Some animal lovers find serenity and contentment having some fish as their pet as they don’t need much attention. As long as you make their home safe and comfortable. There won’t be much that you would really need to keep them safe. One of the things that has to be set up properly when looking for the perfect tank to place your fishes is the filtration system. There are many of these available online and in local pet stores, but you can always make your own. One of these filtration systems may use what is known as an aquarium canister filter.

An aquarium inside the house adds beauty to the surroundings. It makes everything look more inviting and livelier. If you have one at home, you will need to make sure that the filtration system setup in the tank can effectively and efficiently functions as it is expected. If not, your aquarium that was attractive will soon look like a dirty glass container filled with murky.

Without a proper filtration system, the water inside the aquarium will soon turn greenish. This is because all the excess food, microorganisms, and wastes from your fish pollute what used to be a clear water in the fish tank. This can also cause the death of your fishes.

What Is an Aquarium Canister Filter?

Although most aquarium sold in local stores and online usually come setup with a filtration system, you may still want to build your own filtration system. There could also be situations when you feel the need to change the filtration mechanism in your aquarium.

Aquarium Canister Filter: Why Should You Use One of These Filters for Your Fish Tank?

Before we head on to discuss why you need to use an aquarium canister filter, you may want to know that there are other types of filter that are also used for the same purpose. These are as follows: floss, pads, sponges and sheets.

While these types of aquarium filters can be used to filter out debris from the water and to help provide clean and clear water for your fish, an aquarium canister filter may work better than them for the following reasons:

This type of filter do more than just filter out dirty water from your aquarium.

An aquarium canister filter is designed to remove not only mechanical and chemical wastes, but also biological wastes from the aquarium.This makes a safe ecological system inside the fish tank. Since this kind of filter provides all that the three filtration system offers, you won’t need to install the other types of filters for your aquarium anymore. (more…)

One of the things that you need to consider when caring for a hamster or a rat is providing an appropriate cage. Both of these rodents are quite active and will require some activity and enough space, so you should consider that when choosing a rat and a hamster cages.

Can You House Rodents of Different Species Together?

In general, if you know (you can always ask the pet store or the previous owner of the rodent) that your rat can live with others from the same species, then most probably could live well with other rodents of a different species. If not, then fights would be a common concern. In most cases, housing different rodents from different species is not advisable for a couple of reasons. First, males are mostly territorial. If you put them together, especially if they come from different families or species, there would certainly be conflicts between these species or families. Second, there is the issue over food. There are certain species of rodents that require a different amount of food as well as a different kind of food. In addition to that, there are certain foods that may be toxic to one family but may be edible for another.

It is best that you house rodents of the same specie and of the same sex (unless you want to breed, of course) in the same cage. You will need to limit the number of those in a single housing, however. Putting so many rodents in one cage may result to overcrowding, stress, and aggression to your pets.

Most hamsters are loners, hence will not get along well with other breeds of hamsters of either gender. They find the presence and scent of other animals in their cage very stressful.

A rat, on the other hand, is highly sociable. They take comfort and stimulation from others around them. That means, it is best that you keep a rat with another rat in the same housing. The most number that you can keep in a cage is three, however.

If you have a hamster and a rat, it is best that you keep them in separate cages and in separate rooms to avoid creating any stressor for both. (more…)