Here is a blog i wrote for my Website and facebook

I hope this will be of use to you guys on here in future i will post up a blog or two for general use.I usually post it on my my website or facebook page but some of the guys on here think i should have more input so maybe they are correct so read on...you guys asked for it.....


Hi there,

One of the most important subjects known to man......filtration.When it comes to filtration most people can feel a little overwhelmed by the concept.Not to worry that's why i am gonna try in a few words to make it real and easy for you.On the basis that some of you have read some of my blogs then you should know that water quality is the key issue for fish keeping.In order to maintain our water quality we do a weekly test with our test kit don't we folks?.....yes we do Ian....okay that's cool.Remember your test kit answers your questions before i do.On the basis that our water quality (not Clarity) is up to scratch then the next thing will be the control of solids and all the particulate matter we see in our aquariums.

It is those annoying floating suspended bits that freak us out the most is it not?It does not matter what fish you keep it is always the same.I come across this all the time.Well managing physical waste is called mechanical filtration as opposed to biological filtration.Biological filtration is the action of the bacteria we culture in our filters....it can take up to two months to colonize our filters properly with nitrosomonas and nitrobacter the two bacteria that form a biofilm in our filters...this is what we call the biological function of our filter.It is an easy concept to understand.These bacteria are slow growing and are oxygen dependent they have an optimum temperature for growth over the temperature we keep our fish at so technically our filters never run to their optimum levels....but that's by the by.On the basis that they do for argument sake the populations of the colonies can only grow in accordance with the amount of food that is available to them.....this food source is Ammonia.Most of this chemical is produced by the exchange of gases through the respiratory function of the gills.But i am getting off on a tangent here as i do......the biological function of our filter must be safe guarded at all times.

It takes very little to damage this unseen part to our filter.I will explain this in this way.When you are cleaning the sponges in your filter obviously using aquarium water to do so have you ever noticed the slimy feel to the sponge.That is the jelly or bio film i am talking about.Have you ever noticed that no dirt comes out till you squeeze the sponge several times then whoooosh the water is filthy....that is you sloughing off this bio film.Once you do this you compromise everything this is why i suggest using two filters and alternate the cleaning of them.Most people will have problems after a cleaning session.Your fish will still produce the same amount of waste but your filter is biologically dead.If your ammonia levels rise on your test kit then this has happened.I always suggest regularly testing after maintenance to keep an eye out for a spike in the levels.

Once you turn your filter off for more than an hour you can be sure this will kill your biological function too.Low oxygen levels are another sure way to mess up filter performance.Filters need as much oxygen as your fish do.And remember oxygen is temperature dependent.The higher the temp the lower the amount of available oxygen.The third type of filtration we use is chemical.Without going to deep into this because i want to make this simple is the use of chemicals or products that interact with your water in an unbiological way like using resins to absorb Nitrate or else blockers or agents that detoxify.

If we choose and use the correct filter we should have very little issues with our aquarium.Remember a filter is an inert dead thing until you fill it with invisible life.Your filter is not a wonder machine....forget the shiny knobs that is all sales pitch.Bacteria will colonize and settle on any surface as long as there is suitable food source and oxygen levels so you can make a filter using your underpants if you want.What i look for in a filter is quite different.I look for media capacity.I look for through put ie turnover.If you want to nitpick i would test the oxygen levels at the input stage then again at the out put stage to see the amount used in biological function but this is only for my interest really overall oxygen levels of 80 percent should be enough to carry the tank.My suggestion is get a good external for one.I love externals that's is why there are so many on our site and we sell them so cheap.They take up very little room in the tank which is pleasing to the eye.They have a very high carrying capacity and if you use heterotrophic cultures of bacteria in your tank on a weekly basis you should be able to reduce the physical load in your system by up to 70 percent....imagine that.Yes we can do this.We have done it for Maynooth fisheries.We reduced waste levels by a dramatic amount riding the lake of blanketweed into the bargain.So if we can tackle a lake imagine what we can do to an aquarium.For aquariums you will see similar products title sludge busters etc. I suggest you use them but they have to be used regularly for the results to really shine.

Anyway this discussion is a quick blog to help some of the confusion when it comes to selecting filters.Most filters are good.There i said it.Choose one that suits your needs.That is where we come in.Go to your local fish shop and have a chat....biological filtration is my life i have over 40 sump filters alone to manage in work....if you have any queries i would be delighted to help out.

Cheers

Ian Patrick Compton

That was very helpful thanks! What's your opinion on using peat moss in external filters to soften the water and reduce the pH? Is it worthwhile, does it have any affect?

cheers

Also, what are your thoughts on the addition of carbon to your filter? Thanks.

i am going setup a new filter for a african cichlid tank.
it has three empty baskets what media should i use or should i use sponge filters on my 350L tank

Hi there sorry for late reply poxy internet has been down for a bit there.The raging debate about carbon ....eh....well on a personal level i do not use it the main reason is we manage our systems well and in general it would be impractical for us with over 400 tanks as you can imagine.Now on a hobbyist carbon can be a real help.Some will argue that carbon will remove beneficial items from your aquarium and render your environment to sterile but i would have to disagree here.A lot of the problems people have with the health of their fish is seldom down to issues like this.Health problems are usually imported into your aquarium in my experience.So the issue of customers quarantine is big one.Quarantine begins at home and that's that there are no two ways about it but that is another matter.The most important thing about carbon is replacing it before it becomes a problem in itself 6-8 weeks is usually the bench mark i would tend to sway towards the 6week period because it tends to leach back into the system despite what manufacturers tell you.Also carbon efficacy depends on the tds of the system by this i basically mean the bio load which really boils down to stocking density and waste control.The great thing about carbon is that it can remove articles out of the water preventing them from collectively adding to waste levels but we tend to use it to reduce visual annoyances it is excellent for water clarity issues....ie tannin in the water especially when you use wood in its various forms.Its great for removing meds to after they burn out from treatment.But the most important thing is to keep the carbon as clean as possible or it will just become a sludged up mechanical filter.This will kind of defeat the purpose so protect it from this making sure it is in the cleanest part of the filter.On the basis that it is replaced properly it will please the eye giving a more pristine edge to aquarium water where aquariums with out it will have that tired look about them.Because of the porosity of carbon even the finest particles can be removed but the biggest issue to its use is contact time with the water to be treated.Seldom is it used properly.The contact time in normal use is way off the mark.An inch or too in depth as part of a mish mash of media does not cut it and to boot having carbon as an off shoot to filtration rather like a uv sterilizer does not cut it.For carbon to work best it should be filtering all of the cleanest water so it should be the last media before the return to the tank.If water can by pass it then we are just wasting our time.Like a uv all the water must pass through it or it is pretty ineffective as a safeguard.
But yea if changed regularly carbon is wicked and effective it is used in waste water treatment of all genres not just by us.
Hope this helps dude.....
cheers
Ian

Hi there,
Ah yes ye old African tank.....I have an 8 foot African tank with nearly 300 fish in it in work it is pretty awesome and i am a big African fan.The reason i keep it so densely stock is to keep aggression to a minimum which it is considering that some of the fish are over 30 cm.On the basis that you have a 350litre tank i would suggest that you would use two externals rather than one.Alternate the cleaning of them leaving at least 4 weeks between servicing so one will be on the ascendency as the other is on the decline biologically because one you service one of the filters it is pretty much foobarred.The biofilm gets sloughed off and the bacteria being really slow to recover will not handle the ammonia produced by your fish that is why testing after clean outs is essential till stability returns.The most important thing is to grade the media used.What media you choose is a personal choice really.But depending on water flow it should go coarse to fine.Catching waste particles in this way is more efficient than bunging up the media.In professional treatment systems this is very evident.We have a specially designed RO system that has pretreatment stages based on this science and we use pressure gauges to inform us when each stage isn becoming a problem.As for media mmmm i like coarse sponge when it forms its biofilm it is a great remover of heavy particles in a small area.Bo balls are a joke for me they are totally inefficient in a confined space where as in a large body of water ie koi filters large chambers they are great for slowing water down and settling solids.Siporax is legendary because of its porosity and filter wool too.But make sure the filter is up to the job flow rate wise.350 litres is a large body of water your biggest problem will be settlement in the tank because of current.I would have an fx6 run this system or two 1200 -1500lph externals as an alternative.My african tank runs at......wait for it.........12000lph and it is always spotless so your tank would equate to the fx6 filter 3500 lph.

Anyway cheers dude i have to get some work done or ill be firede.
Ian

ipcompto wrote:

Hi there sorry for late reply poxy internet has been down for a bit there.The raging debate about carbon ....eh....well on a personal level i do not use it the main reason is we manage our systems well and in general it would be impractical for us with over 400 tanks as you can imagine.Now on a hobbyist carbon can be a real help.Some will argue that carbon will remove beneficial items from your aquarium and render your environment to sterile but i would have to disagree here.A lot of the problems people have with the health of their fish is seldom down to issues like this.Health problems are usually imported into your aquarium in my experience.So the issue of customers quarantine is big one.Quarantine begins at home and that's that there are no two ways about it but that is another matter.The most important thing about carbon is replacing it before it becomes a problem in itself 6-8 weeks is usually the bench mark i would tend to sway towards the 6week period because it tends to leach back into the system despite what manufacturers tell you.Also carbon efficacy depends on the tds of the system by this i basically mean the bio load which really boils down to stocking density and waste control.The great thing about carbon is that it can remove articles out of the water preventing them from collectively adding to waste levels but we tend to use it to reduce visual annoyances it is excellent for water clarity issues....ie tannin in the water especially when you use wood in its various forms.Its great for removing meds to after they burn out from treatment.But the most important thing is to keep the carbon as clean as possible or it will just become a sludged up mechanical filter.This will kind of defeat the purpose so protect it from this making sure it is in the cleanest part of the filter.On the basis that it is replaced properly it will please the eye giving a more pristine edge to aquarium water where aquariums with out it will have that tired look about them.Because of the porosity of carbon even the finest particles can be removed but the biggest issue to its use is contact time with the water to be treated.Seldom is it used properly.The contact time in normal use is way off the mark.An inch or too in depth as part of a mish mash of media does not cut it and to boot having carbon as an off shoot to filtration rather like a uv sterilizer does not cut it.For carbon to work best it should be filtering all of the cleanest water so it should be the last media before the return to the tank.If water can by pass it then we are just wasting our time.Like a uv all the water must pass through it or it is pretty ineffective as a safeguard.
But yea if changed regularly carbon is wicked and effective it is used in waste water treatment of all genres not just by us.
Hope this helps dude.....
cheers
Ian

Thanks for this! Very useful.....

Hi there Ian,
It is with great interest I have been reading your blog, this is the stuff this forum needs!
Let me tell you I have been planning a visit to your shop as soon as possible, but as I'm living in Clare it's not that simple, but will get there.
Now I have a number of questions for you and need advice.
I'm setting up a new aquarium, for African Malawi Cichlids, currently building the base unit so we are still a bit away from stocking it, (will not put a time frame on it in case you hold me to it )
Anyway it's a 560l tank with an 80l sump. I like the idea of sump filtration, from all I have seen in my research it sounds the best possible filtration system, and as you have 40 of them you must think there useful too.
Now the dimensions of the sump are 112cm long 39cm high and 38cm depth, there is a divider 33cm from one end 19cm high (the height used for calculating the volume) there is also two dividers 30cm from other end which are 50mm apart and 50mm from base of sump (designed for sponge filter to go between them). I have no problem fitting drip trays etc. to facilitate anything that might be necessary. I had planned to use bioballs in the primary stage with the water raining down on them (wet/dry) with filter wool before them and ceramic media in the secondary stage, return pump (3500l) and heaters (2 x 300W) in third stage.
But what I am looking for advice on is what should I put in the sump, I have noted your lack of appreciation of the bioballs. I also have a filter sock which I believe is good for removing debris and micro-bubbles, if this is any advantage to me.
I look forward to your response and hope it will be helpful to other members also. I will keep the other questions for another day.

R

Hi there thanks for the appreciation.As for sumps i am not really a major fan of them they come with the systems i use so that's the real reason i use them.Fish keepers are always looking for the holy grail and sumps always tick that box.As for me i would use a sump if i needed to hide equipment from view like skimmers and heaters etc yea they can make the appearance of an aquarium look better so go for it in that respect.As for filtration,if your water quality via your test kit is perfect then no matter which type of filtration you have done your job.That is how simple life is it scares me that people find it so hard to grasp this concept.Your test results are the answers to your questions.People unfortunately think of water clarity as being the success they have been searching for and i always say then why don't you keep your fish in vodka that's nice and clear.....

It amazes me the hold the trade can have over the general public keep them like mushrooms.Sometimes people get frustrated with me for referring back to water quality all the time but if your results are what you need then that's that.The most important thing about a sump system is oxygen levels.We come across the same phenomenon using multibay filtration for koi ponds.It is no use having ten chambers packed with media if you cant supply enough oxygen to support the growth of bacteria across the whole of the system.The limiting factor anyway will be available ammonia which is basically a food source.So in essence you will end up with a giant mechanical filter without realizing it.But it serves the same end technically.
In an ideal world the set up you should be focusing on is this as with all filtration.We need to separate the solids fro the water column.By doing this we can keep our culture of bacteria in top form breaking down dissolved waste.Unfortunately this is seldom achieved most filters will turn into a big mushy nightmare if not maintained properly.

So when choosing media it is more a personal choice.When it comes to multibay filtration for koi etc nothing beats filter brushes in the first chamber as long as the chamber is sized correctly.You can put all the modern gadgets against this old technology and i haven't seen it be4ttered yet but the hobby is all about selling gadgets so let them at it. I come from a thinking approach fish have been my life for over 30 years we used to make professional filters ad on occasion we still do when we need too.Brushes will settle solids and solids stick to solids so with in no time you will be shocked at the amount of physical waste a couple of brush chambers in inline will collect.Anyway for a sump we are more restricted.The biggest problem is the return from the tank which will be approx 3500 lph.I do suggest the sock great idea to a degree but the solids will eventually go into solution you will only trap the coarse material but it is something i like the concept.....like all concept.You need to provide a way of slowing the water to a halt so solids will precipitate out of the water column.Bio balls are as good as any but layers of poly wool would be more effective.I love poly wool it is so versatile.It ticks all the boxes.You can use it to prestrain and trap the solids keeping them from moving through the system.Remember to turn off the sytem before removing so you have a static body of water.This prevents contamination of other chambers then you can syphon off the solids that settle while you do your maintenance.Biological media i love siporax it is tremendous every copies it in one way or another but the original is still the best.Sera do bulk siporax we are the agents(little plug there).As a guideline it takes about a cubic foot of media t handle a 1000 litres of water you can use that to gauge the project.I would then use my graded foam coarse medium then fine on the return pump just to keep the last escapees from beating the system.It does not have to be complicated.Fish keepers ultimately battle with particles......its all a visual thing......particles will be beaten by flow rates and the correct building of the weir in the tank.If your weir is just a standard over the top job you will have problems if it has an outer box that collects from the bottom first then you are ok i guess.You can always use an external for removing any stubborn particles in my opinion.

Remember overcrowd your africans this is the way they exist in nature maybe stick a giraffe cat in with them to stir up the sand they are brilliant for hoovering tanks.So i hope this has been helpful to you.
Best of luck
Ian
www.aquatic-village.com

Well Ian
This has been extremely helpful, but I would rather not leave the end result up to "luck". I do appreciate your time you are putting into this.
I understand the test kit results are king and changes and additions may be required based on them. But building a sump and setting up a 560 liter tank, I would rather not do it on a suck it and see basis. So over kill at this stage is not a problem for me.
I understand the marketing hype with regard to liters / hour as the basis most filters seem to be sold on, but if the water hasn't enough time being exposed to the media I believe the work of the best colony of bacteria can't be done.
So when you say 1 Cubic foot of media can handle 1000 liters of water, is that at a given flow rate?
The other question I have regarding this, is that the figure of Siporax required or is that the total media inclusive of bioballs, poly wool, and foam filters used?
I take on board your advice for foam filters prior to the return pump and was wondering would it be a good idea to use 2 x (Course, Medium & Fine) the reasoning I have behind this would be, I could remove the primary ones for cleaning as required and replace them with the secondary ones and put the cleaned ones in the secondary position, so the bacteria on the secondary foam would be on the ascendancy as in your previous advice suggesting 2 filters.

Once again I look forward to your response, and have to say I was delighted you didn't suggest I used my underpants in the sump

Richard