A fish tank is a closed environment. This means that the conditions inside the tank should be properly monitored and the ideal settings should be maintained to ensure a healthy fish population. Clean water is one important factor to having this equilibrium. Changes such as fish deaths, uneaten fish food, fish waste, changes in water composition, dead plants, and the like will compromise the water quality.
If left untreated, water pollution will build up and toxic substances will also abound, causing fish illnesses and deaths. To ensure that clean water is circulating inside the tank at all times, fish tank filters should be a part of your fish tank setup.
Filter types: brief descriptions and the pros and cons
Fish tank filters come in various shapes, sizes, and capabilities. You have to familiarize yourself with each type in order to decide which one is best for the size of your tank and the number of fish you have.
For small- to medium-sized tanks, you may use hang-on filters, box or corner filters, internal power filters, diatom filters, and sponge filters. Hang-on filters are named as such since they are made to hang outside of your tank. They provide all types of filtration. Box or corner filters are placed in the corner of your tank, providing mechanical and chemical filtration. Internal power filters are normally used inside of freshwater tanks with low water levels. If you want to have fish tank filters that will give the best mechanical filtration available, the diatomaceous earth inside the diatom filters will do the job. Meanwhile, sponge filters will give you good mechanical and biological filtration at the lowest cost.
The sponge filter combines biological and mechanical filtration. It is the best filter to use if you have very small fish or fry. However, it can get clogged easily. In larger tanks, it should be used as secondary filter.
Canister, undergravel, fluidized bed, and wet/dry fish tank filters are used for larger and heavily populated fish tanks. Canister filters are popular since they can provide all stages of filtration and are located outside of the tank. Undergravel filters consist of a filter plate and uplift tubes located under your aquarium gravel, while fluidized bed filters are made of fine-grained sand suspended in a column of water, providing either biological or chemical filtration. The efficiency and power of wet/dry filters makes it the best choice for a complete three-stage filtration system.
While powerful and mostly complete, the above-mentioned filters also come with some disadvantages. Maintenance issues, such as periodic cleaning and replacement of parts, are the most common concerns with these types of filters. In the case of wet/dry filters, additional plumbing is one of the requirements.
Your fish tank filters have parts or accessories that you need to replace regularly. Most filters have filter cartridges. These have to be replaced regularly. Otherwise, toxins will leak back into the aquarium.
Fish tank filters have parts and accessories that you have to change from time to time. The most commonly used are filter bags, filter cartridges, and filter media. Examples of filter media are ceramic rings, sponge or foam inserts, filter gravel, foam blocks, and filter pads.
