Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

LeighMo wrote in message
...
Incorrect. It's not a complication, it's a different system. With a UGF
it
is possible to keep your substrate really, really clean and extend the
viable lifespan of an aquarium system for years longer than is possible
with
a static media bed where materials build up which eventually contribute
to
the deterioration and ultimate demise of the system.

I agree...if you're talking about a non-planted tank. I kept tanks for
years
-- decades, even -- with UGFs. But with plants, they're an impediment,
not a
help.

The last thing you want in a planted tank is "really clean substrate."
Plants
like dirty gravel, preferably slightly anaerobic. (The absorb nutrients
better
that way.) In a healthy planted tank, you don't need the clean the gravel,
even
without a UGF. Eventually, you will have to replant the tank, because the
substrate will get rootbound. But that has nothing to do with dirt in the
gravel. If you use a substrate with is never exhausted, like Flourite,
there
won't be any deterioration or demise.

If you want to keep your gravel really, really clean, then yes, you can't
beat
a UGF for that. If you want to grow plants, it's a needless complication.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/