I haven't fed my tank(was pretty much empty before last week) in a year to decrease maintainance... lol. I'm planning to start feeding again when I stock predators and a horseshoe crab, to boost nutrients in a controlled manner and fertilize my corals.
Sorry Paul I’m in disagreement with the part where you say that drilling holes will clog and that the slots are best . Back in the day I had dyi pvc pipe reverse flow under sand filters . All the holes I drilled were facing downward . The pvc had multiple rows throughout the aquarium floor and they were wrapped with two layers of panty hose which between the downward position of the holes aimed at a angle toward the bottom of the tank and the double wrapped panty hose I never had clogs . Imo the size of the holes or slots wouldn’t matter as long as the sand isn’t allowed in . When I broke down the tanks I didn’t find much sand in the pipes. With gravel it wouldn’t matter as either way the gravel would be too large to fall into the slots or holes . I do agree with your use of UGRF as when I used it with sand I never had to worry about a collection of detritus as the sand would not only grind up everything but it also helped to denitrify as the moving sand was loaded with bacteria ie: (more surface area ) Had many tanks back in the day with UGFSF and the bare bottom tanks I had hang on the back fluidized sand filters . It kept my parameters stable between water changes not to mention lessened my maintenance.
In a reef tank with coral I would hope we still get nitrate . RUGF have their place and like any filtration you still have to monitor and keep your parameters within range and steady . The benefit with the undergravel if done right keeps your sand cleaner, filters water and allows a medium that you may already have to help filter the water buy adding more surface area. If I didn’t have so many wrasses I probably would have gone that route .
It’s also turning each grain of sand into larger surface area to harbor beneficial bacteria to help reduce nitrates while keeping detritus in a churning / grinding state so that it doesn’t just sit in your sand and rot possibly keeping methane pockets in the sand from developing . Added bonus is with proper circulation it can keep the sand cleaner
might want to implement one or an equivalent system after I have corals established in my tank I guess... don't want nitrifiers to compete for food with the corals.
Also, wouldn't the constant movement of sand disrupt burrowers such as crabs, lobsters, horseshoe crabs and various fish and leave them vulnerable? Especially if stationary patches of sand are small and thin, burrows may be destroyed.
Unfortunate... I run a mix of very fine agricultural lime, crushed oysters and corals meant as chicken feed, and standard live sand(very fine). My tank came with sand to begin with and it wasn't until a year later and my conch died when I realized an undergravel filter would probably be more helpful.
I haven’t seen the stand alone units for sale these days so you’d probably would have to dyi with a canister , foam inserts , sand , and a pump reversing the flow . I originally got the idea when I bred discus and I went to a fish farm in south Florida who implemented a large stand alone unit which allowed them to stock more fish .the idea wasn’t sold for reef tanks but fish only systems . Others like Paul b , myself transferred over to salt using the same principle. In my case mine was sold to me with no trial and error period . I don’t see how it wouldn’t help us with coral . There are people in this club that complain about high nitrates and this could help but you still have to monitor so that you don’t zero the nitrates out .
might stick to having the horseshoe crab plow the field for me instead then... don't want to annoy the poor guy with hot springs under his feet all the time.
It’s only hot if you crank up the heater lol!
this just reminded me, I need to put up a sticky note reminding me to turn my heaters back on after water changes. The week before the last I accidentally forgot to re - activate my heating after changing the water.It’s only hot if you crank up the heater lol!
LOL, no worry, most people disagree with me.
The longest my tank stood in one place practically undisturbed was 40 years. When I lifted the RUGF to move here there was about an inch of fine mud over and under the UGF. Apparently it still functioned.
LOL, no worry, most people disagree with me.
My Son N Law is lifting it here.
I have built UGs out of PVC and acrylic and they ran for a while, but I find slots better for long term running. Panty hose and just about anything will clog if run long enough.
When my wife runs in hers they also don't last long and get "runs"
As for burying creatures, I have always had pistol shrimp living with watchman gobies and their tunnels go all over the place. I believe the dolomite I use makes it easy to build tunnels as the grains are irregular and various sizes.
Paul with my disagreement I in no way meant any disrespect. But where I disagreed was with your statement about slots over hole based upon my own experience . Like you, I’ve used UGSF’s with plates with slots and pvc tubing with holes drilled . In my experience the pvc with the holes drilled worked the best for me . Some of the mud or silt I believe your talking about did make it through the panty hose but I never experienced it in the actual tubing . My sand was in constant motion except the area where the silicone around the floor of the tank was by design . It was cool looking kinda like a hot spring effect . The only time I ever had issues was when the power would go out and then when it returned I would find dead spots that I had to put a stick in to get it moving again . I always had issues with dead spots with the plates . But back to my point was just the part about slots better than hole being better . With the holes it was easier for me to keep water pressure higher under the sand where as with the slots I found that it was more prone to dead spots due to the fact if a slot got clogged there’s always another opening / slot for water to go . Maybe if there wasn’t so many slots in those plates I don’t know . But that’s my only disagreement .
The plates I use have more variation than that. Openings start small and get larger to ensure flow all the way through. You could DIY, would be time consuming and the plates are cheap.
What species of pistol is that? He looks like quite the big dude.LOL, no worry, most people disagree with me.
My Son N Law is lifting it here.
I have built UGs out of PVC and acrylic and they ran for a while, but I find slots better for long term running. Panty hose and just about anything will clog if run long enough.
When my wife runs in hers they also don't last long and get "runs"
As for burying creatures, I have always had pistol shrimp living with watchman gobies and their tunnels go all over the place. I believe the dolomite I use makes it easy to build tunnels as the grains are irregular and various sizes.
