Freshwater Aquarium Filter
Aquatic Sweepers: Freshwater Aquarium Filters
Aquariums need to be kept well and clean, but doing a manual cleaning job can be a little bit tedious, especially for an average person of the busy modern age. For these kinds of jobs, you can always ask the assistance of the ever trusty freshwater aquarium filters.
Types of Aquarium Filters by Filtering Process
When someone thinks of the word “filter”, the first thing that pops into mind is some sort of apparatus in which the finer particles pass through smoothly, while the larger particles stay. For freshwater aquarium filters, the concept is more or less the same, although in general there are three different ways of filtering unwanted particles in your aquarium.
Biological filtration involves cleaning of the water using natural processes. One of the most commonly known methods involved in this filtering process is the use of beneficial bacteria. These bacteria have the direct capability to transform otherwise toxic substances into a more tolerable, less toxic compound. Ammonia and nitrites are some of the substances that these beneficial bacteria can work on, transforming them into a less toxic compound like nitrate.
Chemical filtration makes use of synthetic materials that react with certain waste materials to be easily collected manually. This method of filtration is often best used in conjunction with other filtration methods, as the dissolved toxic waste cannot actually be separated from the water without mechanical intervention. Activated carbon is one of the most popularly used materials for chemical filtration.
Mechanical filtration makes use of materials that are similar to the traditional means of filtration, by manually letting the particles into the filter, trapping the waste particles. This method of filtration does not filter anything but actual solid particles. The filters used to collect waste material must be replaced periodically, because it can only hold a certain amount of waste material.
Types of Aquarium Filters by Physical Function
There are quite a number of freshwater aquarium filters for hobbyists out there, and some of these filters involve at least one or two kinds of filtration for your aquariums. Here are a few filters commonly used in aquariums:
Canister filters are about the most powerful filters available. The filter’s main action is to force the water through the filter media, rather than just letting water flow through it, and that is precisely what makes it so effective. Additionally, canister filters can be used as bacteria settling devices, by placing the dry wheels at the outflow of the filter. The only downside about these kinds of filters is the maintenance required to clean or replace the filters and the effort required to get them working again after cleaning.
Power filters are unarguably the most commonly used filters, as they have several advantages in terms of cost, availability and efficiency. They are relatively easy to install at the back of the tank, and are quite easy to maintain. Mechanical and chemical filtrations are achieved by the cleaning action of the floss and insert cartridges, and if you add a biowheel to it, it can even do biological filtration.
Fluidized bed filters use a new concept that greatly emphasizes the cleaning work of biological filtration. These filters are literally tubes with sand in them as the main filter media. Bacteria colonies are then allowed to settle in the sand “beds”, and the water is then filtered by pumping them upwards. Additional tubes can be installed for pre-filtering purposes, as well as for chemical filtration.
