Filters: Wet Dry Filters

Wet-Dry filters have been the choice in biological filtration for a long time in the saltwater hobby and also recently used in freshwater aquaria. Many believe that this type of filter is for a fish-only tank, but not for a reef tank. We have are many designs to choose from when it comes to wet/dry filters and they all work on basically the same concept. A wet/dry filter, also referred to as a trickle filter or a bio-tower, is an aerobic filtration method which means occurring or living ONLY in the presence of oxygen. The more oxygen saturation it gets, the better a wet-dry filter functions. Water is flows from the aquarium, then by means of a drip/trickle plate water is dispensed or "trickled" down over and through a biological material source contained in the wet/dry filter chamber. When the water falls through the holes of the drip/trickle plate onto the bio-media, this allows for aggressive oxygen saturation of the water. The clean filtered water is then pumped back into the aquarium.