Sand With Ug Filter?

[Tag2008]

Hi Guys,

Im thinking of putting argos play sand in my small tank after reading a thread on it and I wondered if I can add this with the small Undergravel filter thats in there ran by a small air pump? Or with this pull through all the sand?

Also if I put in the sand will I have to cycle this tank again as I will loose everything in the gravel or will the bacteria in the filter be enought?

I still have no fish in this tank and am still feeding with ammonia to keep the bacteria I have going untill I decide what to do.

Thoughts are appreciated.

 

[minxfishy]

I believe from everything Ive read that you cant use sand with UGF's - sorry .

 

[Tag2008]

I believe from everything Ive read that you cant use sand with UGF's - sorry .

Hi, Yes thats what im thinking too..

I tried it once before using a power head on the UGF and it just sucked the sand through all the time...so I wondered if the UGF was ran by just an airstone would the same happen?

Thanks again

 

[tyyrlym]

Yes, it'll happen no matter what you do. The slats in the UGF are too wide and will let sand pour down into the plenum beneath the plates. They'll clog up even more than they would normally do. The airstone might not pull as hard as a powerhead and blast sand out into the aquarium but the sand will prevent the UGF from operating properly.

A UGF will simply not function with a sand substrate.

 

[Ficious]

hmmm no kidding huh?

 

[OldMan47]

The second half of the question is would you need to start the cycle again. The simple answer is yes. Because an undergravel filter uses the substrate as the filter media, if you remove the media you have no cycle. The plastic plates just hold the gravel off the tank bottom so you can get water to flow down to the space under the plastic plate and back up the filter tube. The undergravel filters made in the 1960s had smaller slots in them so you could use them with a coarse sand but those days are gone and the new ones are made to be used with gravel.

 

[Tag2008]

The second half of the question is would you need to start the cycle again. The simple answer is yes. Because an undergravel filter uses the substrate as the filter media, if you remove the media you have no cycle. The plastic plates just hold the gravel off the tank bottom so you can get water to flow down to the space under the plastic plate and back up the filter tube. The undergravel filters made in the 1960s had smaller slots in them so you could use them with a coarse sand but those days are gone and the new ones are made to be used with gravel.

Thanks OldMan,

This tank also has its own Juwel in built filter with sponges as well as the undergravel filter, will there not be enough bacteria in there to keep it going?