Welcome back to Fishaholic, I hope everyone is doing well.
In this video I'll discuss and demonstrate how to set up filter media
in an overhead aquarium filter. Before setting up filtration it's really
important to know what order should filter media go in an aquarium top filter.
Enjoy watching this step-by-step tutorial and if you haven't subscribed
to the channel yet; please hit that subscribe button and also turn on the
notification so you don't miss out on any updates. I'll start with positioning
my aquarium by moving the base where I want it to be. This is a semi circle
acrylic aquarium, really light and I can even lift this aquarium with one hand as
compared to glass aquarium which is really heavy and and on most occasions
requires two-person lift. Air pump is already connected and the aeration
system is good to go. You can find a link to that video in the top right corner of
this video. I'm filling the tank with normal water using a garden hose and
this water does contain chlorine for that purpose I'm using h2 Pro product a
chlorine neutralizer it will neutralize all the chlorine present in the tank and
make it safe for the beneficial bacteria to grow. All the instructions are on the
bottles, so i just follow the instructions and usually I add half the amount in
the start and remaining amount when the tank is full.
This is the aquarium top filter box that I will be using in this project and it
is made of thick plastic. The water enters through here then it passes
through all the filter media and escape through the hole at the bottom and make
its way back to the tank. Biological filtration that will go in this aquarium
top filter consists of ceramic media. And as you can see in this bag there's
two different type of ceramic media. One is aqua one ceramic noodles also called
a ceramic ring and the other product is aqua one premium sub ceramic substrate.
The bio media in this bag is already cycled so it already has all the
beneficial bacteria that I will need to start this tank. And as you are
familiar with the beneficial bacteria, they need a surface to cling on to and it
means somewhere where it can grow. And the more surface that's available the more
bacteria that the filter media can hold. Ceramic rings increases the surface area
through tiny little pores and these pores; we cannot see them with our naked eye.
However, ceramic rings have an additional advantage over other types of filter media,
such as, ceramic rings can hold a second beneficial bacteria which is called
de-nitrifying bacteria. This bacteria feeds on nitrates and will only survive where
there is no oxygen present. This bacteria live deep inside rocks ceramic and other
porous media where oxygen cannot reach them. You won't find this bacteria in
plastic or foam filter media such as sponge filters. I'm not using any
chemical filtration in this filter. So, now it's time to set up my mechanical
filtration. For mechanical filtration I'm using three different types of foams, one
is really fine foam, the second one would be a medium and the third one
would be coarse foam. Mechanical filter media should be placed before chemical and
biological filter media. Mechanical media is intended to remove the large
particles that's why I'll be placing coarse foam right at the top followed by
medium foam and then really fine foam at the bottom. Only clean water filtered
through mechanical filter media should flow through the biological media. As we
know the biological media consists of small pores and these pores serves as a
host for all the beneficial bacteria colonies.
If these pores gets clogged then it means the oxygen flow is impeded which put the
bacterial colonies at risk of dying off. Setup of aquarium top filter is complete,
now I'm working on other components which are required to run this
filtration. I've drilled some holes in this PVC pipe and water will enter this
top filter through these holes. And this is a small flexi hose, one end of the
hose will be connected to this PVC pipe and the other end of the hose will be
connected to the water pump.
Aquarium pump right in front of you has a capacity of 1100 liters an hour which
is more than enough for this tank.
Now the final step is to put all these component together which is pretty basic.
It is also really important to make sure all the connections are secure because
you don't want to flood your house with this aquarium water.
It's time to test this now by turning on the power and as you can see the water
is flowing through that PVC pipe getting filtered through mechanical filtration
and then entering the biological filtration system and then making its
way back to the tank through that hole in the filter box. It's always good to add some
live bacteria to the tank especially when you're starting a tank and it's
also recommended whenever you do water changes. Just do a top-up on some live
bacteria, I usually add it to the filter media rather than adding directly to the
tank water. If you are keen in adding any chemical filtration then make sure it
goes between the mechanical and biological media.
I hope you have enjoyed watching this video about how to set up aquarium tank
filter and the order of the filter media. Please hit that like button if
this video was informative and also SUBSCRIBE to the channel if you haven't
already subscribed. Thank you for watching guys,
look after yourself and I'll see you in my next video