Turning off the RUGF

My Plant tank was originally a GF (Gold fish) tank; they moved on to a bigger tank. Unfortunately I didn't rip out the RUGF when I moved them, as I was only growing floating plants at the time. I've been growing my rooted plants in bowls/pots as a temporary solution. This has worked out OK, as it let me use aquatic soil for some plants (Cabomba) without making too big a mess. But I'd like to add some ground cover and get back some of the room lost to the pots.

So is RUGF really as bad for the plants as I've read (nutients and current) or can I mitigate the problem with reduced flow and deeper gravel. I've also read that I just can't turn off the RUGF as the mulm trapped under the plates will go anerobic.

Info:

55 gallon
Pressurized CO2 injected into the RUGF powerheads
Ludwigia, Cabomba, Swords, Anubias
Using PMDD w/o N03

 

Re: Turning off the RUGF

Thanks. that's good to know.

I did a search but didn't turn this up.