I looked up "new tank syndrome" on thekrib.com, and I find someone has
a whole
other *mechanical* definition. To me, UGFs are loaches and daphnia.
Rumour has it that it's hard to keep loaches out of an aerated
subterranean region. They're bottom-feeders, right? They also like
bubbles. I've found that my variety of Daphnia are about the same way.
So, perhaps I should hav two aerated undergravel regions, one with a
big leak in it for the loaches, the other with food in it other than
silt for the daphnia. Maybe they should be transparent.

So, to me, a UGF is a gravity-fed aerobic region under the gravel --
nothing but a plate under the gravel, perhaps 3/4 of an inch high,
coupled with an air-stone column that reaches to the brim of the tank,
18" in my case. Without animals in there, the region will collect silt
for plants, so if you leave it alone, then roots will get into it. If
you vacuum it out, then you can mix this silt into the potting soil of
your plants, especially the ones in a 10" vase. To the usual sense of
filter, it's not a filter at all, being gravity powered.

Silt isn't much different from biologically active clay.

Personally, though, my tank is devoid of silt. I thot of causing
precipitation with magnesium hydroxide, but the concept lacks control
and purpose. Sure, I'd get biologically active talc-based silt. I'm
sure that would be a big hairy deal for the carp, but I don't hav
carp, anymore. They were eating my plants. A subterranean region seems
like a prerequisite.

In any case, I was looking for an article on new tank syndrome on
wikipedia, and I found that it's not around. Has anyone support or
argument with my web page going on wikipedia as a starting point.
_______
a href="http://ecn.ab.ca/~brewhaha/New_Tank_Syndrome.htm"NTS/a