ONLINE NEWSLETTER - 1st Edition
Articles by Tammy J. Keiffer
Filtration | January 2010
One of the most important aspects of reef aquarium keeping is an effective filtration system while attempting to mimic the oceans natural environment as closely as possible. Without means of filtering water quality will suffer. Live rock does much of the filtration through the growth of biological bacteria which breaks down unwanted nitrates and excess nutrients. Discussed are the types of filtration equipment on the market today.
Canister Filters are located outside of the aquarium and contain a inlet tube + outlet tube. A variety of additions can be attached such as spray bars + bio wheels to the outlet and pre filters to the inlet. These are effective but must be cleaned regularly so they do not build up ditris or grow large amounts of biological bacteria which you want in the aquarium, not out. When you clean the filter you would lose a large amount of this good bacteria therefore water quality would suffer greatly (nothing to break down the undesirables). I'll write an article on this to expand further on the importance of biological bacteria in the months to come.
Power Filters hang on the back and must be cleaned regularly as with most equipment. Vary by GPH and filter media.
Powerhead is a device that can be used for circulation and/or filtration with many attachment options.
Protein Skimmers are used to produce froth which cleans the water of organic compounds. A system can be ran without one with weekly water changes; however, it is not recommended, especially a heavily stocked aquarium.
Overflows attach to the back of the aquarium and outlet tube of either a canister filter, sump, or refuge. Controls the water level and prevents sump overflows if the pump stops working.
Sumps are more complex to setup; however, allow for more options. They are recommended for larger tanks. A lot of aquarium owners go this route so they can put all other filtration equipment such as a heater, powerheads, protein skimmer, extra filters inside of the sump instead of in the main display. Most use an aquarium constructed with sections for media like filter pads, bio balls, activated carbon. The setup consist of an overflow that allows water to pass into the sump and then a pump within that pushes it back to the aquarium after it goes through the filtration media. The outlet tube can be attached to spray bars and bio wheels for extra water movement or filtering.
Refugiums are used to grow organisms and macro algae for food and act as a natural filter that normally hang on the back of the aquarium.
UV Sterilizers range in watts for your specific aquarium size. They trap and sterilize any free floating particles such as algae spores, bacteria, and parasites.
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