Filters.

[john hadfield]

Hi,i'm new too the hobby.Just bought a 30x 15x12 tank complete with hood,UGF,heater,light and gravel.do i need another filter besides the UGF.

 

[adam98150]

Hi,i'm new too the hobby.Just bought a 30x 15x12 tank complete with hood,UGF,heater,light and gravel.do i need another filter besides the UGF.

UGF's arnt the best!
Maybe try and replace it with a decent internal? Also do you know much about the maturing process of your tank?

Edit:

Heres a good article on the maturing process (Cycling the tank)-
http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...shless-Cycling/

 

[arvlyn]

Hi,i'm new too the hobby.Just bought a 30x 15x12 tank complete with hood,UGF,heater,light and gravel.do i need another filter besides the UGF.

I've never liked to rely on only an UGF on any tank larger than just a few gallons. I have an UGF and a Penguin PowerHead running along with a Penguin HOB filter on my 37 gal. and they work great together.

 

[Rooster]

Hi,i'm new too the hobby.Just bought a 30x 15x12 tank complete with hood,UGF,heater,light and gravel.do i need another filter besides the UGF.

Hi John, and welcome to the forum ! Thats the same tank I had for nearly 30 years- man and boy ! LOL
Under gravel filters are unfortunatly now old hat, and better, easier to maintain... and above all more efficient filters are on the market.
Cost wise a filter could seem an expensive purchase, but given that they often last DECADES the value for money factor far outweighs any "penny pinching" at the onset...
I would recommend a cannister filter, Eheim are the top of the stack quality wise (although they made a few booboos with newer designs !) Get yourself a "classic" and it WILL last 10 years plus barring accidents. You are looking at £40-75 depending on model, which in turn depends on what you intend to keep in your tank.

If you are on a more limited budget, theres a vast choice of internal filters - £10 upwards... does the same job in essence, but hold less media and therefore allows less fish - and in my opinion look pig ugly, as well as take up valuable tank space.
You also have to disturb the tanks more when cleaning them.

So I would start afresh, and bin the UGF... Now you also have a better choice of substrate, sand for instance... and the best bit for me - NO NOISY AIRPUMP !

Good luck with the hobby... read the fishless cycle threads - it really DOES make a difference, and try not to rush - a little patience at the start makes a world of difference hassle wise.

 

[Tommy Gun]

Even though I shouldn't, I am going to disagree with the 'UGF's are not a good filter' sentiment and would say that they are one of the very best methods of biological filtration available.....although, as already pointed out, they can be hard to maintain and require some extra work versus the newer HOB or cannister filters that are much more popular nowadays. In fact, I have to admit that I don't even use UGF's any more, but at one time, I did and if it wasn't for a lack of time on my part, I might still.

Going even further into the "I probably shouldn't say this" zone, after reading that fishless cycling article, while I do agree with the vast majority of it, the sentiments regarding nitrifying bacteria taking up residence solely within filter media is a rather large misunderstanding and/or myth -- which, in fact, is completely disproven by UGF's themselves since they work on the principle that the benificial bacteria will heavily populate substrate....well, to be more exact, any place where water movement is created (thus, bringing the ammonia and nitrites to the bacteria). That whole notion is also disproven by many saltwater tanks which use no mechanical filtration at all (short of a protein skimmer, perhaps) since, if the bacteria required filter media, those tanks would be impossible to maintain without a constant source of new saltwater being added.

Even though it was probably already brought up in that fishless cycling thread, I strongly agree with Rooster in the idea that patience is definitely a virtue since there really is no accurate way of putting any sort of time limit on how long it will take to cycle your tank....heck, you could cycle two tank side by side and one might be a bit faster than the other.

Don't get me wrong though, those few items are tiny in comparison to the benifits of fishless cycling...and I also suggest it as the best, less-stressful method (on both your fish, and yourself).

 

[john hadfield]

Thanks for the wellcome and the replys.I have had the tank for 4 weeks,put water in with added condisioner and some Elodea out of my pond.Started testing the water with a Tetrachec 5 in 1 test strips(no ammonia test strips)nitrite 0 nitrate 10 pH 7.0.After 1 week nitrite spiked at 3 nitrate went up to 50 pH 6.8.Added 5 Cardinals and 5 Rummynose Tetras,atfer another week nitrite 0,nitrate dropped to 25 pH still 6.8 all readings stayed the same for a further week until test strips run out.Replaced test strips with API Master liquid tests.Readings now Ammonia 0.Nitrite 0.Nitrate 6.but the pH reads 7.6 is this normal.P.S. I have activated carbon containers on the top of my uplift tubes should they remain there all the time.