Aquarium Filters

A marine aquarium is an aquarium that keeps marine plants and animals in a contained environment. Marine aquaria are further subdivided into fish only (FO), fish only with live rock (FOWLR), or reef aquariums. more...

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Marine fishkeeping is different from its freshwater counterpart because of its complexity; the marine environment is more difficult to maintain, requiring more equipment and time from the hobbyist, and the aquarium inhabitants are often more expensive to acquire. Saltwater aquarium enthusiasts are also major contributors to the vast scientific knowledge shared within the hobby.

Marine fishkeeping history

The very first saltwater tanks were glass jars where the Romans kept anemones outside but were very short lived. The first personal saltwater fishkeeping began on a wider scale in the 1950’s, starting with the basic rectangular glass aquariums (usually 20 gallon), still popular today. Bleached coral along with a substrate of coarse crushed coral was the norm. Algae, including beneficial such as coralline, were viewed negatively and generally removed. The clean, sterile tank was viewed as the healthiest.

During the beginning days of marine aquaria, saltwater was initially collected at local beaches. Natural saltwater contains many unwanted organisms, along with the occasional unwanted pollutant. Aquarium literature of the time suggests that the most commonly kept marine fish of the day were the Percula Clownfish, Sergeant Major Damselfish, small, brackish pufferfish and scat, Jeweled Blennies, Sailfin Mollies, and Blue Damsels. Aquariums were equipped with large air compressors, and were heavily aerated and filtered (primarily with undergravel filters, a norm for some time).

Later in the hobby, air driven, counter-current protein skimmers were invented and revolutionized in Germany along with the Eheim pump company. Perhaps the largest revolution in fishkeeping was a more reliable submersible electric heater, invented by Eugen Jäger. Even today, Jäger is still a major company in aquarium heating.

Various initial aquarists attempted to find the chemical properties of sea water and mix in necessary trace elements to create synthetic salt mixes. Perhaps the first and undoubtedly the largest synthetic sea salt company was Instant Ocean. This revolutionized marine fishkeeping in landlocked areas instead of restricting it to areas near sources of seawater.

Various advancements in filtration included the trickle and hang-on filters, both allowing a more natural equilibrium to the aquarium environment. The advancement of fluorescent lighting technologies into higher outputs along with metal halide lighting established the reef tank, making it a possible to keep corals and invertebrates without natural sunlight.

More efficient chemical testing and more advanced knowledge allowed aquarists to have an idea about the chemical conditions and properties of aquariums. The biological establishment and understanding of maintaining an artificial ocean environment brought more successful and widespread marine fishkeeping. In the 1980’s, the multitude of aquarium publications had greatly increased, and general chemical and biological knowledge was more widespread.

Read more at Wikipedia.org