Internal and external aquarium filters

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Both internal and external filters are good solutions to keep clean water and good chemical values, there is not a better one, it depends on different factors connected to the aquarium.

Internal filters

Internal filters usually are rectangular boxes attached with suckers on a side glass of the tank. They may have two or three sections inside, thought to divide filter materials, pump and sometimes also the water heater.

Often you can find in shop really small internal filters meant for 10 gallons aquariums, even if they claim to use special technologies, they are the most of times inadequate for the aquarium cleaning.

Adding plants and reducing the number of fish inside the tank is not a solution with inadequate filters, specially in small aquariums; an undersized filter can not guarantee constant chemical values, even if it can clean water, great sudden changes of nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia due to the small concentration of filtering bacteria, can kill your fish and plants.

A good rule to follow to understand if an internal filter is of the right size for your tank is to choose a filter almost as big as the smaller lateral glass of the aquarium.

Filtering materials are a personal choice anyway is always better to use two different filtrations, a mechanical one and a biological one.

In case the filter is divided into three sections, put in the way in section some foam to block the passage of leafs, food rests, and other big refuses. Fill the middle one with ceramic rings or other biological filtrations, in this part will live the most of the filter bacteria. Add some other foam in the third part before putting the pump, to avoid big refuses left to come inside the pump.

The cleaning of internal filters can be difficult. Some of them have the sections formed by baskets easy to take off, separated without dirtying the water. In case your filter does not have the possibility to be cleaned in separated parts, change every 20 days the foam, in case it still looks good you can also clean under water and then reuse it again. The biological filter must not to be changed often, because the most it stays there the higher is the number of filtering bacteria inside; in case you see it really dirty you can take off and change just a part of it.

External filters

There are a lot of external filters, the most used are two:

- classical external filter
- hang on external filter

The classical external filter is formed by a hermetically closed container connected to the aquarium by a way in and a way out pipe. They can be placed near the tank or under it, and usually are employed for bigger aquariums.

The hang on external filter is a quite new filtering system. It consists of a rectangular box that hangs on the aquarium glass by a curved side. The pump is situated in the way in and gets water with a solid pipe, while the way out water creates small falls passing on the curved hang on side of the filter. These filters are really nice to see and are thought for small aquariums, anyway due the hang on part they need to be placed on open aquariums, or you have to modify the closure of the aquarium top.

External filters usually provide a good water cleaning and chemical values control. Each brand has a different design of the internal structure of the filter, anyway usually both classical and hang on filters are divided into small removable baskets or sections. Surely external filters are easier to clean because during this operation is impossible to dirty the aquarium. Moreover often classical external filters have the possibility to close and leave attached at the aquarium the way in and way out pipes, so you can clean the filter in another room, such garden or bathroom, without pouring out dirty water around.

Some external filters have the pump positioned on the way in, the problem of these models is that big refuses can damage the engine of the pump. Usually they come with a grid to block these refuses, make sure that the grid works fine, in case of doubt you can put a small part of foam before the way in.

How to choose the right filter for your aquarium

As mentioned above, there is not an universal best filtering system, it depends on the characteristics of your aquarium.

- If you are buying your first aquarium, you surely find easily tanks with internal filters, in case they are big enough, as explained before, you can use them without problem.

- In case you have a small aquarium with internal filter and you are experiencing problems related water pollution, be sure to have a working biological filter and that your aquarium is not overpopulated, before changing the internal filter with an external one.

- External filters have usually most powerful pumps, so in case of small tanks, prefer a hang on one, because they have been designed for small amounts of water.

- The use of oversized filters, specially external, can surely solve pollution problems, but the water current is more powerful and can make fish sick and be a cause of algae development.

- If you do not feel to clean the filter often and prefer a easier cleaning solution, prefer a classical external filter.

- If there are small kids or pets that could trip against aquarium accessories, prefer an internal filter.

- Big aquariums with low water level, like paludarium, or tanks dedicated to frogs or turtles prefer classical external filters that work fine even with a low water level.

Copyright note: This article is originally written by Michela Ferretti. Aqua-fish.net owns the full copyright of this article.

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Internal and external aquarium filters

has been viewed times since June 30, 2009.