Setting up a under gravel filter

[Cyberkinetic]

I'm trying to setup a small 40cm tank running off a set of air driven undergravel filter with two outlet pipes. Small bioload of 6 white cloud mountain. They are currently in a smaller AIO tank running off a under gravel filter too, but driven by a small power head.

Was thinking of ways to prevent gunk buildup under the filter and thought of placing a thin layer of filter wool before pouring on the gravel. Maintenance wise, I'll still be vacuuming the gravel but also have option to replace the filter wool too. Since it's a small tank, shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Only consideration is whether the wool might slow down the water flow... Anyway, nothing to lose, I'll just try it out. Happy to hear from anyone with similar experience. Thanks.

[Cyberkinetic]

Just got it setup over the long weekend..
Probably let it run for a while first.
I scooped a handful of gravel from existing established tank over to hopefully speed up the cycling.

[thebaldingaquarist]

if you do not plan to increase bioload in future, my advice is.. skip the wool.

just use the gravel.

if you are looking for easier maintenance, can place a mesh between the plastic of the under-gravel filter and the gravel. this will help when you want to remove the gravel for overhaul of the filter. Meaning when you want to vacuum the plastic segments of the UG filter.

if you want better filtration, replace gravel with lapis sand with the mesh as mentioned above.