Removed my only UGF today.....

SGDude

Removed my only UGF today.....

The QT 46 that has been up for 5+ years.

Drained 1/2 the water, pulled the UGF,
vacuumed under the UGF, GROSS!!!!
Filled and plugged the filters back in.

The fish were upset and trying to jump out,
I guess I should have put them in a bucket.

They look happy now and
the water is clearing up.

Removing 2 x 550 power heads should
be a more gentle current for the fish.

It was not bad, 1 hour.
So is that it?

Thanks.

Byron

Did you thoroughly clean all the gravel? This is critical. The one drawback of an UGF is that the entire substrate is the filter bed. The oxygen in the water drawn through the gravel keeps the bacteria alive. But if the water flow through the substrate is stopped, the bacteria will suffocate and die. Depending upon the quantity, this can be a major source of trouble.

SGDude

Thanks for the info.

I did vacuum the big piles of yuck under the UGF.
I do plan to water change and vacuum for a few days.

I was also thinking of replacing the gravel soon
but I didn't want to do it all in one day.

Those are awesome tanks you have!

Lupin

Aye mama...I wonder if the gross part involves hydrogen sulfide that can piss off the fish. You recognized the smell seemingly like rotten eggs, right? I would have separated the fish during that process of cleaning.

SGDude

Yes, I should have removed them, I didn't know better.
All happy now. No more stress.

Vacuum time and will be adding salt.
( and then vacuuming every day, FUN )

No more blue meds.
Is the salt ok with most filters?

Lupin

Yep.

SGDude

Vacuumed for 20 gal, lot's of yuck.

Salt in.

Thank you.