On Tue, 3 Dec 2002 15:23:16 +1100, "Tasslehoff"
wrote:

Okay I'm switching my 3' 150L(36G) community tank to a planted community
tank and was thinking about shutting down my UGF. I've also an Eheim 2213
running on it and was wondering if it would be a good idea to remove the UGF

I personally would remove it.

In a heavily planted tank, there is no good way to vacuum the
substrate. A UGF filter relies on good gravel vacuuming to remove
all the trapped detritus, unlike a power or canister filter that
removes the detritus from the tank, and gets cleaned out regularly.
If you use a UGF filter and never vacuum the substrate, then you are
allowing 100% of the detritus to break down in the tank, releasing the
nitrogen and phosphorus it contains.




Chuck Gadd
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua