Aquarium Filtration

Aquarium Filtration

WHENEVER you choose to have an aquarium at home, you have to pay attention to equipping it properly, so that your fish are always safe. Apart from details concerning how to feed your fish, how to choose their companions or decorations, the technical part is the most important aspect a fish keeper should have in mind. And of all this technical equipment, aquarium filters are the number one priority.

An aquarium filter is not only for design matters, but also the first thing that assures a good health of your fish, as it cleans the water in the aquarium of all debris which result from breathing and excretion, dead plants, remaining food or chemical and physical substances. Fish have a smaller habitat when kept in an aquarium than when living in a natural habitat, therefore, the chances that waste reaches toxic levels increase more rapidly. Ammonia is a great problem from this point of view, its levels increasing the more often the fish are fed. However, filters are a must no matter how often you choose to feed your fish.

A good thing for maintaining fish health is changing the water in the aquarium regularly, depending on the sensitivity of the fish and on the amount of waste in the aquarium. For average tanks, the water should be changed in a report of 3:4 in 24 hours in the beginning, the following schedule being established after measuring the nitrate levels in the aquarium.

Many fish keepers think that it is enough to change the water frequently, but this method is not very practical. Aquarium filtration can be done in two ways, biologically or chemically. First of all, a large number of bacteria feed on ammonia, which is why you should have as many such bacteria integrated in an aquarium, although you can’t have this from the very beginning. They don’t represent a danger for your fish and they are easy to get because you don’t actually have to put them in the aquarium as they come naturally, multiplying themselves when in contact with ammonia and oxygen. These bacteria reduce the toxicity of the substances in your aquarium and also solve the problem of having too many algae in the aquarium. However, if you have a great number of fish in your aquarium, filtration can’t be left in this stage and so you need a physical filter, too, to which bacteria will be able to attach and which also increase the levels of oxygen dissolved.

Aquarium Filtration

The other type of aquarium filtration is the chemical and mechanical one. In this category, the most commonly used method is that of using gas activated carbon in order to filter the water, this method being more frequently chosen in the case of nonpolar waste. The other method, protein skimming, is more frequently used with polar waste, such as dissolved organic substances.

Whether it is a freshwater aquarium filter or a saltwater one you need, you should always keep in mind that a good filter should make very little noise, keep the water moving for the oxygen exchange to be made properly and that the water in the aquarium should be heated in the case of most fish. When it comes to its results, when dealing with biological filtration, it should turn the ammonia in the water into nitrate, it should remove chemical substances and odors when dealing with chemical filtration and it should remove parasites and algae when it comes to sterilization.

Noise is produced when the water goes back in the aquarium. The proper position of an aquarium filter is somewhere at the surface of the water so that it permanently keeps it moving for the oxygen exchange to be made. The oxygen in the water is not enough because fish consume oxygen; therefore, the oxygen in the air outside is also very important. If the water falls into the aquarium with high speed, the process will not be quiet and so, the water level has to be kept constant or, if this is not achieved, the filter should be lowered a little. Also, noise can be reduced if the water flow is reduced. There are aquarium filters which do their job at once and multiple water changes are no longer needed.

Aquarium cleaning is also related to surface agitation, with air stones or air pumping. This way, air bubbles are put in the water, but they don’t actually make the oxygen exchange easier and they are usually a lot noisier than regular aquarium filters. Surface agitation is needed when keeping fish, but you should be attentive and not let this agitation be too heavy, because this way the carbon dioxide escapes.

It is not always easy to maintain an aquarium properly and to keep your fish in the best conditions, but this is for sure a matter you, as a fish keeper, should look into and spare some time to do the necessary research. This way you will also avoid any unnecessary loss of money, time and even patience.