# All-in-one Airstoneless Undergravel Filter project



## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

Well here is what I did, i converted my 10gal undergravel filter into an airstoneless Mechanical/Biological/Chemical Undergravel Filter.

List of Materials

1 - 10gal. Lee's Undergravel filter kit
1 - Powerhead (airbubble blowing type)
1 - very small diameter waterbottle (arrowhead sport)
1 - chisel
1 - Exacto
1 - 10gal tank
10lbs. coarse gravel
Activated Charcoal
Floss Filter material (the fluffly stuff)

Start out by washing the tank

Then Pull everything out of the 10gal Lee's Undergravel Kit. Find the 2 black undergravel supports and then arrange them in the tank properly i.e. the two uplift holes are in opposite corners. Mark the sides where they meet in the middle.

Next take the undergravel supports out, using the exacto or clippers or scissors cut out the marked bottom walls of both pieces making sure to leave a "leg" or "support" piece of plastic in the middle. (basically cut out as much of the of the plastic you think you can get away with without compromising the structure.) Also punch out the holes for the connecting uplift tube.

Now take the waterbottle, remove the lid and toss it. Use the chisel to shave off the threads.

Install the uplift connector tubes (these are the ones with the three prongs on the bottom) on one do not install the gromit.

Take the bottle and put the top into the connector tube with out the gromit. Mark the area 2" below what you think your water level is going to be. then take the bottle out and cut around the circumference at the level of your mark.

Now take your power head, and the straight uplift tube (long tube with no prongs) Install the straight uplift tube in to the connector tube with the gromit. Adjust it so you are sure it is definetly not touching the bottom. (if it touches bottom this will restrict flow) Now stick the powerhead in at the level it should be next to the straight uplift tube, so that it can still blow bubbles. mark the height on the striaght uplift tube.

take straight uplift tube out, and powerhead. cut the straight uplift tube around the circumference at the mark you made. After the cut, reinstall the straight uplift tube, and attach your powerhead.

Install the bottle top, stick enough filterfloss in so that charcoal won't fall through into the undergravel filter. Stick in Charcoal. Top it off with atleast 1/2" or 1" of gravel (enough so your fish can't pick at the charcoal)

Wash your gravel, and dump into tank. Make sure you have more gravel toward the rear of your tank (the imaginary line between the two uplift tubes) and the side that has the powerhead on it. this will ensure an even flow through out the system.

Fill with treated water.

I've got the set up, up and running. No fish until it cycles the hard way. There is a definite flow through the undergravel and the bottle top chem filter. I'll get pics on when I can, and I'll give you guys an update on how well this works out.

Screw it.. I'm gonna buy me another bottle of Seachem Stability (I hate waiting)


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

How often will you change out the charcoal?


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

Most likely as often as i change out the pads for the Emperor 500 I got, so it'll be once every other month. Since the bottle is easily removed it would be a matter of just pulling it out, turning it upside down into a trash can and reseting it with filter floss, charcoal, and a topping of gravel.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

Picture of tank new 10gal.









Here is the Powerhead and how it should look like when set up









Here is the Charcoal filter and how it should look like when set up.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

hm, well thats a new approach. Hybrid box/UG filter. Let us know how it works. 

I would like to see it upsidedown & backwards. So it would suck through first through floss, then carbon and blow out through the gravel. 

With your set up I suspect the charcoal/floss will stay pristine as the water flows around it through the gravel.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

fyi, powerheads on UG filters work fine, also on sponge filters. haven't tried them on box filters, but no reason they wouldn't, right?


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

I like the idea but I think I would eliminate the charcoal and just use gravel. I just don't like charcoal. It will only work for a few days then start leaching toxins back into your tank. The only time I ever use it is when I'm trying to get some medication out of the tank after treating sick fish.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

here is the beauty of this set up, the gravel is being sucked through, so is that diy chem filter. UG filter is working as it should with the added benifit of chem filtration.


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

Tosh- I understand what you have done but I have one big question:

Why?

UG filtration is the technology of four decades ago. Why not just use a modern HOB or canister-style filter? No matter how you modify UG, you've still got a system that mucks up the gravel, requires regular heavy overhaul, and is truly unsightly. There are no big benefits to it either.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Reverse-flow with a pre-filter. In theory, it wouldn't muck up the gravel and it uses the gravel surface as bio-filter media. 

I haven't actually tried one, though. I just keep taking the gravel out of tanks and not get around to putting it back. It seems a waste to have all that surface area just sitting there collecting muck.


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## Guest (Jul 18, 2009)

i like the setup....but where i am lost is where is the chemical filteration? and also, if there is suction via the UGF, wont the gravel get dirty with the muck and gunk getting pulled underneath? also is this something that would work with planted tanks? i dont think it would......the roots would get pulled into the UGF and kill them right?


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## Guest (Jul 18, 2009)

ok help me here coz am a lil confused.....

the powerhead sucks up water via the UGF and throws it out right? the bottle acts as a prefilter and an intake correct? which then means the water is passing right though the UGF and out the power head? 

am i getting this correct?


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

If this is what you mean Zakk then yes.








yes the gravel get's mucked up that is the whole point of a UG system, it pulls destris, poop, and what not into the gravel to be eaten by the baterial colony. The entire gravel bed is one huge biofilter. Chemical Filtration comes with the DIY filtration charcoal pod thingy I made out of the waterbottle top. It's got filterfloss on the bottom, charcoal next, and then some gravel (oh stick some type of barrier/screen on the thing, fish are stupid and get stuck not cause they get sucked so hard into it, but they just to stupid to swim up) Water is being drawn through gravel and through pod via the powerhead.

I've done more research into Undergravel filtration and it seems I can get away with near 1yr without having to worry about cleaning the thing so long as it is a light bioload. guppy fry/platy fry/ 1 small ryoken should be considered a light load.

As for the why.... 
1.) This only cost $35 to set up. Brand new tank, and equipment out the door.
2.) It's really only going to be my hospital/fry tank
3.) HOB/Canister Filters aren't very fry friendly
4.) UG filters and plants don't mix, Goldfish and Plants don't mix so that is no brainer. (might try sticking potted plants in tho')
5.) I *HATE* air stones, air lines, air pumps, pressure regulators, and check valves. (remembers when he was little getting the air system to function correctly it kept him broke for near 5 months and it was LOUD and unsightly and complicated cause my little sister insisted on having a diver dan in there and I wanted a treasure chest. Nothing worse than having a 40 gal drain cause you didn't know about checkvalves in the 4th grade. OH and I'm gonna say this cause I can!!!! *and back when I was in the 4th grade, we didn't have the internet so finding information was a real pain, especially because the libraries didn't have computers to keep track of what they got.* AHAHAH, I can say that lmfao)

If this project doesn't work out (system doesn't keep nice water compared to my 50gal. w/ 25gal sump tank) I can always just go buy and run a sponge filter or something.


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## Guest (Jul 18, 2009)

what i am considering is this: 

a tank with a convex bottom with a one inch opening in the middle. covered with gravel. hole connected to a tube running through a 3 stage filger: Sand, Gravel and Coal in a controlled amount into a 15gl sump. this then pumped up via a powerhead to abox overflow inlet.

Reasoning:

i prefer planted tanks and a UGF will not help with that. no reasearch shows that this is a good idea. 

i dont like the look of a power head in the tank as it basically a sore eye IMO.

the over flow box keeps the water surface broken and helps with the release of CO2 but, i wouldnt do much for that owning i prefer a planted system. this will also help break the surface and remove the filament that forms on the surface with planted tanks.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

This is the 50gal. show I have









Underneith the armoire is the 25gal that I turned into a refugium/sump thingy.
I've got a DIY overflow box in the 50gal. the intake tube runs directly into my Emperor 500 that's sitting in the 25gal. Then I got a Magdrive 250pump to get the water back up into the main tank. As you can see my pleco ate alot of my plants so he got returned to the fish store yesterday, but essentially once the left hand side of my tank grows back in again the overflow box will be hidden once again.


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## Guest (Jul 18, 2009)

nice.... but this will still need gravel vacs right? am tryin to get rid of the need to gravel vac.....which is my biggest PITA.....with what am thinking is that i pick up stability *blink blink* an LFS ACTUALLY has stock of it here, dump it into the gravel/sand subrate and go with the hole in the bottom option. the hole will need a suction to pull the poop and gunk through it, the bacteria do the work, the poop comes out the bottom and gets filtred out in the 3 stage......clean water pumped back in

 you see where am goin with this? if this does work, i'll just need to worry about WC and that to 30% a week compared to the 50 that am doin right now.....though this is just in theory.....


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Plants w/ UGFs generally stick their roots through the plate to get to the yummy waste down below. Its fine if you never want to move the plants or lift the plate to suck up the waste. Most planted tanks people just say no to UGFs. But some use them and just write off the busted roots. Good maintenance of a tank with a UGF means regular gravel-washing. The only exception seems to be a tank with lots and lots of plants to take out the nitrates as the solid waste breaks down. Gravel-wash a portion with every water change, don't wait a year. Also gravel washing means no layered substrate like often used in planted tanks because it mixes it up.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

yeah, this 50gal. you see up top is not UG. and I don't gravel vac it cause I like my plants where they are. What I do, do once a week is lightly vaccum the surface of the substrate to remove any poop and what not that's built up on the bottom. Under no circumstance will I do a gravel vac cause I'll uproot my plants.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

your idea sounds easy enough, you just might have to install a secondary pump on your canisterfilter's returnline to up the GPH enough that it sucks hard enough to pull poop completly through the gravel. Maybe even go so far as remove the canister filter's pump completly for a beefier pond pump kinda thing on the return line. idk. Only real problem I can see is too much GPH being put out by your output nozzels. Might have to diffuse the GPH through multiple outputs otherwise you might have fish pressed against the glass. lol =)


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## Guest (Jul 19, 2009)

the idea is simple enough.....cost effectiveness and intial investement works out to be a hell of a more than i got in hand right now. the bottom of the tank needs to be alteadt 3/4th of an inch thick and the hole needs to be dead centre....i just got back from a glass factory near here and the concave glass work alone will cost me roughly 100$ ie 4500 INR. this in turn needs a custom stand as well which will be in the shape of the bottom on the tank to support the weight. this wood cant be anything lesser than 2inches thick......so am looking at close to 75$ or 3500INR for the stand. total for tank and stand: 9000INR or 200USD. not considering expenses for fishes, gravel, filter media, holder, powerheads and pipes.

maybe in time.....not now.....in a couple of months. for now i think i'll just do a sandsubtrate with an over layer of gravel, let the plants take root and add the fish in about 3 weeks time.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

why insist on concave bottom? Flat bottom will bring cost down considerably.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

Woot, tank has been completly cycled for 2 days now. Everyone happy and swimming. Ryukin has developed a wierd spot tho. Please check out diseases section to help me out.


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