Aquarium Filter Media

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Having a clean aquarium environment is essential if you want your fish to live for more than a week.  To do this you need filtration with proper aquarium filter media. I doubt anyone would disagree with that, this isn’t even an argument. There are many kinds of filtration, so there are many choices depending on the size of your aquarium, the types of aquatic life you plan to have, and of course, by the size of your budget. Often times when people hear the word filtration (at least the people who haven’t really had aquariums or still trying to get one) will think that this is the thingy that makes bubbles. Yes, sort of, there are mechanical or electrically operated filters that suck in water, filter it, and inject the water back after being cleaned. These types are the more expensive ones and are generally suited to people who have no time for really caring for their aquarium aside from feeding the fish.

For people with smaller amounts of greens, by that I mean money if ever your money doesn’t come by the same color as ours, there are things called aquarium filter media. Essentially these things are stuff you place in your aquarium that will help keep it clean. They usually come in the form of pebbles and similarly sized objects that decorate the bottom of your aquarium. These are the passive filters since they will just sit there and accumulate dirt for you to take out later. These are the biological filter media; they remove ammonia, nitrites and nitrates from organic waste or excrements. They help maintain the acidity level of the water by removing these chemicals. So if ever you need to clean these up, don’t take them out all at once or it may cause catastrophic spikes in ammonia and pH levels. So take them out by area leaving some filters to do their job. They are usually placed in netted bags for easy removal.

More active filter media require water to be actively passed through them so that they can filter out the particulate matter from the water. It is these particles that make your water look brown or green. This type of media is called mechanical filter media. They are usually in the form of a sponge made from various synthetic materials which are usually attached to the end of a pump where water is sucked in, hence giving them the advantage of trapping particles easily. They get clogged up after a while so you have to watch out when you need to take them out and clean or replace them.

The last kind is the chemical filter media. These are the ones that remove pollutants that your biological and mechanical filters cannot remove. Most of these pollutants come from the fish medication or from various biological processes that occur in your tank. If there is a discoloration or odor coming from your tank, chances are that chemical filter media will remove it. An example is activated carbon media; it is carbon based and will actively absorb organic pollutants from medicines. So if you have sick fish that need medication, place them in a separate tank for the medication, in which you can clean later using activated carbon media. But don’t forget that your main tank also needs this.

So depending on the conditions of your tank, and the need of your fishes, you have different options for aquarium filter media.