BioLife 35/55 Internal Wet/Dry Power Filter Manual
The Trickle Chamber
 |
Effective mechanical filtration removes all particulate waste before it can reach the biological area. As water passes through the trickle chamber it is oxygenated to provide higher oxygen content in the aquarium than filters that do not incorporate drip chamber technology.
Traditionally Biological Filtration is performed in a submerged media, either in an Undergravel filter or as waste passes through the media of a power filter. It also occurs on all exposed hard surfaces in the aquarium such as aquarium glass sides and back. The bacteria which removes ammonia and nitrite are aerobic, they require oxygen to survive. As water passes by, bringing ammonia and nitrite, it also provides vital oxygen to the bacterial colonies.
Water passing through the gravel in Undergravel Filtration loses most of its oxygen to the bacteria in the gravel. As a matter of fact, this is a limiting factor for the depth of the living biological bed. As water is expelled, it often has much less oxygen content than when it entered, either through an undergravel filter or through biologically active media in a power filter. |
A trickle filter does not have oxygen as a limiting factor for the biological population. Since water is dripped through a "dry" chamber, the bacteria satisfy their oxygen demand from the surrounding atmosphere, which has a much higher concentration than the passing water. With no oxygen limiting factor, the population of beneficial bacteria expands to fill the available surface area. The result increases the efficiency of ammonia and nitrite reduction well beyond that capable of oxygen limited systems.
Besides the increased removal of ammonia and nitrite from the water flow, the quality of the water is improved as the result of trickle filtration. Since oxygen is not drawn from the passing water, the oxygen content is not actually affected by the bacteria. Oxygen content is actually improved since the water stream is broken into small droplets as it falls, increasing the exposure to oxygen from the atmosphere. Oxygen is added to the passing droplets and carbon dioxide is stripped. The actual water output has a higher oxygen content than when it entered the chamber. Without necessity to provide oxygen to the bacterial population of the biological filter, there is more available oxygen to all the aquarium inhabitants.
|
