For many people the term saltwater filter brings up the image of an aquarium sump or aquarium wet dry filter. It is true that these are likely the most popular, and the best filter system set up for saltwater aquariums, but many people do not know why such large and advanced filtration systems are required in saltwater aquariums.
In this article you will learn:
Learn why good pristine water quality is important for marine fish, and even more important for your live corals.
Learn what’s the difference between the terms aquarium sump and wet dry filter, or if there is a difference.
Learn all about how wet dry filters work.
Learn about the Berlin method using an empty aquarium sump and protein skimmers.
Of course, if you just want to compare products, and reviews, and shop for sumps, wet dry filters, and more
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Saltwater fish and corals are a little more delicate than freshwater aquarium inhabitants for two basic reasons.
1) Environmental changes – such as changes in temperature and water chemistry and levels of pollution occur slower in ocean environments than in freshwater environments because oceans are so large. Thus, marine, fish, etc., are not adapted to wide rapid environmental fluctuations.
2) Because of higher pH in saltwater aquariums, less toxic NH4 ammonium has a tendency towards turning into more toxic NH3 ammonia. High enough levels of NH3 will cause the death of saltwater aquarium fish and other inhabitants. However, this is no reason to be turned away from saltwater aquariums; our good quality saltwater aquarium filters and some knowledge will enable you to maintain a healthy aquarium with low levels of ammonia and ammonium.
Using only the best filtration system is the most important aid in keeping a clean, stable, well oxygenated, healthy aquarium environment free of toxic ammonia and other organic wastes. A good filter will remove toxic ammonia before it can build up.
Two things are needed to make a biological aquarium filter effective:
1) Plenty of surface area for beneficial bacteria to grow on.
2) And plenty of oxygen for these bacteria. It is the oxygen-hungry, beneficial bacteria that break down toxic ammonia. The more oxygen available for these bacteria, the more efficiently the bacteria will be able to metabolize or break down these waste products. Also, the larger the surface area that the bacteria are allowed to colonize, the more of these beneficial bacteria you will have. Thus, a large surface area is also very important in a biological filter.
Wet dry filters provide both of the above better than any other filter system. Look closely at a bio-ball from inside a wet dry filter. See that they are spherical, spherical objects have more surface area than any other shaped object in relation to the objects overall size. I can’t explain it I just believe the mathematicians and you should too.
Look at all the projections on that sphere, each projection adds to the surface area. All that surface area is covered in billions of good friendly bacteria that can’t wait to eat your fishes….. metabolic waste products.
Now look at how water trickles down over the bio balls, note that the bio balls are not submerged under water like the media in all other filter types, but that they are suspended above the water and a thin trickle of water constantly trickles over them. Hence the alternative name for these filters, trickle filter. Because the water captures oxygen as it trickles down it is rich in oxygen. Now an extremely thin layer of that water wets the surface of the bio balls to keep the bacteria from drying out, at other times the water missing sections of the bio balls leaving them completely exposed to very humid air for a few seconds, so now the bacteria has even more oxygen to work with in their attempt to break down ammonia, and nitrites.
And all you are left with is less harmful nitrates, because bacteria that like oxygen (aerobic bacteria) on the bio -balls do not eat Nitrates. Sounds like the perfect filter with no draw backs, right? Well if nitrates are left behind it is not perfect, it is only close. So, what to do about those Nitrates?
Partial water changes will remove them.
Read below and see what some people in Europe have come up with as a method to use an empty sump without bio-balls to lessen the formation of nitrates.
Berlin Method the Aquarium Sump.
One less known but often effective method of filtration for reef tanks, is the Berlin method. First designed by the Berlin Aquarium Society in Germany, it involves removing the bio balls from the wet dry filter.
A wet dry filter is an aquarium sump that contains bio balls covered in good bacteria that break down waste products. Sumps in aquariums also often have bags that catch dirt and other particulate matter as it flows into the sump.
A sump is defined as a pit or hallow in which liquids collect. A depression in the floor of a mine of basement in which water collects.
When you remove the bio balls as in the Berlin Method, the wet dry has no more bio balls that alternate between being wet and relatively dry so now we call it an aquarium sump. No we no longer have bio balls with water trickling over them and bacteria in the system to break down waste products. The Berlin method relies heavily on live rock inside the tank.
You do not need to use a canister filter or hang on the back filter for this method. Just a empty wet dry filter. The live rock does the filtration. These live rocks are full of bacteria that break down ammonia. The system also relies heavily on a extra powerful protein skimmer that removes much of the organic waste products from the aquarium before being broken down by bacteria. This early removal of organics by a protein skimmer is helpful because protein skimming totally removes waste from the aquarium; but, bacteria decomposes waste inside the aquarium and leaves some by-products, such as nitrates, behind to build up in the aquarium. So, the more we can remove with a protein skimmer before bacterial breakdown takes place, the better.
Later, anaerobic bacteria living deep inside the tiny pores on the live rock and in the deeper levels of sand will break down any nitrates that may build up in the aquarium. After the protein skimmer, the aerobic bacteria on the rocks, and the anaerobic bacteria in the rocks and sand have all done their work, all that is left of the original organic waste products is mostly harmless nitrogen gas. This Berlin system is widely used in Europe and is considered by many the most effective method for maintaining healthy corals.
If you are looking for good quality aquarium sumps for use with bio balls or a sump without bio balls and cannot find one at your local pet shop visit Amazon.
Wet Dry Aquarium Filter Basics
The most popular type of filter for saltwater aquariums and larger freshwater aquariums is the wet-dry filter. It uses the same basic principles as under-gravel filters. Water passes over gravel very slowly in a under-gravel filter, and the ammonia and nitrites are metabolized (chemically broken down) by bacteria living in the gravel. In a wet dry filter, water passes over plastic balls at a much faster rate than water passing around gravel in a under -gravel filter. The water is allowed the chance to drip through the air, as it does so it absorbs much oxygen. Also, the plastic balls inside wet-dry filters are regularly exposed to air. These characteristics of the wet-dry filter create the optimal oxygen-rich environment in which bacteria can multiply profusely and effectively metabolize organic waste in the large amounts of tank water that passes through it. All the tanks water should pass through the filter at least one time per hour.
It is best to use a large, wet-dry filter with a large sump (water reservoir area) so that, if the power goes out, the water that continues to flow from the aquarium via gravity will fill the filter up but not overflow it and spill it out onto the floor. A large sump also leaves room many extras such as:
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Denitrification filters
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Or even a refugium section with plant lights for growing live macro-algae plants that absorb excess nutrients.
Today, most healthy freshwater tanks containing fish like Oscars, Cichlids, or large predatory fish, utilize wet dry filters.
Saltwater fish aquariums, and reef aquariums utilize wet-dry filter set ups as well because these simple, yet extremely effective filters have proven to be highly effective at maintaining good water quality even in larger more demanding aquariums systems.