As you may recall from the way I design my undergravel filters I clean them by draining water from the network of PVC I place under the filter. In this way I never have to disassemble the "permanent" filter. I also do occasional gravel vacs to remove some of the mulm. Thanks Fred O
Hey Fred! So many ways to make UGs. Experienced aquarists such as yourself have come up with so many variants. Systems that work well and more importantly they don't mind cleaning. I probably won't ever exhaust all of the filter possibilities but I will give it a go lol. I've actually been thinking of doing a version similar to yours. I will probably not do the whole tank setup but a more contained one. Hope you have a great weekend!
You know that lovely soup you have now I’ve been using that from my canisters to water my garden plants and they have really taken off it’s like a real good plant food👍🏻
Same I think it cause growing up my parents had one in the living room tank and it seemed to simple and old. Now in 2021 everyone keeping shrimp has one so time to bite the bullet and get one for my shrimp tank👍
Nice video Fishman we don’t really clean our UG we just try to keep the tank in a good state of chemistry and balance and let it rock....we had a few that went about 4 years before we tore them down to change the tank and probably would have gone longer if we weren’t changing the design....love em and totally think they are the best always!!!!
I love your videos. In this case I find a sponge filter a lot easier to remove and clean. A mattern filter for example, or having sponge in a HOB or in my systems I use sumps with sponge (Poret foam)
👍I feel less guilty now I can't remember the last time I cleaned one of my DIY filters it's a big jam jar full of gravel topped with a tube of green pond sponge like you used on your rolling barrel to above the water with a power head and spray bar works great but it drops so much gunk when I remove it I even put it in a cotton bag a idea for yours a short piece of tube to above the gravel but below the rim glued in and clip on lid for cleaning time
Aha we’ve come full circle! This baseplate looks much better 👏😌 I wonder if the openings should be smaller or spaced further apart right near the vertical pipe, so there’s equal suction, probs only makes a difference if you have a tiny airpump 😋
Unfortunately turtles are quite messy and some are diggers. If you use one of the capped versions I put together, it would work for the biological part of the filtration. You would need a mechanical filter on top of that though. It's the same sort of setup I use in my pleco breeding tank, as they are very messy too. Hope that helps and thanks for watching!
These trays can be added to any tanks style. For dirted tanks, installation will be messy if you want it below the substrate level. Once the tank settles and if you keep as much of the soil from getting into the UG, it will work great. Thanks for watching!
Sorry, I didn't understand: why did you clean the filter? Was something bad? Have you tested the water parameters and they were bad? On what basis did you decide to clean the filter?
When I first set the filter up, I had said at that time I would clean it at the two year mark. The premise being that after that much time it would be a good indicator of how good it was at avoiding the plugging issue old style UG filters had. Hope that helps
I have always been a fan of UG filters. But I can't use gravel in one of my tanks. My salamanders are not smart enough to not eat gravel. I have heard about setting up a UG with landscape fabric and sand. Has anyone ever tried this?
That's how I run mine and with that much water flow the muck never gets a chance to build up. Also, when using the canister filter you have the option to run the whole thing in reverse. That is, you can connect the output (clean water) from the canister to go down the pipe under the gravel filter and have the clean water push up through the gravel. This is known as a reverse under gravel filter. This is another way to stop your gravel from ever looking mucky like his did in the video. But, this will increase maintenance frequency of the canister because it'll be doing all of the muck filtering with its sponges. However, the maintenance will be no more than if you were running the canister normally with the added benefit of not having to do gravel cleaning with a siphon.
That's interesting... I always taught that the mulm was a high concentration of NO3. Would you say that the mulm is rich in Nitrogen, but not in NO3 form? What exactly is mulm composition and why/how it can break down? Thank you very much for your generosity. @@FishmanEricRussell
@@FishmanEricRussell Hey! I forgot I had watched this video 7 months ago lol I have a suggestion for your UGF builds. I've been using UGF's for at least 22 years now. I always prop them up higher than they come (I tend to stick with Penn-Plax). I increase the size of the plenum as it were. With your small box style UGF's I'd make the gap underneath at least ¾ to an inch high. That's going to reduce how fast and how much mulm can buildup under there. Also, if you're running them on air (so a fairly slow water flow) then when it's time to clean one try connecting it to a power head or a high flow pump (say 600gph) to suck the excess mulm out and clear any blockages. This is what I do with my Betta tanks where I drive my UGF's with air to keep the water more still. I use pumps to drive all the UGF's in my large tanks. I have a 75gal fancy goldfish aquarium that I've been running for 12 years and have never had to break it down. The UGF is propped up 2½ inches from the bottom so I can shine light in there and look. It's never gotten a blockage.
@@joshuaewalker Hey Joshua! Those are some great suggestions. In the next round of work on UGs I will try these out. Thanks for taking the time to put this together!
Good video. Thank you. I have used them before and had good luck with them. I have been trying for some time to find one of the old Diatom filters. I believe my old one was based on a pickle jar with the inlet and outlet hoses and the pump motor on top of the jar. Have not been able to find one online. If you know where they are available, I would be grateful. Best wishes.
Thanks, and thanks for watching! I think it was the vortex brand that had the pickle bottle style. When I posted the diatom videos, there were a number of people who said they could find them online. I never could though. Sorry.
As you may recall from the way I design my undergravel filters I clean them by draining water from the network of PVC I place under the filter. In this way I never have to disassemble the "permanent" filter. I also do occasional gravel vacs to remove some of the mulm. Thanks Fred O
Hey Fred! So many ways to make UGs. Experienced aquarists such as yourself have come up with so many variants. Systems that work well and more importantly they don't mind cleaning. I probably won't ever exhaust all of the filter possibilities but I will give it a go lol. I've actually been thinking of doing a version similar to yours. I will probably not do the whole tank setup but a more contained one. Hope you have a great weekend!
Thanks for the video and insight,
Jim
Thank you for taking the time to watch!
you designs are fantastic and well thought out. I really wish i could get filters like that
Thanks so much!
You know that lovely soup you have now I’ve been using that from my canisters to water my garden plants and they have really taken off it’s like a real good plant food👍🏻
ya all my tank water goes to my plants and garden
So true! Thanks for coming by!
Man that's so freaking simple it's mind blowing!!! It's one filter I have never tried, I think it's about time.
Hey Don! You'll love them once you give it a try. One of those great filters that are pretty much a set and forget.
Same I think it cause growing up my parents had one in the living room tank and it seemed to simple and old.
Now in 2021 everyone keeping shrimp has one so time to bite the bullet and get one for my shrimp tank👍
Nice video Fishman we don’t really clean our UG we just try to keep the tank in a good state of chemistry and balance and let it rock....we had a few that went about 4 years before we tore them down to change the tank and probably would have gone longer if we weren’t changing the design....love em and totally think they are the best always!!!!
This one didn't need it either. I just wanted to do the two year update. Thanks so much for coming by guys!
Coming through to show support. Full watch and view!
Much appreciated!
Thanks for the great vid! I’m making one!
Cool! Would love to see it!
I love your videos. In this case I find a sponge filter a lot easier to remove and clean. A mattern filter for example, or having sponge in a HOB or in my systems I use sumps with sponge (Poret foam)
All good filters. As I always say with maintenance do what works for you and what you actually don't mind doing. Thanks for coming by!
Well that is a very cool filter! Catches lots of debris!
Thanks so much Ash!
Thanks for this
Your welcome!
👍I feel less guilty now I can't remember the last time I cleaned one of my DIY filters it's a big jam jar full of gravel topped with a tube of green pond sponge like you used on your rolling barrel to above the water with a power head and spray bar works great but it drops so much gunk when I remove it I even put it in a cotton bag a idea for yours a short piece of tube to above the gravel but below the rim glued in and clip on lid for cleaning time
Some of them can sure go quite a while between cleanings for sure. Thanks for watching!
Tank you.🌼
Much appreciated!
Aha we’ve come full circle! This baseplate looks much better 👏😌 I wonder if the openings should be smaller or spaced further apart right near the vertical pipe, so there’s equal suction, probs only makes a difference if you have a tiny airpump 😋
I still tinker with this design a little but overall I like how the new versions are working out. Thanks for coming by!
I would like to see the old video on how to build this filter it looks very interesting thanks
Glad you like it! Here you go th-cam.com/video/y42h7jKyJuQ/w-d-xo.html
Hello... i have learned a lot from you so thank you.
My question is do you think one of these would work for 55gal turtles tank?
Unfortunately turtles are quite messy and some are diggers. If you use one of the capped versions I put together, it would work for the biological part of the filtration. You would need a mechanical filter on top of that though. It's the same sort of setup I use in my pleco breeding tank, as they are very messy too. Hope that helps and thanks for watching!
Lol..."Way more than id wipe it down because uh making videos" your awesome!
Thanks so much! Glad you like what I do here!
Can this be done with heavily planted freshwater tanks that use dirt substrates, or only with inert gravel substrates?
These trays can be added to any tanks style. For dirted tanks, installation will be messy if you want it below the substrate level. Once the tank settles and if you keep as much of the soil from getting into the UG, it will work great. Thanks for watching!
This is nice, but how do I clean the build up under the undergravel filter in a 40 gallons with plants and fish?
That's why I made these, to avoid that problem. Unfortunately there is no easy way
I remember using a gravel vac on UG.
Yes. You can gravel vac an UG. That's pretty much what I'm doing here. Just taking it out to is all.Thanks for watching.
It’s well designed filter do you have to completely drain the tank to remove it?
Glad you like it! No. You just pull it out
@@FishmanEricRussell cool
Sorry, I didn't understand: why did you clean the filter? Was something bad? Have you tested the water parameters and they were bad? On what basis did you decide to clean the filter?
When I first set the filter up, I had said at that time I would clean it at the two year mark. The premise being that after that much time it would be a good indicator of how good it was at avoiding the plugging issue old style UG filters had. Hope that helps
I have always been a fan of UG filters. But I can't use gravel in one of my tanks. My salamanders are not smart enough to not eat gravel. I have heard about setting up a UG with landscape fabric and sand. Has anyone ever tried this?
You certainly can. Think of it as a matten filer that's laying down. Thanks for coming by!
What do you do with the fish while doing this? I thought fish needed partial water changes for the healthy bacteria
Nothing. They stay in the tank. That's the nice thing about this style of filter. I just pull it out and clean it
I was thinking about hooking a canister filter to a gravel bed, what do you think?
That's how I run mine and with that much water flow the muck never gets a chance to build up. Also, when using the canister filter you have the option to run the whole thing in reverse. That is, you can connect the output (clean water) from the canister to go down the pipe under the gravel filter and have the clean water push up through the gravel. This is known as a reverse under gravel filter. This is another way to stop your gravel from ever looking mucky like his did in the video. But, this will increase maintenance frequency of the canister because it'll be doing all of the muck filtering with its sponges. However, the maintenance will be no more than if you were running the canister normally with the added benefit of not having to do gravel cleaning with a siphon.
@@joshuaewalker cool good to know it works
UGs will work with in many configurations. Drawing water through one with a canister filter would work great
5:37 I would love to see a nitrate testing of that dirty water and compare it to the clear water you got in the tank before disturbing the bottom.
The nitrates throughout the tank test as less than 10 ppm. The mulm in the filter doesn't test higher unless it breaks down
That's interesting... I always taught that the mulm was a high concentration of NO3.
Would you say that the mulm is rich in Nitrogen, but not in NO3 form?
What exactly is mulm composition and why/how it can break down?
Thank you very much for your generosity.
@@FishmanEricRussell
That poor little bug :(
Lol
Every time I clean a filter I dislodge so many tiny things that were calling it home. Can't be helped lol. Thanks for watching!
@@FishmanEricRussell
Hey! I forgot I had watched this video 7 months ago lol
I have a suggestion for your UGF builds. I've been using UGF's for at least 22 years now. I always prop them up higher than they come (I tend to stick with Penn-Plax). I increase the size of the plenum as it were. With your small box style UGF's I'd make the gap underneath at least ¾ to an inch high. That's going to reduce how fast and how much mulm can buildup under there. Also, if you're running them on air (so a fairly slow water flow) then when it's time to clean one try connecting it to a power head or a high flow pump (say 600gph) to suck the excess mulm out and clear any blockages. This is what I do with my Betta tanks where I drive my UGF's with air to keep the water more still. I use pumps to drive all the UGF's in my large tanks. I have a 75gal fancy goldfish aquarium that I've been running for 12 years and have never had to break it down. The UGF is propped up 2½ inches from the bottom so I can shine light in there and look. It's never gotten a blockage.
@@joshuaewalker Hey Joshua! Those are some great suggestions. In the next round of work on UGs I will try these out. Thanks for taking the time to put this together!
That was a lot of gunk down there 🙄
No kidding Joe! Great seeing you!
*A comment.*
A reply. Lol! Thanks for watching!
@@FishmanEricRussell Thats how we do. ;D
Good video. Thank you. I have used them before and had good luck with them. I have been trying for some time to find one of the old Diatom filters. I believe my old one was based on a pickle jar with the inlet and outlet hoses and the pump motor on top of the jar. Have not been able to find one online. If you know where they are available, I would be grateful. Best wishes.
Thanks, and thanks for watching! I think it was the vortex brand that had the pickle bottle style. When I posted the diatom videos, there were a number of people who said they could find them online. I never could though. Sorry.
Yes, it was the Vortex brand. Unable to find any so far.