A Guide To Aquarium Filtration

One of the most important decisions in setting up a successful aquarium is selecting the right filter. Nowadays there are many different way to filter your aquarium and if you choose the right filter keeping an aquarium is an easy task. But before you choose your filter you need to decide what size aquarium you want and what fish you intend to keep.

Canister Filters

For freshwater aquariums you can’t go past a canister filter. Although they are a little more expensive that your internal filters, they offer a far superior filtration and keep the water crystal clear even in the most over stocked aquariums. They work by siphoning the water from the aquarium into a canister that sits under the aquarium. This water is then forced through several layers of filter material in a pressurized canister. The water is then pumped back up into the aquarium. This form of aquarium filtration offers extremely high levels of mechanical and biological filtration resulting in a very low maintenance aquarium. These filters will usually need to be cleaned every 6 – 9 months, but this depends on the aquarium. There are various brands on the market and generally you get what you pay for. The canister filters we recommend are Eheim and Aqua One.

Rating
For Freshwater Aquariums: 10/10
For Marine Aquariums: 5/10

Trickle / Component Filters

If you were to choose a saltwater or marine aquarium this is by far the best option for you. These filters work by utilising an “overflow” setup in your aquarium. You have a sump which usually sits underneath your aquarium. You need to maintain a defined water level inside this sump and as water is pumped from this sump into the aquarium, it the overflow through your overflow setup back into your sump. Setting up the overflow is very simple. You can either have a hole drilled in your glass and use a PVC standpipe to determine your desired water level or you can use an “overflow box”. These overflow boxes work on a siphon principal.
Inside your sump you can customise your filtration to suit your individual needs. Usually you start with coarse filter pads to remove coarse debris. The water would then gravity feed through “bio balls” which are an extremely effective biological filtration media. After this the sky is the limit. You can add protein skimmers, calcium reactors, nitrate reductors, phosphate removers. If set up properly for your individual aquarium it creates an aquarium that can look perfect all the time. You can even set them up to refill when the water drops below a certain point. This works well with marine aquariums as you usually lose a lot of water through evaporation.

Rating
For Freshwater Aquariums: 3/10
For Marine Aquariums: 10/10

“Hang On” Filters

Hang on filters are ideal for smaller aquarium where space inside the aquarium is an issue. These type of filters hang off the back or side of the aquarium. They draw water into the filter chamber where it passes through a couple of layers of filter media before overflowing back into the aquarium. These are suitable for most freshwater and saltwater aquariums and are easy to clean and maintain.

Rating
For Freshwater Aquariums: 8/10
For Marine Aquariums: 8/10

Internal Power Filters

This sort of aquarium filtration offers reasonable filtration for smaller aquarium with lower levels of fish. Basically they work by passing a flow of water through a sponge. They have a pump which sits close to the water level for aeration purposes with an attached sponge below it. As the pump runs, it drags the water through the sponge. This gives an average mechanical and biological filtration option. They are best used in conjunction with other filtration methods or in plant only tanks.

Rating
For Freshwater Aquariums: 6/10
For Marine Aquariums: 6/10

Under Gravel Filters

Under gravel filters are basically a plastic plate that sits underneath your aquarium gravel raising it off the base slightly. They have one or multiple uprights attached to them which you normally attach small power heads to. This draws the water up from under the gravel through the stand pipes and circulates through the aquarium. Basically you are using the gravel as the filter medium, as the water has to pass through the gravel to get under the filter plates. This form of filtration can be used in both freshwater and saltwater aquariums, however with saltwater aquariums you have to be aware of the size of coral sand you use. If it is too fine the filtration will not work. In freshwater aquariums you need to be mindful of the type of gravel you use as some of the more ornamental “polished” coloured gravel do not work well with this form of filtration. Also some fish such as cichlids do not benefit from this filtration method either as they commonly like to move the gravel around. When they expose the filter plates, most of the water flow is going to flow through these gaps rather that through the gravel.

Rating
For Freshwater Aquariums: 8/10
For Freshwater Cichlid Aquarium: 4/10
For Marine Aquariums: 5/10

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