The Basics Of A Fish Tank Filter

A fish tank filter can be one of the most important parts of your fish tank, especially when it comes to keeping the tank clean and the fish healthy. Often you won’t even notice how well the fish tank filter is working unless it stops working. Once the fish tank filter stops working, the waste can build up quickly and things can start going downhill fast. Types Of Fish Tank Filters Probably the most common type of fish tank filter you see at discount stores is the box filter. These both hang on the inside or the outside of the tank, and usually have a charcoal filter cartridge in the main box. The water from the tank is circulated up into the box, through the filter and then back down into the tank. They are rather slow but steady and can usually be found fairly cheaply. They’re not the best fish tank filter you can buy, but they can do the job, are easily found and are readily available. Another type of fish tank filter is a filter that covers the bottom of the fish tank floor and is then covered with rocks. In theory the debris and other garbage are filtered out after they hit the bottom of the fish tank. These are really neat looking and work fairly well, but not as well as the box tank filters. There are plenty of instructions on how to build your own filters as well, and these can be the best fish tank filters you can find. Wet/dry tank filters sit on the edge or rim of the fish tank. The tank water is slowly trickled over filter media, which can be one of several kinds. As the air and water mix along with the filter media, the water is filtered and several chemical processes occur. This is probably one of the better fish tank filter ideas, and it is fairly easy to do yourself at home. Directions can easily be found online, and often buying the materials for the filter is cheaper than buying a ready made wet/dry fish tank filter. A fish tank filter is a vital component of your fish tank. It not only cleans the water, but also allows more oxygen to be mixed in with the water. Fresher, cleaner water helps keep your fish healthy and will help them live longer lives. A tank filter doesn’t have to be a really expensive item, one that competently does the job can be used and doesn’t have to be top of the line.

Aquarium Fish Tank Requires Commitment

Setting up and properly maintaining an aquarium fish tank takes a commitment of time, effort and money as fish are living creatures, which will depend on you for their every need. Food, oxygen and . . .

Left RO/DI flush valve open over night... oops.
About every 4th time that I refill my RO/DI holding vat (20 gallons) I open the flush valve to purge the RO membrane. This helps to extend the life of the membrane.

Typically you would leave the valve open for about 5 minutes, close the valve and make the RO/DI water. I got side tracked. This morning I went to get water and the holding vat was still empty yet the booster pump was running... then I remembered. The valve was still open.

Going to get a big water bill next month. *sigh*

Acropora Polyp Extension Macro Picture added.
Another example of an Acropora showing an excellent recovery and new growth.

Boyd Vita Diet Crumbles Pellet Food.
This is another one of the pellet foods I feed as a treat once and a while. I'll included a bit of it in the automatic pellet feeder when I go on vacation.



Picture of what the food crumbles look like.

Urchin's making a dent.
The urchins are making a big impact on keep the rocks clean, lots of new coralline growth again in the sections cleaned by the urchins. The rocks were not bad, but new coralline growth had slowed significantly. The urchins eat what they can find opening new settlement places.

ORP Dropped.
Figures after my recent positive ORP posting that yesterday I found it at 288 which is a sign of a problem and shows one of the assets of monitoring ORP. A rapid sudden drop is the cue to take a close look.

I took a look around yesterday and found my Gold Tear Drop clam dead in its shell and removed it. Today the ORP reading is back to 310.