Most of aquarium filtration system contains 3 types of general filter. The mechanical, chemical and biological filter. A proper setup of this 3 system already bring you to a nearer, more beautiful and easy maintain to aquarium.

Mechanical Filters
The purpose of this filter is to remove suspended particles before it is decomposed and also as a prefilter for biological filter. This help to reduce the need for us to clean the biological filter as it would damage the nitrifying bacteria as we clean it. It is very important to clean this filter as often as possible. Often cotton or wool is use as this filter media.

Chemical Filters
The most popular media to be use in chemical filtration is the activated carbon. The main purpose of an activated carbon is to remove compounds that will give the water a yellow tint coloration.

Biological Filters
Biological filtration is the method of cleaning water by using biological processes. The processes carried out by bacteria, algae or other animals as well. There are a number of systems which may be call as a biological filters, e.g. biofilters with live rock or other filter substrates, denitrification filters, trickle filters and monocultures filters. A biological filtration is a must in an aquarium to remove highly toxic compound NH4/NH3+. But how ever in the long run this filter without proper maintenance will cause several problems such as accumulation of nutrients such as nitrate and phosphate.