Simplified Filtration of Aquariums
Posted by admin on July 20th, 2009 filed in Steam Engine Kits
Aquarium filtration is vital to an aquarium’s success. If you want your fish to thrive and be healthy, then you have to make sure that your filtration is top-notch and working just fine.
However, just what is aquarium filtration all about?
Most people think that filtration is just about sticking in some sort of machine inside the aquarium and cleaning it once every other week. At the same time, you’ll need to do more to make sure that your fish stay healthy.
Mechanical Filtration – This is what most of us see when we look at a typical aquarium: a mechanical pump that sucks water, screens it using some fine material or cloth to sift the water, and then releases that water back into the tank to aerate the water. The finer the filter material, the more effective it is at filtering but the more quickly it gets clogged up. So unless you have some serious waste problems in your tank try and find a filter screen that strikes a balance between efficiency and permeability.
Mechanical aquarium filtration serves to filter out the solid particles like waste and grit from the water. This in itself is important, and definitely cannot be overlooked in your tank’s cleanliness. But not all problems in an aquarium are visible; some are hidden to the eye.
Chemical Filtration – Water, especially water that comes from the tap, can contain a whole host of dissolved compounds. Over time, these compounds will build up since mechanical methods are unable to filter them, and these compounds may reach levels which are poisonous enough to kill your fish.
Chemical aquarium filtration involves using high-grade ‘granular activated carbon’ to absorb these dissolved compounds. Super-heating certain materials at 2000-degrees Fahrenheit eliminates all gases leaving an altered material composition void of gas. When the aquarium lacks these gasses, the materials then absorb these compounds similar to how a sponge absorbs water.
However, these carbons do not last forever: they eventually get saturated with compounds and will need to be replaced over time. Activated carbon is more effective than charcoal in absorbing the compounds mentioned, contrary to what some aquarium shops will tell you.
Biological Filtration – As your fish go about the business of living their day-to-day lives, the respiration and waste-production process will produce a certain substance: ammonia. The ammonia filtration system, which is often overlooked, will rid your tank of the ammonia which also comes from decaying matter, and can be poisonous to your fish if it builds up long enough.
In other words, this type of filtration is necessary, because it transfers ammonia into nitrate, which can’t hurt your fish. Nitrosomonas are a species of bacteria that turn the ammonia into nitrite. This nitrate, produced as a result of the Nitrobacter bacteria chemical process, remains toxic to fish.
Bacteria is the entire reason why new fish owners find their fish floating dead on the water. This is the reason why you should test out your new aquarium with one or two expendable fish, before you bring in the more exotic and expensive kind. We have to look beyond what we can see and look at the invisible problems plaguing a typical fish tank aquarium.
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