Under Gravel Filter for 30 gallon aquarium?

Hello,
I am in the process of cycling a 30 gallon aquarium. I have a Seachem Tidal 35 HOB filter running right now, which I am quite happy with, except for the fact that it only pulls water from the surface, rather than from deeper in the tank.

I have an airstone that is working to better circulate the water, but I was wondering if an under-gravel filter might be a better option. Couple points: I do not plan on using this tank for breeding, so eggs getting sucked under the substrate is not a concern. Also, the one I'm looking at would be powered by the same pump I'm using now for my air stone...would there even be a difference in how well it circulates the water?

This is the one I'm looking at:
Penn Plax Premium Under Gravel Filter System - for 40-55 Gallon Fish Tanks & Aquariums, Blue (CFU55): Amazon.ca: Pet Supplies

 

Hi justintree3,
I have one under gravel filter . An interesting way of filtering a tank that’s for sure.

Is it better at circulating water than an air stone? IMO No.
Would I recommend one ?
No not really.
They are difficult to judge when they need cleaning.
In fact cleaning is most often done by gravel vacuuming . It’s impossible to know what is under the plate.
Once a year or so i have read you pull everything apart and clean under the plate.

As you have an air stone you may not need any more circulation?
Having more filtration is always a safeguard.
You could run a sponge filter that would offer circulation from the lower level and be easy to see when it needs cleaning. A very small sponge filter would offer circulation and still have room for bacteria without taking up space.

As you are already starting to cycle the tank adding an under gravel filter would most likely set back the time to a full cycle as you would need to remove all gravel.

 

Since you already have an airstone, consider getting a sponge filter instead.

Ones with coarse foam, flow more water through them compared to regular sponge filters that use fine foam.

 

Agree with Flyfisha. They're really not a good filtration to have. They're more of a PITA than others. I would highly recommend a Hang On The Back filter. They're very easy to perform maintenance on, and put very little into the tank as fars equipment goes.

 

Under gravel beds are out dated.
I also looked into them.
If you are wanting more lower too upper circulation I would place a small power head with a pre filter sponge on the inlet at the bottom part of the tank,if you can place it under your filter inlet it will draw the water from the bottom of the tank up to the filter inlet.
Also wave makers are a good way of circulating water.

 

I would highly recommend a Hang On The Back filter. They're very easy to perform maintenance on, and put very little into the tank as fars equipment goes.

Yeah, I have a HOB filter, the Tidal 35, and I love it. I was more looking into an under gravel filter not so much for actual filtration, but for moving the water from the bottom to the top, since the Tidal 35 only skims the surface.

Under gravel beds are out dated.
I also looked into them.
If you are wanting more lower too upper circulation I would place a small power head with a pre filter sponge on the inlet at the bottom part of the tank,if you can place it under your filter inlet it will draw the water from the bottom of the tank up to the filter inlet.
Also wave makers are a good way of circulating water.

I didn't even think of power heads. I'll probably either go with that, or adding another air stone in the other corner.

 

Yeah, I have a HOB filter, the Tidal 35, and I love it. I was more looking into an under gravel filter not so much for actual filtration, but for moving the water from the bottom to the top, since the Tidal 35 only skims the surface.



I didn't even think of power heads. I'll probably either go with that, or adding another air stone in the other corner.

Why not both? Lol
My 55 gallon has
2 filters rated at 90 gal and 55 gal.
2 11 in air bars and 3 stones ran by 3 pumps.
A 950 gph powerhead
And I did have my little wave maker in there as well but removed it and put it in my 135 gallon.
Powerheads are nifty.

 

Why not both? Lol
My 55 gallon has
2 filters rated at 90 gal and 55 gal.
2 11 in air bars and 3 stones ran by 3 pumps.
A 950 gph powerhead
And I did have my little wave maker in there as well but removed it and put it in my 135 gallon.
Powerheads are nifty.

That seems like an excessive amount of water movement for the fish that I plan on adding to this tank

My 55 gallon currently has the Aquaclear 70 and a canister filter rated for 120 gallon tanks. I love the Aquaclear, but I decided to try out the Tidal for this tank because of the water pump being located in the tank. Watching the container fill up with water all by itself was a moment of pure joy, akin to the feeling I had when I saw my newborn baby for the first time.

Ok, maybe not quite that feeling. But still...it made me happy.

 

That seems like an excessive amount of water movement for the fish that I plan on adding to this tank

My 55 gallon currently has the Aquaclear 70 and a canister filter rated for 120 gallon tanks. I love the Aquaclear, but I decided to try out the Tidal for this tank because of the water pump being located in the tank. Watching the container fill up with water all by itself was a moment of pure joy, akin to the feeling I had when I saw my newborn baby for the first time.

Ok, maybe not quite that feeling. But still...it made me happy.

Hahahahahahahaha, almost as good.
My 55 gallon has 3 rainbow sharks
1 bristlenose pleco
1 golden wonder killifish
2 dojo loaches
2 striped raphael cat fish(will be going into 135 gallon once bigger)
1 pepper cory cat
The tank is basically a typhoon
All the fish love it.

 

Nice.

I tend to gravitate toward the guys who naturally live in stagnant-ish water, like angelfish.

 

Nice.

I tend to gravitate toward the guys who naturally live in stagnant-ish water, like angelfish.

Haha, I tend to go after fish who like a current

 

undergravel filters are great u can clean them when u graval clean the filter they can glog up if the gravel is to fine it is recommended to use pea graval for this type of filter allot of german breeders use them and other countrys in Europe and the uk and in asia they are very good but things can go wrong with them if used incorrectly