Rhan

Hi all

My family has an approx 40litre/10 gal tank that is about 10 years old. It's nothing fancy, just plain glass with a glass cover piece. Anyway, it used to have this ancient old filter that we scrapped when we changed from coldwater to tropical around 3-4 years ago. Dad, being the one in charge of the tank at the time (it slowly become my responsibility) chose a UGF and got it running. Trouble is, it wasn't until recently in my reading on fishlore that I found out the gunk needs to be cleaned from under the plate. This must sound stupid and ignorant, but we simply did not know that. I have just informed my mother tonight, and she kinda freaked out.

Anyway, we plan to clean it all out soon, probably within the week. The issue is, I want to change to a different type of filter, but she wants to stick with the UGF. I have ruled out the possbility of a HOB because the coverglass only gives about 1-2cm gap between that and the tank wall. So right now I'm browsing internal filter systems. I have been looking at these ones here:

http://www.thereefshop.com.au/index....25af76e81af294

http://www.thereefshop.com.au/index....25af76e81af294

I would like to pick the 500L/h one, but the height could be an issue. According to the Aqua one website, the 500L/h filter is 23cm high. The 400L/h one is 16cm high. My tank measures 30cm high. With gravel in, it would be about 25cm high. This is not even taking into account the water level.

Should I try and go for the 500L/h model, and risk having slight issues fitting it inside my tank (probably have to do some aquascaping with the gravel)? Or should I go for the 400L/h model, which should definetly fit in my tank?

Does anyone have any other suggestions? Or any other filters that I could look into?

I will be going into a few petshops and LFS to shop around, but I want to have an idea before just blindly walking in there. I know I'll get more reliable opinions here than in the shops themselves

All comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated Thanks!

jersey

i think the 400L/h would be fine although im new here also. that would mean it would cycle your tank 10 times an hour. thats about right although more filtration is always good. you could try out the larger one and if it wont fit nicely take it back. and get the 400 one.

Jaysee

I'm not familiar with those filters, but turning the water over 10x an hour is excellent.

Taking out an UGF is a terrific opportunity to switch to sand. I know sand can be intimidating, but it's really not.

Even if you don't switch to sand, I would highly recommend taking the fish out while you do the job.

Rhan

Thanks for the replies

I agree, 10x an hour is great, I was just considering the other one because it is only a few dollars more. The only thing I'm a little iffy on is the media it uses, according to the aqua one website, it's 'high quality foam'. I don't really want something that has media I'll need to replace regularly because of breakdown. I've just never heard of foam being used as filter media before.

Jaysee: You're right, it is a good opportunity to change to sand. I will eventually have sand in a tank, one day. The only thing is, my mother is still rooting for the using the UGF. Hopefully I can convince her otherwise.

My plan for the UGF cleaning is this:
Put tank water in bucket, take out fish and put in bucket, maybe with an airstone?
Put gravel and deco in another bucket along with more tank water
Disconnect from pump, take tank outside and clean clean clean. Going to try to use dechlorinated water to clean the tank and filter (in the case we do reuse it), but if it's really disgusting, might just have to use the hose.

Jaysee

Perhaps the beauty of sand will tip the scales in your favor