[NYGreatLakes]

I'm very impressed with this forum and this is my first posting....
starting a new 55 gal tank and planning on 75lbs of LR and 3" of CC with under gravel filtration w/ 3, 350 g/h powerheads to run the filtration. Will the under gravel filtration aid in the bacteria production and duplicate a DSB? Would this system enhance a standard DSB and be more efficent than a base of of CC? This would be my starting point and would start the cycling process from here.

[Ninong]

Hi NYGreatLakes, welcome to Reefland!

Virtually no one uses under-gravel filtration in marine aquaria these days. It has been out of favor for more than a decade for very good reasons.

Not many people would set up a tank with 3" of crushed coral. Crushed coral is quite uncommon, at least in this country, in reef tanks. Some European hobbyists, and a few American hobbyists, use very shallow substrates of crushed coral but they are in the minority.

The majority of hobbyists use aragonite sand for substrates in reef aquaria. There are differing opinions on the best particle sizes and the optimum depth depending on your intended inhabitants and the forcefulness of your water currents.

[kbsig106]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Hi NYGreatLakes, welcome to Reefland!

Virtually no one uses under-gravel filtration in marine aquaria these days. It has been out of favor for more than a decade for very good reasons.

I've been using a UGF for 20 months in my 30G and have had zero problems - I must be the status quo. I have been thinking of switching to a different system as I progress in the hobby. My question is this - could I just cap the UGF and move on w/o removing the UGF. I don't want to cause havoc in my tank by trying to remove the UGF - If I had to do that, it would be like starting from scratch in my opinion.

Thanks in advance.

BTW - I lost my Mandarin that I had for a year. During Hurricane Jeanne, we lost power for 2 days. I had a air stone on a UPS back-up, but the Mandarin jumped out of the tank THREE times. I was lucky to save him twice, but the thrid jump was his last. Believe it or not, I lost nothing else due to the power outage..... I'm sure others were no so lucky.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by kbsig106

My question is this - could I just cap the UGF and move on w/o removing the UGF.

No.

If I had to do that, it would be like starting from scratch in my opinion.

Just about.