Can A Good Starfish Replace Undergravle Filtering

[Cephapus]

im in the process of setting up my first aquarium and i was wondering weather i could bypass accasonal under gravel cleaning if i bought a sand sifter starfish...keep in mind i plan to use about 1 1/2 inches of sand for substraight

 

[rdd1952]

First off, you can't use sand with an undergravel filter. It's called under "gravel" for a reason. The water has to pass through the gravel which is where your beneficial bacteria colonize. Second, UGFs are terribly outdated. There are many more options in hang-on-backs, internals and external filters. They provide much better filtration and are much easier to clean. With a UGF, you begin to lose filtration from the very beginning. As trash starts to build up in the gravel, it gets blocked and the water flow is reduced.

I prefer external (canister) filters as they don't take up any room in the tank and require less maintenance. They are usually much quieter than HOBs. Internals work well but take up room in the tank and are unsightly too (in my opinion).