[AGA Member] RE: UGF

[Torrance Haggerty <poice_1906@argolink.net>]

Hello All,
This list is really moving ahead... and I am glad about it.  Concerning the
UGF.  I would recommend (based on my many years of experience in these
matters- LOL) that you remove the UGF and set the planted aquarium from
scratch.  It is better to do it from the onset of the planting than to have
to break down a "cycled" tank later.  The cycling of the planted tank is
much easier than the re-cycling of a planted tank that has gone through an
ammonia spike with detritus and other nitrates released into the water
column.  Also, the root system of your plants will not fully develop and
those that do will wrap around the plates of the UGF and those precious fish
that you have will die a horrible death.  I received a "planted" tank from a
LFS that had a UGF in it, and the substrate became so hard that it was
virtually impossible to add any plants to the tank.  The UGF will ultimately
remove the pore spacing that is between the grains of your substrate
material, and this could result in some plants not growing there (i.e. many
of the foreground plants and crypts that are on the market).  Lastly, the
powerheads can be mounted against the glass (using suction cups that are
purchased separately) and be used for water movement, or as S. Heiber
suggested you to add a foam tube and convert it into a psuedo-mechanical
filter.  Also, if you are going to be fertilizing (TMG,Flourish,PMDD,etc...)
a UGF will not be sufficient to get all of the unwanteds out of your tank.
You will need a sump, canister filter, or a hanging filter to come to the
rescue "when" you have a problem in the water column.  Filters don't just
keep our water clean, it also houses 30% of our bacteria, and if there is a
problem in the tank, the filter's media and bacteria are there to eat up the
"bad" bacteria.  In short...LOL...if you are going to start into planted
tanks, start from the basics.  That old mulm that is in your substrate is
not precious enough to risk the devastation that could lie ahead for not
using the proper substrate and for not ridding yourself of that UGF.  If you
are concerned about the cycle time, Marineland has a new product out
"BIO_SPIRA" which is the only "true" nitrifying bacteria supplement on the
market.  (I am not a salesman and I do not receive anything from
Marineland).  Bio_SPIRA will allow you to add fish to your aquarium about an
hour after you have filled it with water.  You will never fully forego the
cycling of the tank, but with Bio-SPIRA and the introduction of nitrifying
bacteria, this is the closest you will get unless you get the bacteria from
an old established tank.  Hope this helped and that you didn't stop reading
about an hour ago.  Cheers,
Torrance Haggerty

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-aga-member@thekrib.com
[mailto:owner-aga-member@thekrib.com]On Behalf Of Tomoko Schum
Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2003 2:08 PM
To: aga-member@thekrib.com
Subject: UGF


Hi,

Dustin wrote:
> I had a 10 gal many years ago with just regulat gravel and
underground
> filter, and i had great plant growth.  no co2 no fertz,
just a heavy fish
> load.

I started out that way, too.  My plants also grew really
well.  However, when I tried to pull up an overgrown  Amazon
sword (at least for that tank), one of the UGF plates came
up half way through the gravels because of the roots
wrapping around the plate.  Boy, what a mess it created.  I
ended up breaking down the tank after all.

Tomoko


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