Tropical Fish Undergravel Filter

  Fitting an undergravel filter. An undergravel filter consists of plates underneath the gravel. An undergravel filter cleans the water. The gravel needs to be washed thouroughly.

   Now we can start to prepare the tank ready to introduce the fish to there new home. The tank needs to be setup and left for a few days to stabalise. You can buy backdrops that stick to the back of the tank which look very nice but also stop you seeing straight through the tank and give the tropical fish a sense of being in the natural environment. There are different types of filtration systems to use and if you decide to use an undergravel filter (UGF) now is the time to put it in. Tropical fish tanks need filters to keep the water clean and free from biological waste products. Undergravel filters work by putting plates beneath the gravel and then water is drawn through the plates by fitting a powerhead to a tube and attaching into a hole in the filter then the water is sucked down through the filter back up the tube and back into the tank. These filters take minimal amount of maintanance to look after but should be cleaned with a gravel vacuum periodically.
  Next place the filter into the base of the tank and add the gravel. The gravel really needs to be washed right through. Put the gravel in a bucket or bowl and place it under running water, keep stirring and turning the gravel over until the water runs clean. When you think its clean wash it again! There is more dust and dirt in the gravel than you would ever think and what you don't want to do is fill the tank with water only to find that it starts to go cloudy from all the debrise left in the gravel and you have to empty it and start again. Once this is done then pour the gravel into the tank, if you have chosen to use an undergravel filter then the gravel needs to be sloped from the front of the tank to the back. You need to have about two centimetres at the front going up to about five centimetres at the back and leveled out so you end up with a nice smooth surface.