Do you need a filter in your aquarium?

Do I need a filter in my aquarium? This question is asked by every novice amateur. Despite the seemingly obvious answer to this question, there is still no unambiguous answer.

In the store salesman consultant when buying an aquarium will convince you that the filter is necessary necessarily, without it is not possible. His job is to sell you as many related products as possible. This does not mean that you vtyuhihivat useless or unnecessary goods. This equipment in the room pond thing is really sometimes necessary. But nevertheless, there are many opportunities to do without it.

So, let’s try to understand when we can equip the aquarium without a purifier, and when without this device can not do without it.

Is a filter always needed in an aquarium?

First, let’s answer for ourselves the question – is it possible to organize a room water reservoir without a filter at all? I can give an affirmative answer to this question with full responsibility. Suffice it to remember that some twenty or thirty years ago, such equipment was more of a gimmick than standard for most indoor ponds. How then, amateurs and pros did without them? Relatively easy and simple. The very name of this device says that it is designed to purify water. What are we going to free the environment from?

What exactly is the filter catching in the aquarium?

1. Mud is the smallest particles of soil.
2. Bacteria are the result of a disturbance of the biological balance, namely the accumulation of nitrogen containing products of the inhabitants of your underwater world.
3. Unicellular algae is also a disturbance of the biological balance, namely the accumulation of phosphate and nitrate.

The attentive reader may reproach me for distorting the facts. After all, we do not catch bacteria or algae, but tiny mechanical particles and chemical substances. This attentive reader will certainly be right. But I can justify myself. Most beginners have a clear idea only about filtration of the smallest inorganic particles. What is the mechanism of water turbidity with well washed soil or in its complete absence many of them can only guess. There is nothing wrong with this. Most amateurs with experience also once did not know all the subtleties of creating a balanced closed biological system. It is bad if the first failures will kill a person’s desire to engage in this fascinating activity further. And a poor understanding of the processes occurring in the aquatic environment can greatly contribute to this.

So, dear attentive reader, you are right! We are not catching bacteria and algae, but the excess of those substances that caused such a rapid growth of microorganisms that the water became turbid from so many of them.

But before you can use the device correctly, you must be clear about what you need to free the medium from? What should the device be filled with (activated carbon, ion exchange resin)?

I am sure that most beginners do not yet have enough knowledge to answer these questions correctly. And thoughtless, without sufficient knowledge, application of chemistry and technical devices, as always, will bring more harm than good.

When is a filter in an aquarium not desirable?

Are there situations where it is not desirable to use additional technical means? Yes, there are! These are cases where it is highly desirable for your living area to be silent. For example, if it is located in a bedroom or a child’s room. What to do then? What to do? How will it exist without such a super – duper modern technology as an external biofilter, exceeding the volume of the aquarium in three times?

The answer is simple and trivial. Set up your first underwater world so that it would be a balanced biological system, independently maintaining this biological equilibrium indefinitely. This is not as difficult as it may seem at first glance.

A few simple but must-have rules will help you do just that.

Do not try to get fish that are difficult to keep right away. Such species as American cichlids, discus and some others are sometimes difficult even for professionals. For beginners, it is better to stop your attention to less fastidious species, the choice of which is more than wide: guppies, swordfish, barbs, danio, neon, some varietet goldfish. Believe me, watching and caring for these species is no less interesting than scalaria.

The size has a meaning

The volume of the tank should be sufficient to contain the number of fish of the species that you decided to get. You can do and a jar of ten to fifteen liters or even less (fashionable now nano aquarium). Previously, this fashion quite replaced the usual three-liter jar. But, first, the smaller the volume, the more difficult it is to achieve biological balance. Secondly, the beginner is always curbed by an understandable desire to get as many species as possible.

Usually it ends with the purchase of fish on the principle – every creature on a pair. In general that for the first experience will go, the main thing to remember – you buy fish is not for a country pond, and for room pond. The most acceptable volume for the first pond, in my opinion – fifty liters. It is neither low nor high, it is not narrow, not wide. It is just right!

The soil should be well rinsed of mud and preferably sanitized by any means available to you before laying on the bottom.

The number of occupants is equally important

It is necessary to clearly observe the stocking rate of your chosen fish per volume of your home pond. It is better to lower this rate by a factor of one and a half. Overpopulation leads to an excess of nitrogen-containing products of fish life. When the bacteria processing them stop coping with their excess – the fish will die.

You should feed your pets properly. Do not overfeed them. Leftovers are a source of phosphorus-containing compounds, and excessive amounts of these compounds lead to rapid algae growth.

Once your biosystem is started, it will go through a series of stages to establish biological equilibrium. This period lasts about 30 days. During this time, the water may become slightly cloudy a few times, but after a few days it will become crystal clear again.

No filter in an aquarium can replace water changes

Replace 10 to 30 percent of the water volume once a week. It is advisable to combine draining the water with cleaning the bottom from dirt. While you are cleaning the bottom, the old water is drained out. Then you will only have to pour in fresh water. This simple procedure will remove excess harmful substances that bacteria cannot cope with.

Following these simple rules will help you create a closed ecosystem that does not need to be equipped with anything.

This does not mean that filters should not be used at all! In experienced and knowledgeable hands it is a very useful and effective device.

Some aquariums are unthinkable without a filter

For example, if you breed fish, then the growing tanks simply must be equipped with external biological filters. An ordinary aquarium in the living room can be equipped with a purifier, with its proper setting can significantly increase the rate of settlement of fish per unit volume. Some species of fish are so demanding to the purity of the environment that it is impossible to keep them behind the glass of an artificial lake without additional water purification.

Therefore, the filter is a necessary and useful thing for your fishery, but as any technical means it must know how to use it correctly, and for this you need knowledge and experience, which will come with time.

Do you need a filter in your aquarium? As you can see, it is not always necessary behind the glass of your underwater kingdom. Everything is determined specifically by the task in front of you. To create a cozy silent corner for rest will have to create a self-regulating mini ecosystem without any additional buzzing and gurgling devices. As your fishery grows – the appearance of fry, increasing the number of fish species, you will have to increase the rate of planting per unit volume. Then you will need additional equipment, but by that time I hope you will already have a clear idea of why it is needed and will properly use its capabilities. And yourself for each specific case can decide whether you need a filter in the aquarium.