reverse flow undergravel filter

has we all know cichlids produce a ton of waste and i have been thinking of some ways to get more of it to the filters and off the floor of the tank so i got this 750 gph powerhead and the undergravel plates that came with the tank so im going to plumb them together with some pvc pipe and run the powerhead on the plates i will prefilter the water going to the powerhead by using 2 sponge filter over a 1 1/2 inch piece of pvc witch will trap some of the waste and with some luck keep most of the rest up in the water to be picked up by the 3 filters, has anyone tryed this if so did it work i dont want to waste my time if someone else tryed and it didnt work, im open for any ideas on this that might help.

I used an ugf on my heavily stocked Mbuna tank for years before finally switching over to sand. I looked into reverse flow when I picked up a canister filter to get some extra bio going and to stop the build-up of waste in the gravel.

The reverse flow has much the same problem as a standard ugf. If your fish are diggers wherever they thin out the gravel is where most of your flow will go. You may end up spending a lot of time evening out the gravel as I did to ensure that the flow is constant throughout the substrate.

I liked it a lot better when I replaced the gravel with sand and used the power-heads that ran the ugf to create flow over the substrate. I had a few spots where detritus collected but that made it all the easier to suck it up when doing my water changes.

thanks norm i knew you would have some input on this subject your always good on filter problems, im not using this for bio mass its only to try to keep the poop floating a little more and maybe get sucked into the filters, i all ready have 2 powerheads pushing from one end and most of the crap ends up in one corner of the tank.

The more I think about it 750 gph is a lot and will probably push through everything. I know one thing for sure, it couldn't hurt.

that was my thought too.

Be sure and let us know how it works out for ya, I think it could work also.

i've had success with revese ugf. bigger sized gravel and stones work better than smaller. 2 tanks i take care of with this are mbuna tanks with river pebbles 1/2" to 1" diameter. very clean when i go through with the gravel vac.