Top 10 aquarium questions: 3. What type of filter do I need?

What type of filter do I need?

This depends on the type of system you want to have. Decide whether you want fresh or salt, and then decide whether you want plants or fish only. 

There are three types of filtration to consider: 

Biological, as we discussed in detail earlier is where biological organisms break immediate wastes into less toxic wastes. Identify this component of your filter because you will never want to wash it. If it gets clogged rinse in a cup of tank water, but never wash clean or rinse with tap or you will lose all those beneficial bacteria you waited so patiently to grow during your cycle. This part will usually be plastic balls, or ceramic beads, or rock in a salt system.

Chemical, most commonly carbon, uses a chemical to absorb toxins out of the water. Chemical filtration can also absorb medication out of the water which is why you remove it when treating a tank.

Mechanical, usually a foam pad, physically catches debris out of the water. This you will wash regularly but never need to replace if you buy the aqua clear filters, because their foam pad is tough. Some filters combine the carbon with the pad and don't give you a choice but to replace both, lame. 

For fresh water fish only there are many pre-boxed filters you can use. My personal favorite are Aqua Clear filters because they have all three types of filtration, and the replacement filters are easy to find or make at home. Unlike some other filters where you have to find their brand or it won't fit into the filter. 

For fresh water planted you will want a filter that doesn't disturb the surface of the water. plants need light for photosynthesis, and ripples in the water deflect light. Good filters for this purpose are canister filters, my favorite being the Fluval G series. Which is digital and gives you read outs of temp, flow rate, and many other cool options. 

For salt water in general we have the unique ability to use live rock as biological filtration. You'll need rock and a pump to move water around the tank and through the rock. Many people stopped using carbon in salt tanks back when it leeched phosphates into their tanks, which kills corals, but now you can get reef carbon for a slightly higher price which does not leech phosphates. There are other types of chemical filtration for saltwater tanks, most of which are specific to reefs. These include bio-plastics, like the ones two little fishes makes, Granular ferric oxide or GFOs, and a few random others. These are most commonly used in Reefs so I will discuss them further in the reef section below. 

For salt water fish only, you can run them on live rock alone, however I prefer some sort of mechanical filtration, at least in the beginning to help clarify the water. Any of the filters mentioned thus far will work for this, I personally have used a Fluval and an Aqua Clear on two separate tanks and liked them both. Maintenance for a fish only is similar to a fresh water fish only, the only additional work being monitoring salt content of the water. Which is easy with a hydrometer or refractometer. Also most stores sell pre mixed salt water now, so you don't have to hassle with mixing it at home. If you do decide to mix at home it's a good idea to do this the night before so as not to burn your fish with undissolved salt. 

For saltwater reef, which just means saltwater with plants and or corals of any kind.You will need all the same equipment from fish only plus a protein skimmer. The protein skimmer mimics the wave action of the ocean by producing many small bubbles and catching the protein build up, aka the "skimate", and removing it from the tank. This serves two purposes. One it removes excess nitrogen from the tank which improves water quality, and Two this also improves clarity. Both of these are important for corals. Although fish can tolerate nitrate levels up to 40 ppm with no problems at all, corals need the nitrates to be below 10 ppm and 0 ppm is best. You will also need a phosphate reactor to help keep your phosphates at zero. The reactor is sold empty and you can choose to purchase GFO or bio-plastics. The difference being that GFO targets phosphates specifically, and bio-plastics act as a food source for bacteria that breaks down both nitrates and phosphates. I use the bioplastics but if you ever find yourself with high phosphates and need them down quick GFOs are your best bet.

Top 10 Aquarium Questions: How do I set up a tank?

How do I set up a tank?

Before you set up a tank, I recommend getting an idea of what your end game is as far as the fish you want. Not all fish can go together, or fit in any aquarium. Resist the temptation to get something small and try to make it work. This almost always ends badly. This isn't to say you can't do it, but most people end up disappointed with what they are limited to. Next, and the most difficult part for most of us, is you need to cycle your tank (this will be explained in greater detail in the another post, but the important thing to note is this is where you can kill your fish and get discouraged if you're not careful). 

When you start to add more fish to your tank, you want to do it in increments; depending on the size of the tank, you can add 3 to 5 fish every couple weeks until you reach full capacity. Speaking of full capacity, know this or you're setting yourself up for heartache later: an easy thing to keep in mind is one inch of fish per gallon of water. It is important to note this only works for small fish. If the fish gets larger (as an example: goldfish), they produce more waste than this simple mantra accounts for.

Another thing to keep in mind when determining your full capacity: the full adult size of the fish you are picking out. Most small tetras will only reach 2 inches when full grown. It's easy to buy these small fish and think one fish per gallon -- avoid this tragic mistake. 

Lastly, once your tank is up and full and doing well, you need to maintain it. A healthy practice is to do 30% water changes once a month, but this doesn't incorporate active participation in your tank's health. Some tanks may need more water changes, and others less. In the beginning, I recommend working with a local pet store, most of which offer free water testing. This is because ammonia testing is important in the beginning but you will likely never need to test it again, so purchasing the ammonia test kit is unnecessary. 

You will want a nitrate test kit.

Nitrates are the final waste product and the least toxic. They will, however, build up and that's why we do water changes. They can still be lethal if left to build to dangerous levels. If you test these monthly, you can schedule water changes according to the results.