General Information on Fish Tank Filters

To ensure the smooth operation of your fish tank system, it should have clean water at all times. The cleanliness of your water is constantly compromised due to changes in water composition caused by fish deaths, uneaten fish food, fish waste, dead plant matter, and other causes of pollution.

If water is left untreated when these conditions occur, your fish will get sick and die. If you plan to maintain a fish tank to make your room or home more attractive, this purpose will not be fulfilled if your fish tank water is smelly, cloudy, or murky. It is then important to have a complete filtration system by installing the appropriate fish tank filters.

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.

Fish tank filters that can have all filtration types are the hang-on, internal power, box or corner, undergravel, canister, and wet/dry filters. The problem with these, however, is that they can do best only two of the three, wherein the third type of filtration is only effective up to a certain extent. For the hang-on, internal, and box or corner filters, this is due to the small surface area of their filter media. Exceptions are perhaps the undergravel, canister and wet/dry filters. However, undergravel filters are not good in tanks with live plants. Due to the external location of canister filters, there may be oxygen flow concerns during a power outage. The best three-stage filtration system could be provided by wet/dry filters, but they have additional plumbing requirements and advanced setup.

The large surface area of undergravel filters give excellent mechanical and biological filtration but you have to know that stubborn buildup will develop, making it lose efficiency over time. On the other hand, fluidized filters tend to deplete your tank's oxygen supply and add nitrates during power failures. Being the most advanced filtration type, wet/dry filters are for advanced aquarists, as they require more planning, time to set up, and additional equipment or plumbing.

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.

It is important that you also know about the different filter accessories available for your fish tank filters. Accessories such as filter bags, cartridges, and filter media are the ones used and replaced regularly.

Clint Johnson is a fish breeder and an aquarium expert who likes to help others succeed in raising their fish as well. He is a VIP member and VIP speaker at many aquarium groups, as well as having a few very large tanks of his own. To learn more about fish tank filters and aquarium wet/dry filters, please go to marinedepot.com.