Which Filter is Best for African Cichlid Aquarium

Which Filter is Best for the African Cichlid Fish Tank:

If your aquarium water quality is poor, then African Cichlids will show more aggression towards their mates. Poor water stresses African Cichlids, & they are unhappy & more aggressive. African Cichlids can get ill in poor water conditions.

Which filter is best for the African Cichlids aquarium?

Which Filter is Best for the African Cichlid Aquarium

If you are looking for a filter that could effectively clean water of your African Cichlids aquarium, then there are many options available. African Cichlid fish can grow large & they are fussy eaters that means they create lots of mess. Therefore, we suggest you use external filters in their aquarium. Canister filters are located outside of aquariums so they do not take up any space inside therefore African Cichlids will have free space for swimming. Canister filters are large so they carry heaps of filtration media that help them easily clean large volumes of water. In addition, you can add different varieties of media inside your canister filter. Heaps of different types of media can carry out efficient mechanical & biological filtration. Experts suggest a flow rate of 4 to 6 times the water of your fish tank. Therefore, a 50-gallon fish tank will need a filter that has a flow rate of 200 to 300 GPH.

Canister filter takes out water from the fish tank using an intake pipe, & then it flows through mechanical filtration media (foams or sponges) that wipes out all the solid waste particles, & only allows clean water to enter the biological media chamber. Heaps of useful bacteria grow on the bio media (ceramic) after the nitrogen cycle completes. Useful bacteria reacts with the dirty water & remove all the toxins, & allow filtered water to flow back to the aquarium via an outlet pipe.

You can install different types of media in your canister filter such as sponges, ceramic, or activated carbon (for chemical filtration). Chemical filtration is optional so you can skip it.

 

What should be the order of filtration media inside a filter?

The media should be setup inside the filter in the following order. Mechanical filtration media should be setup first. Biological media must follow it. Dirty water that contains fish poop, dead leaves & other debris must hit mechanical filter media. If biological media is setup before mechanical media, then waste particles will clog the pores of the bio media; therefore reduce its bio cleaning efficiency.