What Everybody Ought To Know About Aquarium Filters

Your aquarium filter is heart of your fish tank equipment.  The best advice I can give about fish tank filters is to not cut back here.  It will only lead to you quickly growing tired of the additional maintenance.  You’ll end up spending even more money later buying a good quality replacement filter.  I’m not referring to brand when I say quality, but rather how they actually filter you aquarium water.

Sponge Filters

Sponge filters are the most simple of your aquarium filter options.  They are cheap and relatively simply designed.  They almost look like a home made aquarium filter they’re so ugly.  There really is some science behind these things though.  Basically, they are sponge filters that connect to an aquarium pump by a tube.  The sponge is a great breading ground for bacteria making it perfect for bio-filtration.  As you would expect, the sponge also mechanically filters waste by catching and keeping it in its pores.  Cleaning these fish tank filters is as easy squeezing out separate aquarium water as tap water can kill off the bacteria.  Sponge filters do work for tanks larger than 20 gallons but you would need multiple filters.  Their major disadvantage is that big sponge is just plain ugly.

You also have to be careful that smaller fish do not get caught under them.  If you’re on a budget and have a smaller tank, they can do the job.

Undergravel Filters

The most controversial aquarium filter is the undergravel filter.  Some will tell you that these filters are the best aquarium filters hand down.  Others will argue that there are much better alternatives like internal or external power filters.  They will say using an undergravel filter is just asking for trouble.  So is an undergravel filter right for you?

The argument FOR undergravel filtration has some key points and they go like this.  These filters are the ultimate biological aquarium filters.  Pulling water through the gravel on the bottom of your tank is necessary to grow strong bacteria and break down waste.  If you are unable to grow the strong bacteria, nitrate and ammonia levels will quickly get out of control.

Others will insist that undergravel filters are the reason for many fish tanks failing.  Here is what they will say.  The major disadvantage to undergravel filters is that circulation can quickly slow spinning your tank out of control.  Once your gravel gets filled up with sediment you tank is a ticking time bomb.  There is no great way to tell that this has happened until the problems start popping up.

If you do decide on an undergravel filter, the key to a happy tank is frequent gravel cleaning or vacuuming.  If you clean your gravel a minimum of once a week, you can almost alleviate the risk of poor circulation.  There is just a lot of maintenance that some might not be willing to keep up with.

Internal Power Filters

As the name suggests, these are in tank aquarium filters.  They generally provide circulation that is superior to the undergravel filters.  The disadvantage to this filter type is that maintenance can difficult if they are well hidden in the tank decorations.  They do work well in situation where you want to push your tank up flush against the wall since they do not hang out of the tank like an external power filter.  With a price tag that is similar to the external power filters, they are still not all that popular.

External Power Filters

The most popular fish tank filter among fish tank enthusiasts is the hang on aquarium filter.  This is the best aquarium power filter choice for most.  They are easy to maintain being that they hang on the outside of the tank.  They are great mechanical, chemical, and biological aquarium filters.  They are even the great planted aquarium filters, unlike undergravel filters which can be rough or root systems.  Bio-wheel models are the superior power filters on the market providing better filtration.  However, the cartridge filter pad models provide excellent filtration as well.

Canister Filters

Canister filters are some of the best filters available.  These aquarium filters best suit larger tanks.  They offer superior chemical, biological, and mechanical aquarium filtration.  They usually are bigger and their closed system design allows for stronger filtration than power filters.  They allow your tank to stand closer to the wall than external power filters.  Because of their size, they are able to have multiple filter media types providing the excellent aquarium filtration.  What’s the down side you might ask?  They are one of the most expensive filtration options.  They also really aren’t necessary for most tanks to maintain great water quality.

Wet-Dry Filters

These are the best of the best.  Wet and dry aquarium filters are given their name because of their unique filtration method.  At least one of the filtration media is not fully submerged in water.  The science behind this creates the ultimate biological filtration.  The disadvantages are that wet-dry fish tank filters generally big and must be kept under the tank.  They can also get very expensive.

Which filter do you like most?