I want to start a new planted tank and was thinking of using the undergravel filter with a piece of very fine mesh stainless steel screen placed on top of the filter plates and siliconed to the sides of the tank so fine plant growing substrate doesn't get sucked through it. I'm thinking that the problem with this is that nutrients will not be sealed in the substraight and enter the water column causing algae problems. I want to do this if there is an advantage such as ability to bring nutrients to the roots, the decreace in anaerobic bacterial growth, etc. I use UGF's with powerheads for my 2 other planted tanks and the plants are fine, but these are Java moss and fern, anubias and amazon sword which apart from the sword can derive most if not all their nutrients from the water. I am planning on having 1/3 of the tank have bare gravel, 1/3 of the tank have grass, and 1/3 of the tank have plants on wood, rocks, and large plants grown in the substraight. I'm about to go ahead with this tank, as I have all but the UGF ready, but I probably will not go with what I thought was a really good idea, which is the subject of this post, because though there have been a couple people that do use UGF's with plants, most say it's a bad idea. Thank you for your thoughts, Garman

I personally don't like UGF (undergravel filters). I had some years ago and didn't like them. Some people love UGF's though. I've also read that they aren't ideal for planted tanks. Since I have kind of a black thumb, I'm not good to ask about advice on planted aquaria. So, I leave that to others.

OK! I've decided not to use an UGF for my new planted tank. I added the fluorite and "Eco-Complete" plant substraight to my 35 gallon long, I put in a nice heavy beautiful stump I'll attach Java moss and anubias on, and when the water clears I'll add the 100's of mosquito fish and tilapia babies I've had in another tank to get the cycle going. I'll thin these fish out at some point and feed them to my gars in my 100 gallon, and I'll replace with tetras, shrimp, SAE's, and some small loaches. I'm not going to use co2, and will use a double 65 watt VHO light for it. I love having schools of small fish and I love those fresh water shrimp and little loaches too. This guy at www.nobobo.com is my idol! He doesn't use co2 and you can't beat his tank. Check it out. Thanks for the input. Garman

Wow, hundreds of babies! They must be a site to behold, all those little fish schooling around. It's a shame what their fate is; I assume you'll keep a few though.