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Aquarium Filter Starters

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Help and advice on shopping for: Aquarium Filter Starters

An essential for new aquariums

Filter starters can give your fish tank the kick-start it needs when you first begin setting it up. Left to their own devices, it can take four to six weeks for an aquarium filter to build up a population of beneficial filter bacteria capable of removing the toxic ammonia produced from fish wastes. Aquarium filter starters seed the filter with bacteria and use enzymes to speed up their growth, allowing you to create a safer environment for your fish in a fraction of the normal time. We offer our own aquarium filter starters including Swell Aquarium Biological Starter.

What are aquarium filter starters?

Aquarium filter starters help to reduce the chance of fish loss when starting a new tank by limiting the toxic ammonia within fish tanks from building up. They contain live nitrifying bacteria that will immediately jump-start your tank's natural filtration.

Why might I buy aquarium filter starters?

Filters work in two different ways - The filter media itself (usually sponges) captures large particles of detritus, while the bacteria that cultivates in the sponge helps to actually filter the water biologically and remove toxins from the water. However these bacteria need time to grow before the filter can become effective, and that can take several weeks by itself.

What are the main types of aquarium filter starters?

Aquarium filter starters are ready-made bacteria cultures that come in either liquid or ball forms and get to work right away allowing your water to reduce its ammonia levels and negating the increasing risk of fish death early in the tank's life. Evolution Aqua PURE Reef Balance is a liquid ball format containing a huge amount of tiny bacteria and enzymes that, once added to your aquarium, will break down to reduce ammonia and nitrates. Fast-acting, it will regulate the biological balance of your fish tank, maintaining clean, healthy water.

What features to look out for?

Once you've decided on which filter starter you're going to use it's really a case of working out how much you need for your tank. Most aquarium filter starters can be used to rapidly populate a new aquarium to resolve "new tank syndrome" and will have some indication of the size of the tank in litres it's suitable for so you should be able to work out how much you'll need to buy.