Well I've had fish in my new 75 for a little over a week. 5 Gold Fish for a buck for cycling purposes. The lady at the pet store says that a under gravel filter is a must for anything 30gal or larger. Her reasoning behind this is harmfull bacteria that will grow in the rocks. I will be using my rock vacuum regularly. Shouldn't that take care of anything bad living in the rocks? This is like another $150 investment and seems like more of a pain than anything. I have found some articles advising against UG filtration and I would rather not go this route if it is not totally necassary. I didn't have it in my 45 and that seemed to do just fine. I currently am running a Fluval 304 canister rated for a 70gal and a HOB rated for a 40gal.

Any thoughts on this?

beneficial bacteria needs a place to live and besides living in your filter, they will live amongst the gravel's surface area. I have fluval canisters in my tanks and I am yet to change out the material since i set it up in january.

With underground filters you can get the danger of pockets of dangerous gas buildup over time, since you wouldnt be turning over the gravel with a vacuum.
hope this helps
john b

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UGF's were the standard for a long time and are, as always were, an effective means of filtration. However, there are many more options available now and no one method is a must for all tanks. While UGF's have made a resurgence in recent years it is mostly older shop keepers and those wishing to get rid of slow moving stock that still push them as a necessity.

It sounds like you have plenty of filtration without the UGF and educating yourself on husbandry and maintenance will be all you need to ensure success.

Also, it would pay not to be dependent on the advice of store owners due to the fact that their recommendations (with a few exceptions of course) logically involve what they have for sale and could end up costing you several hundred dollars.



now, the fun part...
what type of fish do you hope to keep in the 75g?

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Gold Coast Aquarium Society South Florida
www.goldcoastaquarium.org

That wierd I never heard of UGF be required in a 30gal or more tank. I know that in a 10 gal yu can get away with jst a UGF. As KOGO seid don't trust LFS for advice..... You have to remember that they are in the bussiness to sell you things, anything. The UGF will not cause you and problems, unless you decideto not use it and just turn off the air pump and remove the stacks. If you so that than you will need to remove the plates as the water will turn stagnet under the plates and this water is deadly to the fish. Also people who have plant tanks say not to use them, I used them in all my tanks, except for one, and thats the one I'm setting up now, but that because i want to see, if it really matters.

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Gold Coast Aquarium Society South Florida
www.goldcoastaquarium.org

Thanks guy's. I guess i'm just trusting cause I was about ready to pick up all the UGF stuff. I'll see how it goes without it. It just seems like all this horrible bacteria that she's talking about should be taken care of with my vacuuming when it needs to be.

Thanks again

you shouldn't have anaerobic bacteria problems if you keep the bed under two inches and vacuum regularly

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Gold Coast Aquarium Society South Florida
www.goldcoastaquarium.org

from what i have seen people with ugf go overboard and dont bother vacuuming since the filtering action is down thru the gravel. I like internal filters

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