im redoing my aquarium and i dont know if i should get one or not....
2007-08-20 02:12:36 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
Yes, with proper care and maintanence they do work. Undergravels however only provide 2 of the 3 types of filtration. They are excellent biological filters, decent mechanical filters and offer no chemical filtration (unless they have the little carbon things at the top of the tubes). They will require you to select a medium sized gravel for the substrate and will also require that you clean under the plate from time to time unless you use powerheads and run them in a reverse flow set up.
I use undergravels in some of my tanks, but never as the single source of filtration, they are always in combination with another filter. If you want to have only one filter on your tank, your best bet is a typical hang on the back power filter.
MM
2007-08-20 02:28:53 · answer #1 · answered by magicman116 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hi Surf4Life, I would advise against getting an undergravel filter, the reason being rather than having their own media they use the actual tank gravel as a filter therefore while they are working they are fine but when clean them you invariably pollute your tank.
If you have a small tank up to about 30 gallons a HOB [hang-on-the-back] Bio-Wheel type or an internal filter would be much better & easier to maintain as well. Anything above this size I would recommend a canister/external filter. These type are very efficient, quiet & extremely low maintenance.
2007-08-20 09:37:19 · answer #2 · answered by John 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes they do but take some time for the bacteria to build up that cleans the water and you need a powerful pump
2007-08-20 09:28:28 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It does make the cleaning easier.
2007-08-24 03:33:31 · answer #4 · answered by greyghost_84 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋