Hello Joe, I will tell you but don't tell anyone because if everyone's tank lasted forever with no problems Disease forums and LFSs would go out of business.
Of course I didn't invent UG filters but I may have invented reverse UG filters. When the hobby started we all had fresh water tanks and when salt came in 1971 we used the same UG filter. Our tanks crashed in a few months and the gravel was full of sludge.
I decided to reverse the flow through a DIY manifold and fed each tube with no more than 150 GPH which is very slow. If you push more water down the tubes, it will clog the gravel and that seems to be the correct flow.
The gravel (no sand) is oxygenated all the way through causing multitudes of creatures to live all the way to the glass. Thousands of tube worms which are filter feeders clean the water and the thousands of brittle stars remove any particles while the millions of pods are the beginning of the food chain allowing you to keep smaller fish like pipefish mandarins etc with no additional feedings.
The water stays in excellent shape.
About once a year I stir it up where i can reach with a tube on a canister or diatom filter and it is like brand new.
It seems to work flawlessly for 50 years but I\Like I said, don't tell anyone.
Of course I didn't invent UG filters but I may have invented reverse UG filters. When the hobby started we all had fresh water tanks and when salt came in 1971 we used the same UG filter. Our tanks crashed in a few months and the gravel was full of sludge.
I decided to reverse the flow through a DIY manifold and fed each tube with no more than 150 GPH which is very slow. If you push more water down the tubes, it will clog the gravel and that seems to be the correct flow.
The gravel (no sand) is oxygenated all the way through causing multitudes of creatures to live all the way to the glass. Thousands of tube worms which are filter feeders clean the water and the thousands of brittle stars remove any particles while the millions of pods are the beginning of the food chain allowing you to keep smaller fish like pipefish mandarins etc with no additional feedings.
The water stays in excellent shape.
About once a year I stir it up where i can reach with a tube on a canister or diatom filter and it is like brand new.
It seems to work flawlessly for 50 years but I\Like I said, don't tell anyone.