I woke up this morning to find abandoned orphan aquarium bundled on my door step!
There was a note “take care of her” I read as I decided to give her a home. I read on, new aquariums need to have filters that will keep her clean. So began the search for the right filter for my baby.
I quickly learned at the local tank outlet, the right filter could be determined by how many times the water column passes threw the filter. This flow rate can be slow or fast depending on the type of set-up and number of water critters contained in the aquarium.
Filter manufactures use these flow rates in terms of gallons per hour in which a slow flow rate would move the water column threw the filter 2 to 4 times every hour and faster flow rates would move the water column threw the filter 5 to 10 times every hour. This does not have much meaning due to the size of the tank the filter will be attached. Consider a filter that has a flow rate 240 gal per hour attached to a 30 gal tank would produce a very high flow rate while the same filter on a 55 gal tank would produce a much slower flow rate. (Side bar: My assumption that manufactures determine flow rate with functional media and head pressure may or may not be true. Therefore gph in actual gallon per Hour could be alternately represented when rating test are conducted using only the pump output without filtering media present or equivalent head pressure).
Resulting in ambiguous understanding of flow rates or currents created by filter return.
These filter created currents are important factor that holds unwanted waste in suspension so the mechanical media of the filter can catch the waste. This prevents biological produced waste from accumulating on top of the substrate. Though once captured this biological waste continues to pollute the water column and must be removed in order to lower the levels pollution.
There are basically three different ways to filter aquarium water. Mechanical, chemical and biological and each form has advantages as well as disadvantages.
When considering mechanical filtration the notion of efficiency is a very elusive characteristic because mechanical filtration is the capturing waste particles from the water column. A disadvantage of this form of filtration is that not all of the particulate matter is captured. Flow rate has an impact on the filters efficiency; most mechanical filters pushes water with too much velocity threw the filtering medium splitting some of the particulate matter into smaller and smaller pieces increasing the total suspended solids (TSS) in the water column.
As the velocity of the flow rate increases the greater is the reduction in size of the suspended particulate. These micro sized particulate will free flow threw the media until particulate accumulation begins to slow the flow rate at this point the micro particulate will begin to be collected. In this process the filtering medium is starting to clog reducing the rate of flow while at the same time increasing the efficiency of the medium in catching suspended micro-particulate. With the results of particulate of certain size and density will settle out of the water column due to the loss of support by the ongoing slower current.
When considering mechanical filtration one must think about effective pore size. This is the average pore size of the smallest particulate contained by the filtering medium and not passed through the media back into the water column. Any arrangement of filter medium such as floss, sponges or grids, micro-porous sheets, gravel, sand or smaller grain material will have an effective pore size.
Mechanical filtration should start with media pore size larger than the optimum porosity because it is understood that with use the medium will begin to clog and more efficiently capture finer particulate.
Water polishing is the forcing the water under pressure through micron medium (very small pore size) removing the smallest suspended matter.
Mechanical filtration is open-ended process that is defined by the particle size of the waste to be captured. The more filter medium in the filter the greater is the potential for capturing the waste and the finer particle size captured the more waste is caught and held. So adding more filtering media beyond the optimal amount affects the filter cleaning scheduled more than increasing waste removal.
Mechanical filtration removes visible waste from the water column by containing waste in the filter media; it will not remove the pollutants from the water column. These captured wastes still contribute to the bio-load and will continue to pollute the water column.
It’s important to remember that all biological waste is not visible.
(Side bar: water column refers to the visible water between substrate and surface of the water only and doesn’t include diffused water in the substrate or filter).
Many fish keepers have a veiled view towards chemical filtration; firstly it is said this type of filtration is a waste of both time and money. Yet these same folks will secretly use this method as temporary measures or emergencies only and would not consider incorporating chemical filtration into the daily aquarium filter system.
Chemical filtration media collects impurities from the water column and the most common medium used for this purpose is activated carbon. The broad spectrum capabilities of carbon to adsorb diverse variety of dissolved chemicals while resins are targeting a single impurity such as phosphates for removal. Chemical filtration immediately removes these impurities from the water column and are active until the media becomes saturated then must be changed out to renew chemical filtration. (Side bar: after the media ceases to adsorb it often provides an environment for significant bio-filtration from bacterial colonies).
The notion that chemical filtration can only last for a short time is not necessarily correct. The life time of the media is limited by type and amount of media and the concentration or the total mass of each dissolved material to be capture. Chemical filtration has limits in terms of volume. Activated carbon (AC) or granular activated carbon (GAR) should be made from bituminous coal which is highly porous. Chemical filtration by active carbon only happens through direct contact between the carbon surface and the water surface in-contact with the carbon. There is no wicking through the carbon media everything is surface contact.
The most visible effect of active carbon is the removal of dyes and colorants. Over time most established aquariums the water column tends to turn yellow from natural biological processes increasing total dissolved solids. Total dissolved solids from wood, peat moss or bogwood are adsorbed by active carbon increasing the clarity of the water column. This clarifying process has the added advantage of positivity affecting all living plants.
There was a note “take care of her” I read as I decided to give her a home. I read on, new aquariums need to have filters that will keep her clean. So began the search for the right filter for my baby.
I quickly learned at the local tank outlet, the right filter could be determined by how many times the water column passes threw the filter. This flow rate can be slow or fast depending on the type of set-up and number of water critters contained in the aquarium.
Filter manufactures use these flow rates in terms of gallons per hour in which a slow flow rate would move the water column threw the filter 2 to 4 times every hour and faster flow rates would move the water column threw the filter 5 to 10 times every hour. This does not have much meaning due to the size of the tank the filter will be attached. Consider a filter that has a flow rate 240 gal per hour attached to a 30 gal tank would produce a very high flow rate while the same filter on a 55 gal tank would produce a much slower flow rate. (Side bar: My assumption that manufactures determine flow rate with functional media and head pressure may or may not be true. Therefore gph in actual gallon per Hour could be alternately represented when rating test are conducted using only the pump output without filtering media present or equivalent head pressure).
Resulting in ambiguous understanding of flow rates or currents created by filter return.
These filter created currents are important factor that holds unwanted waste in suspension so the mechanical media of the filter can catch the waste. This prevents biological produced waste from accumulating on top of the substrate. Though once captured this biological waste continues to pollute the water column and must be removed in order to lower the levels pollution.
There are basically three different ways to filter aquarium water. Mechanical, chemical and biological and each form has advantages as well as disadvantages.
When considering mechanical filtration the notion of efficiency is a very elusive characteristic because mechanical filtration is the capturing waste particles from the water column. A disadvantage of this form of filtration is that not all of the particulate matter is captured. Flow rate has an impact on the filters efficiency; most mechanical filters pushes water with too much velocity threw the filtering medium splitting some of the particulate matter into smaller and smaller pieces increasing the total suspended solids (TSS) in the water column.
As the velocity of the flow rate increases the greater is the reduction in size of the suspended particulate. These micro sized particulate will free flow threw the media until particulate accumulation begins to slow the flow rate at this point the micro particulate will begin to be collected. In this process the filtering medium is starting to clog reducing the rate of flow while at the same time increasing the efficiency of the medium in catching suspended micro-particulate. With the results of particulate of certain size and density will settle out of the water column due to the loss of support by the ongoing slower current.
When considering mechanical filtration one must think about effective pore size. This is the average pore size of the smallest particulate contained by the filtering medium and not passed through the media back into the water column. Any arrangement of filter medium such as floss, sponges or grids, micro-porous sheets, gravel, sand or smaller grain material will have an effective pore size.
Mechanical filtration should start with media pore size larger than the optimum porosity because it is understood that with use the medium will begin to clog and more efficiently capture finer particulate.
Water polishing is the forcing the water under pressure through micron medium (very small pore size) removing the smallest suspended matter.
Mechanical filtration is open-ended process that is defined by the particle size of the waste to be captured. The more filter medium in the filter the greater is the potential for capturing the waste and the finer particle size captured the more waste is caught and held. So adding more filtering media beyond the optimal amount affects the filter cleaning scheduled more than increasing waste removal.
Mechanical filtration removes visible waste from the water column by containing waste in the filter media; it will not remove the pollutants from the water column. These captured wastes still contribute to the bio-load and will continue to pollute the water column.
It’s important to remember that all biological waste is not visible.
(Side bar: water column refers to the visible water between substrate and surface of the water only and doesn’t include diffused water in the substrate or filter).
Many fish keepers have a veiled view towards chemical filtration; firstly it is said this type of filtration is a waste of both time and money. Yet these same folks will secretly use this method as temporary measures or emergencies only and would not consider incorporating chemical filtration into the daily aquarium filter system.
Chemical filtration media collects impurities from the water column and the most common medium used for this purpose is activated carbon. The broad spectrum capabilities of carbon to adsorb diverse variety of dissolved chemicals while resins are targeting a single impurity such as phosphates for removal. Chemical filtration immediately removes these impurities from the water column and are active until the media becomes saturated then must be changed out to renew chemical filtration. (Side bar: after the media ceases to adsorb it often provides an environment for significant bio-filtration from bacterial colonies).
The notion that chemical filtration can only last for a short time is not necessarily correct. The life time of the media is limited by type and amount of media and the concentration or the total mass of each dissolved material to be capture. Chemical filtration has limits in terms of volume. Activated carbon (AC) or granular activated carbon (GAR) should be made from bituminous coal which is highly porous. Chemical filtration by active carbon only happens through direct contact between the carbon surface and the water surface in-contact with the carbon. There is no wicking through the carbon media everything is surface contact.
The most visible effect of active carbon is the removal of dyes and colorants. Over time most established aquariums the water column tends to turn yellow from natural biological processes increasing total dissolved solids. Total dissolved solids from wood, peat moss or bogwood are adsorbed by active carbon increasing the clarity of the water column. This clarifying process has the added advantage of positivity affecting all living plants.
