Get To Know Your Fish Tank Filters
No matter whether you've a freshwater or saltwater aquarium, a fish tank filter is an absolute must. All animals produce excrement either thru breathing or from food waste. A fish aquarium is a very limited environment and this waste, unchecked would eventually contaminate the water and kill your fish. Fish tank filters will clean off this waste and make sure you have a clean aquarium all the time. Filters, because of catching mud, also get dirty themselves and therefore have to be changed occasionally.
There are 3 steps in a filtration process, and every step needs a different filter.
a. Mechanical Filtration: This sucks up floating particles and waste in the tank. A siphon filter typically located at the back of an aquarium is the one which does this best.
b. Biological Filtration: This is the most important filtering to have in an aquarium as it encourages the growth of good bacteria. The good bacteria converts ammonia waste to nitrites and then into nitrates. This nitrogen cycle is critical, particularly for exotic fish!
c. Chemical Filtration: This removes dissolved waste from the water. Carbon or zeolite is placed in a filter and they will both get the job done, though carbon has a far shorter lifespan.
There are different sorts of fish tank filters, and these will alter depending on the type of fish tank in use.
1. Corner Filters: These will generally sit in the corner or be stuck to the glass. They usually may be able to do all 3 parts of the purifying cycle, but need frequent upkeep. When changing filters, the one thing you have to do with these filters is change the carbon portion.
2. Under-gravel Filters: These are usually good for amateurs in aquarium keeping. They use a combination of both the filter and the gravel to keep the aquarium clean. They have a big downside though: because they use the gravel for part of the purification process, you generally have to vacuum the gravel clean “no simple task. They also have a tendency to capture lethal air bubbles in the gravel which can sometimes be released and poison your fish.
3. Sponge filters: These are good particularly for biological filtration. When water flows thru a tube and into the sponge, good bacteria grow on it. But there's no mechanical filtration or chemical filtration. You'll need to change water often with this type of purifying because of this. It’s good for bare-bottomed tanks, especially the ones that hold young fish; the frequent water change makes them grow quicker.
4. Power Filter: This is the hottest kind of fish tank filters. It is simple to scrub and it's doing the full filtration process. It combines mechanical, chemical and biological filtration. They are clumsy in design though; the entry for the dirty water is just above the exit for the cleaner water. If you'd like a power filter, get one with 2 filter media slots. All you have to do when cleaning the filter is swap from one side of the filter to the other, and this suggests that you do not throw out the accumulation of good bacteria.
5. Canister Filter: These are expensive, but it is because they're highly effective. It comes in the shape of trays, with each tray doing a different purification process. The water is pushed from the bottom up in some of them, but in others, it is the other way around. You have to know how yours works so that you can place it in the right way.
6. Protein Skimmer: These are especially for salt water tanks “they are pointless in clean water tanks. They remove melted organic material from the water. The waste will adhere to them. Its one of the finest things you can get for your aquarium though a bit pricier than a regular filter.
7. Powerhead: Salt water tanks generally need more water movement than clean water tanks to make sure that all water gets mixed and that food fragments move around and are either eaten by the fish or get into the filter. These are good for water movement; though they should be used with an undergravel purification system. Water is cleaned through the filter and the forced upward and out, causing movement.
Fish tank filters are essential for aquarium! When you're setting up your aquarium, you need to know which one would be the best for your sort of set up.
Jill Kaestner identifies the purpose of each type of filter and for what aquarium it should be used on. Visit her fish website for info with regard to a fish tank pump or an aquarium hood.
