Equipment Review and Discussion :: Biological filters

[knite]

I was at the library this afternoon reading a magazine for aquariums and setups and whatnot. I found out that you can create simple filters from just using regular foam. This definatly caught my attention because it's so inexpensive. It might be better if the filter was placed with your feeder fishes but it might work with turtles as well.

How it works is that you simply put in the foam in the water. The dirtier, the better! The foam is a nesting place for bacteria to form. The trick is that you might have to wait about a month or two for them to formulate. Just remember that there needs to be wastes, alot of sunlight or regular household lights and warmth.

From what I read, you should never ever clean the water. Once the bacteria is present, it will break down ammonia and other wastes your turtle is able to make. This also eats algae.

I will use this for my feeder fishes most likely and possibly for my turtle's tank (if they promise not to take a bite out of it ).

[steve]

foam should primarily be used as the mechanical portion of your filtration setup. foam traps solid waste as it moves through the filter, so over time this will build up and reduce the efficiency of your filter.

ceramic rings are the main choice for growing bacteria to break down waste. they have holes in them so water can flow through. the bacteria you want will be present in any media you use for long periods of time, including foam and carbon.

p.s. i think you used up your Emoticon quota! (j/k)

[knite]

Oh, that sounds interesting. I never knew about these things. Looks like I won't be shopping for any more filters anytime soon.

[marisa]

knite, I've seen the type of filter you described made for a quarantine tank (and I've got a foam ready to make one if I ever need it), and I've seen foam used as a prefilter to help keep filters from clogging, but I think media specifically made for colonizing beneficial bacteria (rings, stars, lava rock, etc.) that has a lot of surface area for the bacteria would be better.

As for never cleaning or changing the water, doing partial water changes still becomes necessary, and unless you're absolutely religious about doing them water changes will still be necessary. The way to make sure the water is healthy is to test for substances like ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

[knite]

I'm now not placing any life with the little 'filter', instead only placing the minnows that belly flopped (died).

This is the site where I found all the info :
http://www.skippysstuff.com/biofiltr.htm

[marisa]

A few months ago someone (BigCT?) wanted to make a filter and that was one of the sites he was referred to as a possiblity for making a filter. It's for a large enclosure, though, and even the mini-me described at the end was for a larger enclosure than had been intended. Most of these types of filters are for larger tanks and ponds. Don't remember how big your tank is, for a small tank, this would be hard to do.

[reptilegrrl]

Knite, I think you misunderstood the Skippy filter. You don't just put a piece of foam in the tank; you build a flowing filter setup using foam as the filter media. The water flows through the holding tank, which is full of media, and then back into the pond.