My mistake. I should have written "plate- and foam-type filters." The foam
filters I was referring to were those made by Jungle. They come (or came)
in two sizes and shapes - a small, circular model (the Junior Dirt
Magnet)and a larger triangular model (Senior Dirt Magnet). I purchased some
about a year ago so I assume they are still being manufactured.
They're really simple. The foam fits around a small plastic cylinder. Air
goes into the top of the cylinder and exits through in a tube around the
airline. Slots in the base of the cylinder allow water movement through the
foam. Filter could sit on top of gravel, but I always buried mine in a
corner to get filtration through a portion of the gravel in the tank (what
portion I cannot say but I assume about a third of the area in small tanks).
Every few months I dig it up and and squeeze it out under running water.
When used this way, its better to have coarse gravel to keep the slots in
the base from getting clogged.
According to my memories of the filter's packaging in the 60's, it was
supposed to filter by "rotifer action." My own sponge squeezings do contain
some rotifers, but mostly I've seen ciliate protozans, so I assume most
filtration is by protists and bacteria.
I do not know too many people who use these anymore, but the largest
aquarium store in St.Petersburg Florida (in the 1960's) used nothing but
dirt magnets in all their tanks.
- Jan
-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Sinclair
Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2000 9:11 AM
To: nanfa_at_aquaria.net
Subject: Re: NANFA-- Plate and foam type?
Jan:
I'm not familiar with a "plate and foam (dirt magnet) UGF. I have
UGFs on two aquaria, a 10 gallon and a 20, but they simply provide
a space beneath the gravel and operate with powerheads on vertical
tubes. Please explain, as the foregoing is the only type I'm aware of
at my local aquaria shop.
Thanks.
Bob Sinclair
Santa Barbara CA
* * *
"Hoover, Jan J WES" wrote:
> Undergravel filters have worked pretty well for me. I use the plate and
the
> foam ("dirt magnet") types.
>
> In December I set up a 29-gal native fish tank at a school. Tank houses
> about 25 fish (minnows, madtoms, darters, sunfishes) and is
enthusiastically
> fed twice daily by 5th and 6th graders. Water is clear, pH neutral, and
> fish happy. The only filtration is a plate-type UGF.
>
> For an aquarium in a public setting, UGFs are nice because they are low
> maintenance and it is obvious when they are not working (and the problem
is
> often easily corrected). For non-aquarists, getting siphons started,
> remembering to change media, and noticing if the filter has stopped
running
> (and correcting the problem) can seem challenging.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bruce Stallsmith
> Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2000 7:59 AM
> To: nanfa_at_aquaria.net
> Subject: Re: NANFA-- Local Park Aquarium
>
> I would agree with Martin the Moore, esp. on the biowheel filters. I have
> two of them now, one on a 10 gal. and one on a 30 gal., and they are very
> efficient at keeping the water clean.
>
> --Bruce Stallsmith
> Huntsville, AL
>
> >Quoth Wade Hedgren regarding NANFA-- Local Park Aquarium:
> >
> > >
> > > Right now they have a UGF with 2 powerheads as the only filtration.
> > > So... I would like to open up the debate again... "to UGF or to not
> > > UGF".
> >
> >Sh*t-can the UGF. I abandoned these years back because you
> >cannot use enriched substrata (conducive to plant growth) with a
> >UGF. Also, fry tend to get sucked under the plates. And they're
> >just plain ugly. For small tanks I use Penguin filters with biowheels.
> >For large tanks (55gal +) go with fluidized bed.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >Prost,
> >
> >Martin
>
> ________________________________________________________________________
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>
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