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How a Salt Water Filter Works
Types of Salt Water Filters
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A salt water filter, like a freshwater filter, slows down the rate at which aquarium water deteriorates and becomes polluted. It is essential for maintaining water quality. Saltwater aquarium experts recommend running the water through a mechanical filter first and then a biological filter. The third type of filtration is chemical. All these filters remove impurities found in the marine ecosystem.
Mechanical Filters
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Mechanical filters trap and remove large organic debris and free-floating particles from the water. As the primary filtration system, they are the most important filter component, removing substances that can clog the biological filter. Mechanical filters require the most maintenance because as the initial filtration, they collect the most aquarium contaminants.
Biological Filters
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Biological filters recreate the natural filtration of the ocean, refining smaller organic material in the secondary stage of filtration. These filters encourage the growth of good bacteria and reduce harmful bacteria. They keep oxygen and carbon dioxide at beneficial levels and maintain other chemical balances in the aquarium. Underwater gravel filters, live sand and live rock are all efficient biological filters. Trickle filters, or wet/dry filters, are effective at oxidizing salt water and eliminating nitrogen compounds occurring in fish waste. This filter is exposed to both water and air, and water trickles through double-layered biological material in the filter chamber.
Chemical Filters
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Chemical filtration only works on pollutants that have been refined by the mechanical and biological systems. Chemical filters, such as activated carbon, remove waste and other unwanted substances from the aquarium on a molecular level. Carbon attracts certain substances and keeps them from returning to the ecosystem while being gentle enough to maintain the delicate balance in the aquarium. Other chemicals can be added to treat disease and algae bloom.
Protein Skimmers
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Saltwater aquariums must have a protein skimmer which uses small and large air bubbles to imitate the foaming nature of oceans and cleans organic waste from the water. The bubbles rise in a cylinder through which water is pumped. Dissolved carbon compounds attach to the bubbles and come back to the filter, where they are captured in a collection cup and eliminated.
eHow Article: How a Salt Water Filter Works
