Using Diatomaceous Earth Filters in your Aquarium
Anyone who has kept a n aquarium knows how dirty the water gets. Of course, although fish are tiny, they are also rather untidy monsters, and the water wishes constant maintenance. Even if you make it a practice to modify the water and rinse out the aquarium on a weekly basis, you're still going to need some help with the huge task of maintaining a healthy environment for your fish. One of the things that will help you is a good filter. Filters can be biological or chemical, but one of the best filters you can buy is one that uses diatomaceous earth as it's filtering medium.
As the name suggests, diatomaceous earth comes from the soil. Diatoms are tiny organisms that die and leave fossilized remains in the soil. By so doing, they fill the soil with minute cavities which may be employed effectively in filtering debris out of water, including the water in aquariums. These are the same kinds of filters which are utilized in swimming pools and municipal applications, and they are excellent for capturing even the tiniest particles in your water. In fact, they corral particles that are too little to be caught in most other types of water filters.
Vortex Diatom Filters are high speed mechanical filters which are designed to fine filter water in aquariums without disturbing the natural, and desirable, level of bacteria. Though many of us have been conditioned to think of bacteria as being a bad thing, there are many alternative sorts of good bacteria that we depend on each day, so it is important that we not rid any ecosystem of the good bacteria that it needs for plants and animals to survive. A filter which damages the balance could prove hazardous for your fish.
A System 1 Pressure Filter from Aquarium Products will polish tank water at the rate of 300 gallons per hour. It may be employed both in saltwater and freshwater aquariums successfully. By filling the filter jar with diatomaceous earth, which can be bought separately, it will run for approximately three hours at a time. It has to be turned off after three hours, because running it longer will cause the motor to burn up. However, in that 3 hours, you will have filtered and polished the highest quality of water on the market today.
Though it may seem a little weird to use soil to clean your tank, diatomaceous aquarium filters are so popular that they are on back order at most online shops. With persistence you will be able to find the filter you need to keep your aquarium clean and your fish healthy.
