Undergravel filter for shrimp tanks?

[blurless]

haha well thanks to bro felix and his daiso shrimp department recommendation i adopt his method and now using it should make change or maintain easier.

What is his method???

[stormhawk]

My 1st attempt in ugf...has let me learn many...it all happens after about 12-13 months running the UGF DIRECT SUCTION into my 2 Canister 2028 & 2217. Top layer of my UGF panel with a layer of netting and a thin layer of dennerel quartz.

What mistake have I made???
UGF should not do direct suction to canister???
Did i used the wrong stuff on the UGF top layer???

You should not connect the UGF to your canister filter intake. This is because the gravel bed will get clogged after some time and will affect your canister's flow-rate. The problem with UGF is, it is not advisable to use soil substrates with UGF because the soil will break down over time. A partition like what eviltrain has done is more useful, so you can have a different type of gravel for the UGF section, and use your shrimp soil in another partition. UGF usually work best with a mix of coarse and medium grade pea gravel. You can use the canister filter to utilise reverse UGF flow, in this case, directing the output of your canister into the UGF plate, so the water rises through the gravel bed. This will prevent clogging in the gravel bed and keep it fresh for longer. The key is to keep the bed aerated so the beneficial bacteria have more place to colonise.

Think of it as a "jacuzzi" for the fish/shrimps.

Another method without the need to create partitions is to make separate UGF systems in one tank, by placing them in a plastic container and then filling that up with suitable gravel. Air pump will be sufficient to power these without much effort. Just place them where you need them and the shrimps should be happy to have more grazing areas. May look unsightly but it's cheap and simple.

[eviltrain]

hehehe, the prototype has been done by bro Avex30.

bro stormhawk, you can place the "mod" UGF system in the tank first before adding soil. After that just fill the soil up till flush with the mod UGF height. this way it will still looks good.

[avex30]

Ugf sitting pvc box

Fill with media and gravel


Voila in the tank in position for soil to fill up



Please be reminded this is just my own prototype you're welcome to modify to you own use. Cheers have fun

[felix_fx2]

Nice one. So the daiso container already done before by avex bro before.

[avex30]

Nice one. So the daiso container already done before by avex bro before.

Not really bro Felix you gave me the idea haha I decide to excute it haha thanks you to you

[felix_fx2]

Not really bro Felix you gave me the idea haha I decide to excute it haha thanks you to you

Ohh, but ice-cream tub is a good idea. Recycle is good

[RonWill]

Ugf sitting pvc box
Please be reminded this is just my own prototype you're welcome to modify to you own use. Cheers have fun

Danged... this is so nostalgic!! Went down that route many moons ago and the "box UGF" was used in conjunction with air-lift sponge filter. The only thing different was my preference for black containers; less glaring than while & IMHO, blends better with my ex-setups.

Alternatively, one can silicon-coat the containers with matching gravel... aka vain-pot syndrome!

[blurless]

Nice! Thanks for sharing!

[stonespot]

I did the same as what Brother avex30 did but using custom made glass. Mobile is good but you may mess up the whole tank when you remove it.

My idea:
Tank still using full under gravel but with small lava stone or normal small stone gravel.

Idea 1 : Soil stored in prefilter. Change every 2 months.
Idea 2 : Fill half bottle(cola glass bottle) with soil. Using air pump, insert an airstone
to aerate the soil with the water. The bottle can hid next to your water inlet
if you using canister filter. Change every 2 months.
Idea 3 : Store the soil in the sponge filter (small amount only) but need to change
every month.

[felix_fx2]

This has become UGF mod thread
Awesome !

[avex30]

I did the same as what Brother avex30 did but using custom made glass. Mobile is good but you may mess up the whole tank when you remove it.

My idea:
Tank still using full under gravel but with small lava stone or normal small stone gravel.

Idea 1 : Soil stored in prefilter. Change every 2 months.
Idea 2 : Fill half bottle(cola glass bottle) with soil. Using air pump, insert an airstone
to aerate the soil with the water. The bottle can hid next to your water inlet
if you using canister filter. Change every 2 months.
Idea 3 : Store the soil in the sponge filter (small amount only) but need to change
every month.

actually my very 1st try with UGF is using lava rocks on top than cover with gravel but apparently during the reset it was a mess. And thanks for bro felix a light bulb lighted up and i dig for this ice-cream tub to use.

Which is what you see prototype one setup. But due to a few unforeseen problem i need to redo my setup to a new tank... And surprisingly it was easier to move the whole ugf setup as compare before where it sit direct inside the tank.

I forgotten to take pictures of the revamp prototype 2 setup which the media is replace by K1 media with a green netting than another fine net is place above this time i use the tank soil to cover the layer on top instead of those black gravel.

[felix_fx2]

Avex bro. K1 media is like bio home?
Never seen actual before or at LFS.

I'm a CR user, poorman's bio home lol.

[avex30]

Avex bro. K1 media is like bio home?
Never seen actual before or at LFS.

I'm a CR user, poorman's bio home lol.

BRo felix K1 is more like ehiem mech pro plastic media