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While browsing through some magazine back numbers over breakfast this morning, an idea occurred to me. On page 13 of the June 2004 edition of Today's Fishkeeper, there is an advertisement for Fish Mate pond pumps and filtration equipment, which includes a picture of one of their pressurised UV+BIO filters, which allegedly include in their design some interesting technological features designed for ease of maintenance. Looking at the picture, the UV+BIO unit is pretty substantial - I would hazard a guess that the unit in the picture has an internal volume of close on 20 gallons (UK). So, my thought for the day is this.

Given that an aquarium will generate far less waste than a large pond (for one thing, falling leaves and dead birds will not be an issue, nor will dead hedgehogs, which have been a feature of some of the pond letters to the magazine), a pond filter might seem like 'overkill' on a freshwater aquarium, especially one with built-in ultraviolet sterilisation! But, my thought was this: since the need for filtration media will be lower (in volume terms) for an aquarium than for a pond, the internal volume of the filter need not be completely filled with filter media. Consequently, there will be a good percentage of the volume of this unit containing nothing but water when used in this fashion. Which, in turn, provides a neat means of increasing the total water volume of the aquarium being filtered, which in turn will reduce the loading on the filter as soluble pollutants will be more diluted. Use one of these at a modest flow setting on a 10 gallon (UK) aquarium, and you could effectively double the volume of your aquarium in terms of water quantity, even though the size of the aquarium remains the same. More water will be more stable temperature wise (if your heater decides to go 'kaput', it will take longer for the water to cool, for example, giving you more leeway when effecting a replacement) and the fish in the aquarium will take longer to pollute the larger volume of water. Additionally, having what will be in effect a big canister filter outside the aquarium will make water changes somewhat easier: instead of lifting buckets and ladling water into the aquarium as I do currently, just empty the filter into one bucket, and pour the new water into the filter, then fire it up again!

Of course, such a unit would not be 'overkill' for a large Cichlid aquarium, and big Cichlids would inevitably impose a heavier load on the filter, but since such a filter is designed for a large pond full of big Koi, and a large (3 Kg) Koi is a prodigious self-propelled ammonia factory, a large pond filter such as this might be usefully pressed into service by those people looking for something that will keep up with the heroic polluting capacities of their Jaguar Cichlids or dovii, for example. Harness three of these big units in parallel, with the flow rate at a higher setting, and they would surely provide sufficient capacity for even the most demanding marine setup? The largest of these units is allegedly rated at 2,000 gallons per hour, which should ensure enough water flow even for surge-zone corals?

Hopefully, this little bit of lateral thinking on my part will provide some inspiration to my fellow fishkeepers!

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Pond filters are designed for ponds, aquarium filters are designed for aquariums...

When an exchange takes place the problems begin.

Manufacturers design to sell and the better the product sounds, the better, potentially, the product sells.

Improved filters with less maintenance are the things that dreams are made of.

Frank, my father, would be the first to admit that fact.

--garyroland.

My thought was based upon the premise that a big pond filter would [1] have a large throughput, and [2] hold a larger volume than a typical aquarium filter. And on that basis, the part of me that likes lateral thinking considered the possibility that a big volume pond filter might be of advantage to the aquarium keeper too. Of course, if other design issues compromise this little excursion of mine, then I'll be happy to hear of them. It's just that the thought of being able to expand the water capacity of the aquarium as a side effect, as well as take advantage of [1] and [2] above, made the proposition sound attractive.

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

My thinking:

What are the limiting factors for keeping fish? Water volume is needed for swimming room, filtration is needed for wastes, surface area is needed for oxygen. Increasing water volume shouldn't really have much effect on the rate of ammonia processing, and having all of that water in what amounts to an enclosed sump means that none of it is exposed to air, so it doesn't help oxygenation either. Yes, temperature is more stable, but that only helps in case of failures, and having a UPS* with two smaller heaters is a much cheaper way to solve that problem.

*Uninterruptible Power Supply.

Let's hope the output of pond filtration is much more than aquarium filtration...

The very thought of blowing the trops out of the water is one I really can't envision and the power of pond intake filters would create a giant and disturbing sucking sound.

That's why filters are designed for specific applications.

--garyroland.