Water Filters for Freshwater Aquariums

Water filters are extremely important for freshwater aquariums, ponds and fish tanks. They help in purifying the environment for the fish and plants. They allow you to change the water of the freshwater aquariums less frequently. Although the habitat cannot be compared to their natural one but you can still take steps to make it close to their natural one.

The filters work through different principles. They work to make the environment cleaner. In nature there are several plants to take care of this. As you cannot have a lot of plants in the aquarium, you can use the filters as an artificial alternative.

Different fish produce different types and degrees of wastes. For instance, goldfish is accountable for a large amount of waste. So for this, there are different types of filters which are chemical, biological and mechanical. Using a combination of all three vwould make the process much more effective.

The biological filters which are used commonly are as follows:

Sponge filters:

 Their principle of working is by passing water through a porous sponge. This sponge allows bacteria to grow on it. The sponge doesn’t need to be cleaned as this would harm the nitrifying bacteria. 

 Undergravel filters:

These filters circulate water from the bottom to the top. There is a complimentary filter too, which circulates water in the opposite direction i.e. from top to bottom.

Canister filters:

They are made up of a container inside the filter where various filter media are stored. These containers are filled with biological material like biological balls that will grow bacteria colony. Once this colony is developed, you will not need to remove or clean the filter.

There are several different kind of freshwater aquarium filters. Depending on the specifications and other properties of your tank, you can choose any filter.