. So all the "crap" is floated up away from the gravel and then sucked into the canisters. I allso have two "Aquaclear 500's" box filters hung on the back.

Harry S.

[geekdafied]

What do you have connected to the UGF?

[geekdafied]

welcome to 3reef, btw, lol

[liegeofinveracity]

i think the ugfs when running properly are still the best type of filtration mankinds come up with and i've tried em all, the substrate size and depth is extremely important though, and if you hook up some surface skimming and run that into a reverse flow you're even better off,and you can use them with plants also,again substrate size and depth are extremely important, i don't know why everyone says you cant keep plants with one of these,some of my best planted tanks had ugf's...

[luvreefs23]

All my lfs have there ugf's on clearance....hard to even find anymore. I have had a couple african cichlid tanks that used them and my dad did for years with no problems. As long as u do what u are saying with is a gravel vacuuming and water change i cant imagine you would ever have a problem.