Filtration

This section contains information about devices to prepare your water, filters to maintain water while in the tank, and miscellaneous plumbing such as overflow skimmers. Included are many Do-It-Yourself ideas. - [Details]

This is a small zeolite filter I've used in tiny, temporary tanks. Right now I'm using it in a 2 gallon tadpole tank, stocked with a few tiny tads. I wanted some type of filtration, but didn't have the time or energy to go through the cycling process before introducing the tads. I figured I would just use zeolite, since for the short term that seemed easiest to me. Since it was such a tiny tank, I was also looking for something cheap -i.e. DIY. - [Details]

Say goodbye to skimmer smells and floods. - [Details]

A simple bioball replacement that anyone can do. - [Details]

A sponge filter works by having water come through the sponge and into its "lift tube." As it comes through the sponge, the bacteria living in the sponge help do useful things like remove ammonia. Once in the lift tube, the only way for the water to get out is through the top (given that the top of the tube is OUT of the water just a little bit). This is where the air pump comes in. The air displaces the water, forcing it out of the tube, where it trickles back into the tank, now clean. This provides for so low a current as to be practically undetectable. What I am adding to the theory is chemical filtration through the use of a carbon insert. Powered filters run water through a sponge to trap large debris, sometimes another for biological filtering (bacteria) and a carbon insert for chemical filtration. We simply add the carbon to the sponge filter so the water is forced to go through it before leaving the filter. It has worked in my tanks. - [Details]

Saltwater Aquariums @ About.com - Here is a simple DIY Back Flush Set-Up that you can add to your system. This will allow you to reverse the water flow through the filter bio media to easily clean it, leaving the biological bacteria in tact. - [Details]

Use a screen from your Magnum diatom filter as a simple DIY prefilter for your overflow box. - [Details]