I have an undergravel filter with the new tank, I ordered the tubing part but I will need help (directions) for putting it together! parts should be in sometime this week (I hope tomorrow!)

Uh.........can i ask wat fish are in the tank? And if you use an undergravel filter make sure you connect it to a powerhead that has reverseflow. If you dont reverseflow the powerhead every once in awhile your water quality will go bad really quick and you will have to pull out the undergravel filter.

Right now only steven, a roughly 6 in commet/common is in there, I thought undergravels could be powered by air pumps I have pics if that helps, there on the http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...topic=47872&hl= thread, I am actualy trying to decide what to do with him because his fins are so long I dont want to risk putting him in the pond.
I have to admit I know verry little about undergravels, and my stepmom talked me into keeping it I figured I was fine with the 4 powerfilters. . . . . .. . I really want to see if it causes any current issues,

Could you please tell me the gph of your filters and what brand they are? Right now it looks to me like your all good without the undergravel filter. The UGF would just make it harder to clean and maintain good water quality.

actualy there is one more filter which belongs to the hospital tank that gets put on while all the fish are healthy but the black ones are all Aquatec 100 Gph rated, and there is the aquaclear 200 which came with the tank.

The only filters you need to use right now are 1 aquatech and the aquaclear. That should be enough for your tank.

Thanks for the info, I just hate to have filters that arent in use though. . . I mean I paid for them they should be doing something, I wonder if anyone on here would be interested in them. . . .

so I should definetly pull out the undergravel?

I can tell you some undergravel horror stories to help your decision along....

I have used them twice, before finding this site, and they trap all kinds of waste in them, especially if you don;t have a reverse flow powerhead as mentioned above. When I pulled them out (after only 6 months) there was so much disgusting poo and muck underneath I literally had to take breaks to keep from throwing up. And I had almost 300gph of regular filtration on there too. Also, after you have them for awhile, the trapped waste can start making the water toxic, sometimes called "old tank syndrome" which can hurt your fish.

If it were me, I would pull them out. If they have been there for awhile you will have to be careful and maybe take your fish out (if you have fish in this tank) because it can release all kinds of toxins into the water.

I know what you mean about not putting them to use, I had brand new ones for my 20 gallon, and had them all set up in there even though everyone here kept telling me not to use them (heck, I paid for them!), but once I saw what was under them I was like: NEVER AGAIN! If you were keeping tropicals or something it might be ok, but with a comet I would advise against it.

Good luck with your tank!

lol, I have no problem pulling out the undergravel, I never wanted it in the first place (pukes thinking about all the wasted cleaning) its the powerfilters. . .

Ill have to drain the tank a bit, every time i stick my arm in I cause it to over flow. . . . whoopsie! lol