An aquarium filter plays an important role in keeping the fish in your aquarium healthy. Helps keep your aquarium water free of contaminants that can cause harmful health effects for your fish. Unless you change the water every day, an aquarium filter is essential in your aquarium. There are several types of aquarium filters available in the market. Some of these fish tank filters are described below.
canister filter
An aquarium canister filter combines mechanical, biological, and chemical filtration. It is a unit that contains a filter chamber for filter media and an electric pump to circulate the water. Aquarium water enters the canister filter, is pumped through the filter media, and flows back into the aquarium. The filter chamber consists of various filter media, such as sponge, carbon (charcoal), and ceramic media.
There are internal and external aquarium canister filters available. An external aquarium canister filter has inlet and outlet pipes for water to flow to and from the aquarium. While for the aquarium canister internal filter, it has slots for water to flow into the filter and a pump outlet. It is usually placed on the floor under the aquarium or attached to the back of the aquarium glass. Aquarium canister filters have the ability to filter several hundred gallons of aquarium water per hour. The advantage of this type of aquarium filter is that its outlet can be adjusted to any part of the tank.
gravel filter
An aquarium gravel filter is a plastic plate placed between the substrate and the base of the aquarium with riser tubes. The water descends, passes through the substrate and returns through the riser pipes. The gravel filter for aquariums is considered an excellent method for biological filtration. The benefit of this filter is that since the inlet is the entire base area of the aquarium, there is no way for debris to escape processing. There is a large amount of filter media available for bacterial colonization. The downside of an aquarium bottom filter is that when the system becomes clogged, the cleaning task requires a lot of agitation.
Gravel filters are best suited for use in aquariums that do not have large rocks or decorations blocking large sections of the gravel bed. If rocks this large are present, the block plates would create dead spots in the filter. For gravel filters, it is preferable to use a normal gravel substrate, as smaller substrates will tend to sag and larger ones will tend to hide large amounts of debris.
sponge filter
An aquarium sponge filter provides biological filtration. It consists of a perforated plastic tube fitted with a cylindrical sponge. The tube is connected to an air pump. It draws water from the aquarium through the sponge, which acts as a medium to trap bacteria. As a sponge filter does not have a tendency for young fish to be sucked into the filtration unit, it is suitable for use in aquariums with small fish. Sponge filters are also good for use in quarantine tanks where fish are placed for treatment. This is because sponge filters do not have chemical filtration that can affect the effectiveness of medications used for treatment. As sponge filters only provide biological filtration they are not suitable for use in large tanks which have higher filtration requirements. This type of fish tank filter is mainly used in aquariums with low filtration needs.
Aquarium filters provide filtration that is essential in all aquariums to maintain cleanliness for fish to live well. The above are some types of filters used for aquarium filtration. These filters provide different levels of filtration needs. You can consider using these filters depending on the needs of your aquarium. Visit the Aquarium Filter website for more information.