Does Your Fish Tank Actually Need A Filter?
- Aug 06, 2023
- Anshika Mishra
- 279 0 0
Everybody in the hobby will advise you to have a filter on for the aquarium. And while most people do multiple installations in the tank, let us unpack what happens.
In an established tank, a chemical filter can be very beneficial. You may have activated carbon in a filter with a cartridge system. Perhaps it got an ounce of carbons which will absorb a lot of different organics.
The new aquarium will absorb Ammonia, which might save some fish. But it may also delay your cycle, eat plant fertilizer, and take tennis out of the water.
Then, you add the mechanical part. If you've got a lot of debris in the water and as long as we can get that to the intake of it. IT'll get sucked in and caught in the filter. IIt acts like a garbage can you can dispose of after a while.
Also, there's the flow that comes from the filter. It usually is done by the hang-on-back filter and canister in a back-to-front motion.
However, if you take the bag out regularly - you will not grow bacteria. Fortunately, everything in your tank, the plants, decoration, and glass will house beneficial bacteria. So, if we know that bacteria are everywhere, it makes having bacteria in the filter less critical.
There are extreme cases, nonetheless. Let's say your tank is a bare-bottom tank and no decor. Here, there isn't much place for bacteria to grow. Whereas, if you have an aquarium filled with different surfaces for bacteria to grow, the beneficial bacteria will thrive here.
Why do we need filters?
In the first aquarium, you'll need a bacterial filter. Long-term, the bacteria will colonize the tank. Therefore, in this perfect world, you would not need a filter for bacteria.
However, we'll need the filter for water flow. Almost any source of water movement will improve your filtration. The big goal is not to get stratifying layers. Next, let's think about Ammonia. Filters also help move around the Ammonia in the tank.
You can use wavemakers, power heads, and even air stones for the flow.
So, your filter need depends on your tank size and livestock. You need to move all the water around, and the bacteria will sustain. You can achieve the same with a big piece of wood and rocks.
Look at the way water moves around in your aquariums. Maybe, you've got big fish that are carrying a lot of water for you. In extreme situations, filtration is very needed and very beneficial. But a lot of people will give benefits to a filter that might not need o be there. They
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