i have heard good and bad things about sand.....gets dirty quicker, but i like the look of it alot better so if you combined sand with an undergravel jet system you think that it would do away with the "dead" spots?
in a way it is a network of PVC hooked to a submersible pump then has outlets "jets" pointing upwards that keep debris from reaching the bottom of your tank, because of the upward flow....
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ug_jets.php
i have undergravel jets... i'll make a write up one day again... but check out www.cichlid-forum.com and go to the article section... there's a pretty good write up... but the system is pretty fay... i have 6 tanks that have UGJ... just get a really strong powerhead... and make sure they aren't hitting any decorations or rocks...
It seems the ugj are something that a larger company would be manufacturing, much like ugf's. Why do you guys think no one has mass manufactured such systems? (this isn't rhetorical, i'm actually quite curious as it seems a lot of people would be interested in buying rather than making something like this)
very intersting, i wonder how they would work in a salt set up as current is always an issue with us.....i did see an LFS with a 90 gallon wave front tank, he had about 6 inches of crushed coral and was running 2 large UGF bed filters in reverse......i wish i had paid more attention {he's closed now} because he had very nice looking substate but more than that he had little tiny lines of bubbles coming up here and there all over the tank....so fine that from 5-6 feet away you couldn't see them....very cool looking and very natural looking..........wonder if i could do that with a sand substrate??? i don't care for the "jets" sticking up out of the substrate like in that article you posted but the idea is awsome....Boss
well i think that the reason that it is not in mass production is because depending on where you will put all of you decor for your tank you would have to place your jets in different places. you wouldnt want on of your jets under a pice of driftwood, if would then just be pointless. I plan on painting my jet system and then gluing pieces of my actual substrate to the ends so if it does stick out it would blend in better.
just make sure that you don't have alot of sand... there's like a certain level of sand that you should use... or else it will go EVERYWHERE!!!!...
i was planning some UGJ for my 180g tank... but i wanted it to be fed from my wet/dry filter... but the problem i kept getting was that incase my pump fails all of my water was going to drain... so i planned a small spray bar on top of the tank before the pipes go straight to the bottom...
OMG i think i'm going to put UGJ on my reef tank i'm going to setup in my living room... thanks snowboss... i just read your post... i was planning on getting 4 powerheads for the tank, but instead i'll get two and a huge ocean runner pump for 6 UGJs...
i will make one instead of buy one so i no that i made it and thats the fun of keeping my fish tanks i think they are kool but you might not need it but it is cool to watch your fish swim against them
Nice setup gumbii. Is that real slate for your b ackground or is it styrofoam? Just wondering because that filter looks perfect! I used the same playsand in my 29g fw, does it seem to mess up the filter at all in your setup? Also how do those jets do with that fine sand does it blow it around alot?
Just wondering because my new whisper filter has been actin up so I took out the propeller the other day and noticed the magnet was cracked. I'm gonna say it's because I had the intake tube too low and got sand in it. So I took out a part of the intake tube and made it higher up and it has seemed to be workin fine (so far).
My play sand gets pretty shitty after a while (literally) so I was thinking of making one of these underground jet systems. Although I would end up putting it in my 55 gallon when I get it instead of taking my whole 29g apart and finding places to store the fish while its in maintanence. Anyways I've been babbling for a while now so I guess it's time to go lol.
PS: What in the world do you use that fingernail for?
yeah i cut the intake tube as much as i could... i even cut the U-bent intake pipe so the midwater strainer is higher to the survace... and from there it's only held by a small part of the mid pipe to the main strainer... you get what i'm saying...???
yes that is real slate on my back-ground... i had to crack some of it up to make it fit with the center glass brace... but it's pretty simple really... just slate and silicone... pretty simple really... but it's gorgeous now with all of the algae growing on it...
and as for the fingernails... LOL... i let all of my fingernails grow long and pointy... then i paint them black sometimes... lol...
i would highly recomend a UGJ setup with sand... my sand is always spottless... ALWAYS!!!... just remember to have 100-150gph per jet...
