Re: why not undergravel

I have a twin-tube UGF.

On one tube I have a Powerhead, and on the other I have an airstone through
a charcoal head.

The airstone is on a timer to come on and run at night when the lights are
out. I have deep gravel and always do a good job of vacuming.

The Amazon swords really grow some long roots so I will probably face the
problem of roots eventually, but for now I'm cool with it. By the time it's
a problem I'll be ready to change it all around.

<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> I've heard that undergravel fiters are bad for plants and bottom
> feeders, but I haven't heard why.
>
> I put an undergravel filter in my 55 gallon tank because I knew
> that it would be a nightmare to put it in after setting it up.
> I also have a charcoal filter with an intake tube and a reservoir
> which appears to be pretty standard these days.
>
> My spotted dojo and my 3 coreys seem happy.  My plants are doing well.
> I have really deep gravel.  I keep the air to the undergravel
> filter cranked down pretty low anyway.  I appreciate the sort of
> filtering it does, and it seems to help get food down to where the
> loach and the coreys want it.  The only other fish are columbian tetras,
> and they don't seem to mind.
>
> So my plants are 2 swords, 4 moneyworts and 2 of these dark
> evergreen-looking things that I don't know the name of.  All seem to be
> doing well but it's really too early to say that.
>
>