Aquarium Filter Pro

Aquarium filters are crucially important in an aquarium, not only because clear water makes the aquarium look so beautiful, but also because a faulty or inefficient aquarium filter can lead to the build up of ammonia from fish wastes in the tank. This can be a disaster - leading to the death of your fish and perhaps your plants as well. So of course you want to choose a good aquarium filter, not only in terms of efficiency, but also in terms of capacity – you don't need an overly large filter for a small tank, and a filter that is too small would be totally inadequate for a large one. And there's another consideration as well – maintenance. Any aquarium filter that you install must be easy to maintain once installed. If maintaining your filter is going to mean large spillages, a mess or disproportional labor, you would be well advised to choose another option.

The problem, of course, is that there are so many aquarium filters on the market and all of them are beautifully and professionally packaged – so how do you choose the right one for your tank? Read on.

Choosing an Aquarium Filter

The most basic sort of aquarium filter is the box filter, a simple rectangular container that incorporates a pump and one or more types of filtration media. This is an excellent system for a very small tank, though it is totally inadequate for anything larger. However, this system works very well for large tanks as well if you aim to achieve chemical filtration using it. If this is what you need from the system, activated carbon would be an excellent choice of chemical filtration media.

The undergravel filter lurks under the gravel of a tank, acting both as a mechanical and as a biological filter. It is cheap, and works reasonably well for a small tank. The downside? It is a nightmare to clean or maintain. It is impossible to maintain it without disrupting the entire arrangement of your tank.

The internal power filter is an excellent choice for the small or medium tank. It can contain a single filtration medium that acts both as mechanical and biological filter, or it can use a combination of different mediums. However, it can completely wreck the natural look of your tank, because it looks unsightly and ugly.

An interesting alternative to the internal power filter is the external power filter. It has all the advantages of the internal power filter, but it hangs off the read edge of your tank, completely out of sight if you have some sort of underwater scene backing the tank. Remember though that the internal and external power filters are mostly a choice for small tanks.

The best and most highly recommended aquarium filters are canister filters and wet dry filters. Canister filters involve using different filtration media to achieve crystal clear water, and wet dry filters use systems similar to the sewage treatment systems of a city. Both work well even for large tanks. Of course you must ensure that you purchase a model of aquarium filter with the capacity for your tank. The only downside is that these aquarium filters are far more expensive than the previous options. Canister filters work for all sorts of tanks, while wet dry filters are not recommended for reef tanks.