Salt Water Fish Tank

Why Is Aquarium Filtration Such A Hot Topic?

Keeping a salt water fish tank was once viewed as being difficult, expensive and needing a touch of magic.

There was little known of the needs of captive marine life, and for the most part only very hardy aquatic life in very small numbers survived for any length of time, and that was usually only measured in months.

I can just see those pioneer marine aquarium hobbyists sitting and arguing over the possibly best way to proceed. If they could see the way we do it now, their flabber would certainly be gasted!

The first actual breakthrough in filtration came with the under-gravel filter. I hang my head in shame as I forget the aquarist who developed it, but a plate was put under the sand and water pumped through it to keep the sand medium clean. Keep it clean physically that is! However, after a while it was noticed that marine life was surviving for quite a while, much longer than normal. So people began to experiment with these filters to identify the reason. Eventually they worked out why there was an extended life of the aquatic life with underground filters. Of course, as we well know today, the reason was that an ‘army’ of nitrite and ammonia destroying bacteria had been established in the filter system.

Despite my vague knowledge of the event (I‘m not that old!), I do remember that the aquarist didn’t believe that the answer to keeping marine life could be so simple, he continued to think that it was because the sand was clean.

Anyway, it was a beginning. Filtration capable of supporting marine aquatic life had arrived. This must have caused a leap in the desire to keep saltwater aquarium fish and invertebrates, and indeed the hobby from that time on did expand considerably.

Moving forward a decade or so (great when you can time travel)… and look where we are at now! The under-gravel filter did continue to be popular for quite a while, but now innovative minds kept wondering if they could “do it better”, and of course the commercial manufacturers began taking an interest, firstly in under-gravel equipment, then in canister filters and media suitable for a salt water fish tank. From there the marine aquarium hobbyist never looked back. The modern filtration equipment is very advanced and efficient in sustaining easily a marine ecosystem.

There are now highly efficient protein skimmers (and what an aid to water quality they are!), biological trickle towers, denitrators, anti-phosphate reactors, calcium reactors, water level top-up systems to name but a few. Seawater quality in the modern marine aquarium is unbelievably good.

However, it doesn’t stop there… the very latest move has been to natural filtration techniques. Modern salt water fish tank aquarists consider this to be the best development, as this is what nature does so well on its own. To explain further…  let’s look at the example of ‘live’ rock, with all its bacteria doing the work that the old under-gravel filter used to do, but doing it so much better (when used properly it even gets rid of the nitrate). Then there is the deep sand bed (DSB) and the plenum (which is a raised DSB). Both further examples of nature’s way to filtrating toxins from water.

Looking at this summary of the history of filtration, it can be seen why filtration is such a hot topic with salt water fish tank keepers, although there still is much debate and discussion on which is the best.

There are new aquarists who have tried different filtration techniques and have settled on one which has worked well for them. Their fish and corals are a sight to marvel at, water quality is very high, and without doubt they have done well. They may argue vehemently that their filtration or filtration combination is the best. Truth being, there likely is another aquarist who uses quite different methods also getting just as good results.

The more serious marine aquarists will have marvellous saltwater aquarium fish tank set ups, usually filtered by live rock and often linked to a sump with a DSB. Maybe they also use algae (Caulerpa) to enhance filtration. What they do is keep up to date with new ideas and technologies that they may be able to use to enhance their systems.

Then there are those leading aquarists who are not just content to achieve a great captive reef display. They wonder and continue to experiment with different ways to continuously improve their systems. With their display salt water fish tank, they attached a sump with a DSB and probably Caulerpa. They may attach another area to the system that is in permanent total darkness, so that certain sponges and other filtering life forms they live in darkness can develop. There are other experiments being done. One innovative aquarist has even looked at the possible beneficial qualities of Aiptasia anemones. These anemones usually make the average aquarist go on the offensive (as they can get out of control if left to their own), however, if managed carefully can offer tremendous filtration benefits.

All of these marine aquarium filtration systems are what makes the display salt water fish tank as natural as possible, where interference from the aquarist is minimised. There will always need to be some interference and action by the aquarist as, no matter how large the aquarium system, when compared to its wild counterpart it is minute.

The marine reef aquarium hobby continues to advance. It will always be a popular topic. It should be, as it is an essential component of a successful, healthy and vibrant salt water fish tank. It is also one of the things that make this hobby of ours so fascinating.

Visit the ‘Salt Water Aquarium Advice’ website if you are interested in learning more about aquarium filtration.