Aquarium Filter

What you need to know about Fish Tank Filters

The management of biological wastes inside your aquarium should be your primary concern. The waste excreted by fish, invertebrates, fungi and bacteria will make your aquarium water toxic if it is not thoroughly cleaned out or filtered. Your tank needs an aquarium filter system to maintain balance in a marine reef environment. Without a fish aquarium filter, it would be almost impossible to remove fish wastes and all harmful substances. The water inside the aquarium would become toxic to the living things in your aquarium. Unhealthy water quality is the consequence of not having an aquarium filter or dirty aquarium fish filter, this creates an unhealthy aquatic environment and cause the fishes to develop diseases or die.

The primary function of a fish tank filters is to trap solid wastes produced by your aquatic animals. A mechanical filtering system removes solid waste into a container and it must be manually removed. The aquarium filtration process can also be done biologically. Beneficial bacteria process the toxins into less harmful nitrates, which are removed when you change your aquarium water. Fish filters not only clean out wastes but preserve the water quality of your fish tank.

There are two types of fish tank filters:

• Mechanical filtration is the mechanical removal of waste from the water inside the aquarium. The aquarium filter removes particles such as decaying plants material and fish fecal and uneaten fish food. The aquarium filtration system removes these from the water before it starts to naturally decompose and release toxins inside the fish tank. Some mechanical aquarium filtration systems uses a sponge (filter) in which the aquarium water runs through and traps the dirt. More advanced saltwater filters include an aquarium canister filter, which includes a sponge and fish tank water pump for high-flow filtering action.
• Chemical filtration aquarium system filters the harmful wastes that are dissolved into the fish tank water. The most common chemical filters use activated carbon and adsorbing resins. The adsorbing resins in a aquarium filter are used to remove phosphates in your tank and the carbon traps small particles that cloud your aquarium. The activated carbon canister chemically bonds with the fats lipids, organic acids and more of the offensive waste secreted by fish and aquatic plants.

Whether you are a novice aquarium owner or tropical fish hobbyist, you should learn the common types of fish tank filters, which you can use in your new found aquatic hobby. A lot of hobbyists use one or more of these aquarium filter systems throughout their aquarium’s life:

• External aquarium water filters are mounted outside your fish tank and pull water from the marine tank is filtered. The filtered water is then sent back into the aquarium.
• Canister aquarium filters are usually installed in the back of the fish tank. The main advantage is that it can filtrate a greater quantity of waste, which means less maintenance and greater flexibility when filtering aquatic material.
Different Aquarium Filters
• Diatom aquarium filters are widely used for sporadic cleaning of fish tanks. They use of diatomaceous earth as part of it’s filtering material.
• Trickle filters bring the water from the fish tank and letting the filtered water to ‘trickle’ back into the aquarium. It is ideal for fresh or saltwater aquariums.
• Aquarium baffle filters generally operate below the fish tank. It consists of baffles where the water from the tank is made to flow through for filtering.
• Internal aquarium filters are installed inside the fish tank. It manufactured in variations materials which include sponge cartridge filter, foam inlay filter and gravel filtration.
• Sponge aquarium filters operate by using airlift which creates bubbles from an aquarium air pump, causing the water from the tank to flow through the filtering unit.
• Gravel fish filters typically have a layer of gravel that is suspended above the water-filled space in the fish tank with one or more vertical pipes called airlifts to the unit. These fish tank filters typically use powerhead, airstone and air pump for water flow.
• Submersible fish tank filters are hermetically sealed filters that are operating inside the aquarium, ‘submerged’ in the water.
• Protein skimmers are special marine filters that fractionate and remove the dissolve toxins in the tank water.
• Deep sand beds refer to the aquarium filtration system that uses anaerobic bacteria to degrade nitrates or gaseous nitrogen compounds.
• Berlin method of aquarium filtration works by the action of anaerobic bacteria that on the outside layers of porous rocks.

Clean aquarium water is very important to enhance the beauty of your aquarium. The crystal clear water let’s you see and enjoy your aquarium animals much better. When you buy the right aquarium filter the greatest benefit you get have healthy and happy fish.