Aquarium Filters - The Pros and Cons of Each Filter

Aquarium Filters - The Pros and Cons of Each Filter



Aquarium Filter - Using a good aquarium filter can make the difference between enjoying fish-keeping or not. Here are descriptions from the different kinds of aquarium filters available, what kind of tanks they are best for, and also the overall pros and cons of each and every option.


Corner filters



These small clear plastic box filters provide an airstone that pushes water up through layers of floss and charcoal. The box sits in the gravel in a corner in the tank. Sometimes they need to be weighted down to keep them from floating. Not terribly efficient, even though they are very cheap. Whilst they do then add aeration to a tank, you are not going to tidy up a dirty tank with this sort of filter.



Sponge filters



These are similar to corner filter, but there is no floss or charcoal or even a plastic box -- all filtering is done through a sponge. It does help, even though again, this is not a very efficient filter. Sponge filters are used in fry and quarantine tanks because they create no strong currents, and they do clean up a tank a bit, and they provide some aeration. Fry may also enjoy nibbling algae off of the sponge.



Undergravel filters



Undergravel could be the best option for a standard community tank. You can even combine an undergravel filter with a exterior box filter for some extra water that is clean. The benefits are that undergravel filters are relatively cheap, they do a good job once they are established, and they also do not create strong currents that some fish, like bettas or discus, is not going to like. By pulling the dirty water in the tank down through the gravel, these filters use mechanical and biological filtration. The plastic aisles in the undergravel filter support the gravel up so there is a small space towards the bottom in the tank. This is where most of the debris is captured. The water that is clean is pushed up through two tubes on either side of the back of the aquarium and pushes the clean water out -- fairly gently -- through two window-shaped grates.



Undergravel filters use your aquarium's gravel since the filtration media. Nevertheless there is mechanical filtration, most of the action is going on via biological filtration inside the gravel. So, these filters may take a few days to show you clean water. There's also absolutely no way to upgrade them aside from adding a powerhead, which will undoubtedly add more pull. Additionally, you will need an air pump to operate an undergravel filter. The stronger it is, the better filtration you will get.



External/hold on along side it filters



These filters are boxes which do the majority of their work just outside the tank. They hold on along side it with the uptake tube that falls in to the tank. The dirty water is pulled the intake tube and pushed through several sponges and in most cases a bag of activated carbon. This performs mechanical, chemical and biological filtration. The water that is clean is pushed out by way of a trough formation that spills in to the tank.



These kind of filters do create a bit of current, especially if you have got a large tank. They could handle tanks as much as 100 gallons, and if you have a larger tank than that (lucky you) you could just put in a second filter. These kind of filters have to be cleaned about every week to two weeks by squeezing out the sponges until all the trapped particles are released. Sometimes small fish get caught or pulled up by the intake tube, but this only happens with very, very small fish.Aquarium Filter Having said that, do not use most of these filters in a fry tank. Otherwise, they do a very good job and are an excellent filter for the money. They run about $20 to get a 20 gallon tank. "Trickle" filters is similar technology.



Canister filters



They are the "big dogs" from the filter world. Unless you do have a community tank which is 50 plus gallons, utilizing a canister filter is a little like swatting a fly using a cannonball. The benefit to canister filters is that they do a very, very good job and you do not have to clean them more than once a month if that.