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Filtration systems
act to clean out the aquarium water and get rid of wastes that have
dissolved in the water over time. A typical filtration system includes:
a. the intake where the "dirty" water comes in
b. mechanical filtration that seeks to filter out floating sediments
in the water
c. chemical filtration that gets rid of the nitrogenous wastes and
phosphates dissolved in water
d. biological filtration that tries to get rid of bacteria and other
organisms that may be harmful to the fish
e. the outflow where the filtered water is led back into the tank
Filtration systems
for aquariums are probably the most important as well as the most
complex of all aquarium equipments. There are a variety of designs
that can be used to allow for different levels of filtration. There
are other additional filtration devices such as protein skimmers
that remove proteins as well as other waste from the aquarium water.
The air pumps
are mainly used to provide adequate oxygen into the aquarium water.
Fish may suffer from oxygen starvation and may die if they aren't
supplied with oxygen in the water regularly.
Aquarium fish
may be prone to this condition since aquarium water is mostly stagnant
and may have depleting oxygen levels in time. Air pumps can be used
to bring back the oxygen levels in the aquarium back to normal levels
in order to keep a more livable environment for the aquarium residents.
Aquarium heaters
are often used to regulate the water temperature inside the aquarium.
This is especially required for tropical aquariums that usually
house a variety of exotic tropical fish that may require the environment
of tropical water temperatures in order to thrive. Aquarium heaters
are usually equipped with thermostats in order to efficiently regulate
the right water temperature at the designated levels.
In contrast,
there are also aquarium coolers available that are used in places
where water temperature may be required to be lower than the prevailing
room temperature in order for the aquarium fish to be comfortable.
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