Undergravel filtration

[miscus]

OK I am now hooked. I bought three discus on saturday for my 2 foot cube tank and am now starting to think about converting my 4 foot tank into a discus display tank. Only problem is (apart from having to rehome the Angels) is that is has an undergravel filter on it. The water is absoluetly crystal clear and the filtration works very well but would it be OK for keeping discus. There seems to be two sides to that arguement so I thought I would ask people who may have had experience with them before I commit to it. I also have a small Fluval internal filter as a backup behind the rockwall backdrop but it would not be able to filter the entire tank on its own. I would not consider not using the UGF as I can not attach an external filter to the tank due to its set up and positioning (inside a dining room wall) and would not be able to put in a larger internal filter as it would not fit behind the backdrop wall.

[flukes]

Personally i would advise against it, for some reason nitrates seem too soar with a UGF and it makes it hard to clean it.

If you have your heart set on it maybe think about a reverse flow UGF although i dont really see the poiint..

[ybabao]

I have a UGF in my 6ft tank along with 2 canister filters. This was set up for about 3 months and I had lost half of my discus. I agreed with Flukes, it's very hard to keep clean. I bought this tank off a member in the Discus Association and he swore by UGF. I am against UGF but my husband seems to want to give it a try because it is a cheap filtration. Now I hope the rest of my discus stay alive. We are waiting till end of the year before we tear the tank apart and redo it again.

[flukes]

Iam a big fan of UGF's just not with discus, they are too messy and too nitrate sensitive..

[Trebs]

It's not cheap filtration if you have to buy replacement discus.

Standard advice for a beginnner - go bare-bottom with a hang on the back if you don't have plants, canister if you do. Additional sponge filter is also a good idea.

[discussushi]

Hey Miscus,

My first community tank which firstly held four discus had a UGF, and i never had any problems, however I never once missed a weekly water change of at least a 25% w/c and sometimes twice a week.

This setup iniatially got me into breeding discus as i achieved a pair that started to lay and try to hatch in this tank.

I like UGF as long as u can keep up the w/c's and are meticulas on maintence.

James