Tropical Fish Tanks: Canister Filter Basics

I'm not going to write too much info today on tropical fish tanks, per se...but I wanted to go into detail on canister filters, and what they're all about. Check out this short video I made just for you guys. Enjoy!

Tropical Fish Tanks: Biting Off More Than You Can Chew

Tropical fish tanks are a great way to understand a species' ecosystem. It's important for you to know how it works, and how to maintain a balanced ecosystem for the inhabitants of your aquarium. Learn as much as you can before you start, so you can avoid headache and wasted money later on. I am the PERFECT example of this. I went in blind, and bought all the equipment before understanding that maintaining a tropical fish tank doesn't require "good equipment", but in fact requires "knowledge". I ran before I walked, and tripped up pretty badly along the way. "Katy's Complete Guide to Tropical Fish" taught me a wealth of info on this exciting hobby. It's made quite a difference in how I take care of my aquariums, and it shows in my fish! My african cichlids have been busy making babies! You know a healthy tank versus an unhealthy tank if the fish are actually breeding. Usually, fish will try breeding because they feel the conditions are right. Here's a video on my latest batch of newborns:

Tropical Fish Tanks: Hang-on Power Filters

If you are brand new to the tropical fish hobby, then I would probably suggest not to get way in over your head right at the beginning. You'll probably end up spending a lot more than what you had planned for in your initial setup budget if you purchase the "latest and greatest" equipment. I don't think your fish are going to be able to tell what brand your pump is by the way the water feels to them, or what pet store that floating scuba-diver decoration came from. All your fish want from you is to maintain their living environment as consistently as possible.

Hang-on filters are the most common entry-level filter available. You can find it at most pet stores in various brands and sizes. The advantage to the hang-on filter is that they are very easy to maintain. There is also an integrated water pump within the filter that pumps water up and into the filter, and through the filter media, usually containing activated carbon for the chemical filtration process. Water returns through a return hatch, which hangs over the side of your tank. "It's so easy, a caveman can do it."



The only disadvantages to the hang-on power filter is that they are limited in water flow, and the size of the filter unit doesn't allow for you to customize any filter media on top of the activated carbon it comes with. For my 20 gallon breeding tank, I use a hang-on power filter which is suggested for a 30 gallon tank (which gives me more flow). I can also put a small amount of Ammo-lock or Ammo-chips into the filter media bag. This helps neutralize some of the harmful ammonia in the water.

As a beginner, a hang-on power filter is a very good choice to start if you don't have a huge budget to start with. Check out this article which goes over other types of tropical fish tank filters:

Tropical Fish Tank Filter Choices

Wet Dry Filters-- Part Deux

So I hope you enjoyed the video from yesterday. If you haven't checked it out, watch the Youtube video posted from yesterday's blog, or click here.

I wanted to clarify from the video exactly what happens in the wet-dry filter, so that some of you beginners may not become confused. Essentially, one of the key elements in a wet-dry filter is "oxygen transfer". Your fish need to have a good supply of oxygen from the water. As the water trickles down through the chambers of a wet dry filter, oxygen is being absorbed from the air into the water. Not only this, but the surface of the bioballs contain nitrifying bacteria (meaning, they feed off the pollutants in the water passing over them), which also need oxygen from the air to function properly.

Many wet dry filters differ slightly in their design, but the general filtering process is the same. All wet dry filters will have chambers the water passes through to allow for the filtration process. They will all contain a layer of "pre-filter" material, which is usually a filter pad made of synthetic fiber material. This dense synthetic fiber will essentially trap all of the particles which are not molecular in size. These pre-filter pads will need to be changed often (probably weekly, if not every two to three weeks.

Bio balls also require some maintenance because they DO get dirty after time. If you have a new tank setup (less than 6 months old), you will only want to clean a portion of your bio-balls at one time. Check out this article for instructions on how to clean bio-balls:

How to clean bio-balls

There's a lot more choices as to enhancing your wet dry filter system so you can get much better water quality output. As for now, just learn the basics, and I'll go into the finer details at a later time. My next blog will be on basic equipment you'll need to decide on before you get started.

Tropical Fish Tanks Guide for Beginners

Hey there! I'm hoping people who are interested in getting into tropical fish tanks will find this blog and get a lot of useful info out of it. I've made a lot of mistakes starting up, and spent a lot of money on fish which didn't survive very long. A lot of it could have been avoided if I knew what I know now.

Regardless, here's my first post which includes a Youtube video I created explaining what a "wet-dry" filter is (a.k.a.-- sump) and what it does. I think it's important to understand the process of chemical, biological, and mechanical filtration systems...which are all part of your filter you set up for the fish tank. Enjoy the video!