COMPLETE guide to fish tank filters. Choosing the right filter for you!

In this video we cover the five main types of filtration that are used in fishkeeping. We talk about the pros and cons for sponge filters, internal power filters, external filters, hang on the back (HOB) filters, and sumps.

This will give you all the knowledge to choose the right filter for your aquarium and make your fish happy!

Video chapters.
00:00 Filters are important!
01:33 Sponge filters
06:05 Internal power filters
11:02 Hang on the back filters (HOB)
14:49 External filters
19:11 Sump filters
24:28 Which is the best filter?

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[jenquilter]

I love your explanations. Don’t listen to the complainers. You do you better than anyone.

[RH_]

I’m an experienced fish keeper with multiple tanks but I still enjoy these videos and could watch them for hours 😅

[keible]

i love sponge filters so much. the view of the bubbles just rising and the fish interacting with the bubbles is fun and relaxing ro watch. and it may make splashing sounds + the pump just having a small ringing and vibrating sound to it, but as a person who cant function and sleep without white noise, i love it so much 😆

[stripypjs]

Have just returned to the hobby as my daughter wanted an aquarium. Matt is awesome incredible knowledgable and easy to listen too. May your channel go from strength to strength.

[procyonpaw]

Thanks for this video!!
I've been researching fish-keeping to write a care sheet as my teacher may be getting a class fish tank. I want to learn all there is to know regarding fish keeping, so I've been binge-watching fish-keeping videos and looking through all of the websites I can find.
This video was a great summary of each method of filtration.

[andrew_swanson]

Thanks for the video, Matt! I was transferred at the grocery I work at about 8 months ago, from the department I'd held down for years to our pet department. Found out I'd be taking care of the fish our store stocks, and minding their tanks. I've never kept fish and had never really been particularly interested in them besides the odd trip to an aquarium here or there as a kid, so I was going in blind and scared for the fish that I was sure I was going to inadvertently kill (why ask someone who's no experience with fish to take care of just shy of a thousand fish?!). Spent the next months watching as many videos like yours as I could, buying up books on freshwater fish and fishkeeping in general. Went to a few local fish stores to ask about the basic dos and don'ts. Had a bit of a learning curve for the first month and a half or so, but eventually figured stuff out and now I've got people who come in to my store, specifically, to see and buy fish. One particularly nice older gent was shocked to learn that I'd never kept fish before and that this was my first time taking care of them in any capacity. This was flattering enough already, but this man went so far as to tell me that he'd been in the hobby for over 50 years and that, "Your tanks and fish are far and away the clearest and healthiest I've ever seen in a store outside a specialty fish store." Big praise from someone with so much experience!

Anyway, since I've apparently done a decent job with the fish at the store and am feeling good about my ability to not commit fish murder and provide a good, spacious, and engaging home, I've been looking to keep my own fish at home now, and I've got most of the particulars decided on. I have not settled on filtration yet tho, and this was just the video I've been looking for! These teaching/informative videos of yours, and the Fish-Files videos are my favorites; they're always dense on pertinent information without getting too bogged down in minutiae, and have been very helpful thus far in my short time getting into the hobby -- just wanted to say thanks and give a quick nod for having made this stuff much more accessible for someone who was completely ignorant about fishkeeping just a little while ago. Cheers!

[zacharnold]

I have watch u for a while now an ur info has help me out on the real Nitty gritty info that no one adresses much at all thanks for the details u give an I love ur work

[passdaboof]

Ahh i love niche hobbies. Half hour video on fish tank filters

[freyarobbins]

Hey Matt! Great vid, thank you 😊
I wonder if you could possibly do a video like this, but about different types of filter media? I’m fairly new to the hobby and knowing the differences, and when and why you’d use them would be amazing! You’re a great teacher 😊

[frankvermeulen]

Good video and agreed on all pros and cons mentioned.

There's always some kind of struggle as to figure out what's best for a specific situation, but for an average sized aquarium which is set up for aesthetic purposes an external cannister filter wins every time (for me, at least).

In small aquariums I generally can't find the room for something internal, so a HOB is more ideal, and you can sortof get away with less flow.

[nancylee]

Fabulous vid! I always learn something or am refreshed by your info. Well done.

[nicholaskemp]

I first saw you with MD. And now you have your own channel.
I think you did the right thing. Your expertise shines through.
I have a reef aquarium, and I run it with 2 external canister filters.
One has all the biomedia, the other has the mechanical and charcoal. There is an inline uv, and it's doing fantastic. I do a 10% water change each week absolutely religiously. And have no bother. I mostly keep soft corals and anemones with a few small fish.
Thanks for your advice and knowledge, Matt. Will subscribe and keep on watching. 😊

[TheDonRomannn]

I tend to like the canister filters the most. The water seems to always be crystal clear with them, especially the ones with a prefilter, which is a major win win, and maintenance is alot less frequent.

[Steelerfan]

40+ years of fish keeping, breeding here. all your info was spot on.

[brendatraub]

You are so good at explaining! Thank you!

[Steve_RobbieRaygun]

Great video Matt, your personality really comes across in all your videos as though you are talking personally to the person watching rather than to an audience.

[HappyOne]

I have sponge filters and hang on back filters. I love my hob filters best because I like to take off the lids and grow pothos and peace lilies out of them ❤❤

[TheRealTMar]

Some aquariums even have the internal filter built in like the Juwel Rio's, but they can be covered with 3D background sheets. I don't mind them actually. Like you've said, they won't leak anywhere and the filter medium is customisable. I also run two smaller tanks with Superfish HOB's and it's also very easy to stick plants into the filter medium. Instead of the cartridges they came with, I've put in ceramic medium and filter wool. I hardly have power cuts here. Only one a while back before I set up the HOB's.

As for sumps, I've seen some of Jurijs's video's where he services some large fresh water aquariums for his clients which have big sump systems in their own specific rooms where everything is regulated from water change, fertiliser, CO2, everything! That is very awesome!

[lianpalmer]

I love watching your stuff, very calming and informative. I also like that you always seem like someone just told you a dirty joke before rolling camera. 😂. ❤

[NamelessNancy]

i love filter videos, but i like the under gravel filter with a deep substrait for myself personally.