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Aquarium what is media2007-11-24 23:10:00

im looking for an aquarium fish tank filter pump and some say they dont come with media what is this is this all the filters and sponges sorry bit of a thicko lol

Answers:

No problem! Every hobby comes with a ton of new words to learn. :)

Media is just a fancy way to say "how you get something done." Like, radio/TV/print media is actually communications media -- how you communicate with people.

In an aquarium, filtration media is how you filter the water.

The filter itself is generally just a pump in an empty box. It pulls dirty water up into the box, runs it through the various filtration media inside, and pushes it back out and into the tank, clean. It's a lot easier and more effective to buy a filter that lets you handle the media individually, like an AquaClear for example, rather than forcing you to buy cartridges with everything prepackaged together.

Sponges are, in my opinion, the only truly necessary part of the filtration media group. They are primarly meant to be used to trap large solids in the water as it runs through, like poop and excess food. In truth they're also very valuable because they give good bacteria a place to grow. (The bacteria "eat" the ammonia in the water produced when your fish poop and pee. The bacteria "poop" less toxic nitrates.) That's why you shouldn't completely replace them unless you HAVE to -- throwing away your sponge is throwing away most of your cycle. Just rinse the sponge briefly in dechlorinated water once a month or so.