 an air-driven corner filter Aquarium filters are critical components of both freshwater and marine aquaria.[1][2][3] Aquarium filters remove physical and soluble chemical waste products from aquaria simplfying maintenance. Furthermore, aquarium filters are necessary to support life as aquaria are relatively small, closed volumes of water compared to the natural environment of most fish.[4] For other uses, see Aquarium (disambiguation). ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Solution. ...
Mechanical and biological filtration
The process of mechanical filtration removes particulate material from the water column. This particulate matter may include uneaten food, faeces or plant or algal debris. Mechanical filtration is typically achieved by passing water through materials which act as a sieve, physically trapping the particulate matter.[1] In contrast, biological filtration relies on primarily bacterial decomposition of mainly soluble nitrogenous waste products, such as ammonia (See: Nitrogen cycle management in aquaria. )[2][3] Phyla Actinobacteria Aquificae Chlamydiae Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi Chloroflexi Chrysiogenetes Cyanobacteria Deferribacteres Deinococcus-Thermus Dictyoglomi Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria Firmicutes Fusobacteria Gemmatimonadetes Lentisphaerae Nitrospirae Planctomycetes Proteobacteria Spirochaetes Thermodesulfobacteria Thermomicrobia Thermotogae Verrucomicrobia Bacteria (singular: bacterium) are unicellular microorganisms. ...
General Name, Symbol, Number nitrogen, N, 7 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 15, 2, p Appearance colorless gas Standard atomic weight 14. ...
Ammonia is a compound with the formula NH3. ...
For other uses, see Aquarium (disambiguation). ...
Materials suitable for aquarium filtration  Sponges, plastic bioballs, ceramic tubes and gravel are all suitable for aquarium filtration Numerous materials are suitable as aquarium filtration media. These include synthetic wools, known in the aquarium hobby as filter wool, made of polyethylene terephthalate or nylon. Synthetic sponges or foams, various ceramic and glass and silicon products along with igneous gravels are also used as mechanical filter materials. Materials with a greater surface area provide both mechanical and biological filtration. Some filter materials, such as plastic "bioballs", are best used for biological filtration. Polyethylene terephthalate (aka PET, PETE or the obsolete PETP or PET-P) is a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family that produced by the chemical industry and is used in synthetic fibers; beverage, food and other liquid containers; thermoforming applications; and engineering resins often in combination with glass fiber. ...
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers first produced on February 28, 1935 by Gerard J. Berchet of Wallace Carothers research group at DuPont. ...
A sponge is a tool consisting of porous plastic used for cleaning impervious surfaces. ...
Gravel being unloaded from a barge Gravel is rock that is of a certain grain size range. ...
With the notable exception of diatom filters, aquariums filters are rarely purely mechanical in action, as bacteria will colonise most filter materials effecting some degree of biological filtration.[1] Activated carbon and zeolites are also frequently added to aquarium filters. These highly porous materials act as adsorbates binding various chemicals to their large external surfaces[2] and also as sites of bacterial colonisation. Activated carbon from a water filter used for carbon filtering in powder and block form Activated carbon, also called activated charcoal or activated coal, is a general term which covers carbon material mostly derived from charcoal. ...
Categories: Silicate minerals | Mineral stubs ...
A pore, in general, is some form of opening, usually very small. ...
Adsorption is a process that occurs when a gas or liquid or solute (called adsorbate) accumulates on the surface of a solid or more rarely a liquid (adsorbent), forming a molecular or atomic film (adsorbate). ...
The simplest aquarium filter will usually only have filter wool and activated carbon. The filter wool traps large debris and particles, and the activated carbon absorbs smaller impurities. These should be changed regularly at suitable intervals.[5]
Types of aquarium filters  A commerically available canister filter Numerous types of aquarium filters are commercially available, including:
External filters  A schematic diagramme of the function of the canister filter External filters remove water from the aquarium which is then pushed (or pulled) through a series of different levels filter media and returned to the aquarium.[1] They are usually more effective and easier to maintain than internal filters.[6]
Canister filters Compared to filters that hang on the back of the aquarium, canister-style external filters offer a greater quantity of filter materials to be used along with a greater degree of flexibility with respect to filter material choice.[2] Water enters the canister filled with the chosen filter material through an intake pipe at the bottom of the canister, passes through the material, and is pumped back to the aquarium through an electric pump on the top of the canister.[6] A major benefit of this type of filter is that it can be disconnected from the tank for cleaning/maintenance and replaced without disturbing the aquarium.[citation needed] The major disadvantagse of canister filters is the increased cost, which is comparatively high compared to other filters, and the relative difficulties in cleaning the long tubes which transfer water to and from the aquarium.[3]
Diatom filters Diatom filters are used only for sporadic cleaning of tanks, they are not continuously operated on aquariums. These filters utilise diatomaceous earth to create an extremely fine filter down to 1 µm which removes particulate matter from the water column.[1] A sample of diatomaceous earth Diatomaceous earth (IPA: , also known as DE, diatomite, diahydro, kieselguhr, kieselgur and Celite) is a naturally occurring, soft, chalk-like sedimentary rock that is easily crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder. ...
Trickle filters Trickle filters, also known as wet/dry filters are another water filtration systems for marine and freshwater aquariums.[6] This filter comes in two configurations, one which is placed on top of the aquarium (and more rarely seen) and one which is placed below the aquarium (more common).
If the wet/dry filter is placed on top of the aquarium, water is pumped over a number of perforated trays containing filter wool or some other filter material. The water trickles through the trays, keeping the filter wool wet but not completely submerged, allowing oxygen-loving bacteria to breed well and aiding biological filtration. The water returns to the aquarium like rain.[6]
Alternatively, the wet/dry filter may be placed below the tank. In this design, water is fed by gravity to the filter below the aquarium. Once again, it passes through filter wool resting on a perforated plate. After this, the water enters the sump. What is placed in the sump is up to the aquarist. It may contain bioballs, or it may contain a number of compartments, each with its own filtration material. Often, heaters and thermostats are placed in the sump.[6]
Internal filters  An internal aquarium filter driven by air displacement Internal filters are, by definition, filters within the confines of the aquarium. These include the sponge filter, variations on the corner filter (pictured top right and left), foam cartridge filter and the undergravel filter.[1] An internal filter may have an electric pump and thus be an internal power filter, often attached to the inside of aquaria via suction cups.
Airlift filters Sponge filters and corner filters (sometimes called box filters) work by essentially the same mechanism. Both generally work by airlift, using bubbles from an air pump rising in a tube to create flow. In a sponge filter, the inlet may only covered by a simple open-cell block of foam. A corner filter is slightly more complex. These filters are oftenplaced in the corner on the bottom of the aquarium. Water enters slits in the box, passes through a layer of medium, then exits through the airlift tube to return to the aquarium. These filters tend to only be suitable for small and lightly-stocked aquaria. The sponge filter is especially useful for rearing fry where the sponge prevents the small fish from entering the filter.[6]
Undergravel filters Undergravel filters consist of a porous plate which is placed beneath the gravel on the base of the aquarium and one, or more, uplift tubes. Historically, undergravel filters have been driven via air displacement. Air stones are placed at the base of uplift tubes which force water out of the uplift tube creating negative pressure beneath the undergravel filter plate. Water then percolates down through the gravel which itself is the filtration material.[1] Greater flow rate of water through the gravel can be achieved via the use of water pump rather than air displacement.[1]
Beneficial bacteria colonize the gravel bed and provide biological filtration, using the substrate of the aquarium itself as a biological filter.[5][6] The substrate of an aquarium refers to the material used on the tank bottom. ...
Undergravel filters can be detrimental to the health of aquatic plants.[5] Fine substrates such as sand or peat may clog an undergravel filter.[6] Undergravel filters are not effective if the substrate bed is uneven. In an uneven gravel bed, water will flow only through the thin portions of the bed, leaving the more heavily covered areas to become anoxic. Because of this, animals that dig, such as cichlids, are best kept in an aquarium using some other type of filtration.[citation needed] It has been suggested that Anoxic sea water, Oxygen minimum zone, and Hypoxic zone be merged into this article or section. ...
Marine-specific systems Marine aquaria have specialised needs and requirements, to this end the filtration of the marine aquarium is often more complex than freshwater aquariums.
Protein Skimmers -
Protein skimmers are filters used to fractionate and remove various organic compounds from marine aquariums prior to their further degradation. The technique uses the chemical polarity of proteins and amino acids to remove the compounds in the foam produced by the filter. Protein skimmers are often used in combination with trickle filters along with various other marine-specific filtration techniques. A protein skimmer or foam fractionator is a device used mostly in saltwater aquaria to remove organic compounds from the water before they break down into nitrogenous waste. ...
An organic compound is any of a large class of chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon, with exception of carbides, carbonates and carbon oxides. ...
A commonly-used example of a polar compound is water (H2O). ...
Deep sand beds -
Deep sand beds filtration is a technique designed to use anaerobic microbes to degrade nitrate to gaseous nitrogen. A deep sand bed (sometimes abbreviated DSB and also called a plenum) is a filtration method used in some saltwater aquariums. ...
An electrostatic potential map of the nitrate ion. ...
General Name, Symbol, Number nitrogen, N, 7 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 15, 2, p Appearance colorless gas Standard atomic weight 14. ...
Berlin method -
The Berlin method of marine tank filtration is similar to the deep sand bed filtration technique in that relies on the action of anaerobic bacteria, in the outer layers of porous rocks, to degrade nitrate to gaseous nitrogen. The Berlin Method of biological filtration is method for keeping an aquarium, typically a saltwater aquarium, clean. ...
An electrostatic potential map of the nitrate ion. ...
General Name, Symbol, Number nitrogen, N, 7 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 15, 2, p Appearance colorless gas Standard atomic weight 14. ...
See also For other uses, see Aquarium (disambiguation). ...
References - ^ a b c d e f g h Riehl, Rüdiger. Editor.; Baensch, HA (1996. 5th Edn.). Aquarium Atlas. Germany: Tetra Press. ISBN 3-88244-050-3.
- ^ a b c d Leibel WS (1993) A fishkeepers guide to South American cichlids. Tetra Press. Belgium pg 12-14.
- ^ a b c Loiselle, Paul V. (1995). The Cichlid Aquarium. Germany: Tetra Press. ISBN 1-56465-146-0.
- ^ Sands D (1994) A fishkeepers guide to Central American cichlids. Tetra Press. Belgium pg 17-19.
- ^ a b c Axelrod, Herbert, R. (1996). Exotic Tropical Fishes. T.F.H. Publications..
- ^ a b c d e f g h Sanford, Gina (1999). Aquarium Owner's Guide. New York: DK Publishing, 164-167. ISBN 0-7894-4614-6.
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