Homemade Fish Filters

It is essential that every aquarium have filters to keep the water pure and clean. This ensures your fish can stay disease free and healthy. The filtration process keeps both physical waste and chemicals out of the water in which your fish live. This also helps you to maintain a clean looking aquarium.

Items you will require:

• Air pump


• Air tubing (for air pump)


• PVC pipe (seven inches long)


• Two Liter plastic bottle


• Fork or a punch


• Utility knife


• Filter wool


• Charcoal


• Sponge

1. Take the two liter plastic bottle and completely remove the label. Make sure it is clean as it will be in your tank.


2. Use a utility knife and measure down and cut four and one half inches off the top of the bottle. This will be the inner part of the filter so do a good job. You can throw the bottle cap away.


3. Use the fork or the punch and poke a lot of holes into the top part of the bottle you will be using as the inner filter. If you heat the punch of the fork it will make this much easier and you will have neater holes.


4. Take the PVC pipe you have (it should fit into the opening in the plastic bottle top – about one inch diameter should be good – and slide about two inches into the opening.


5. Place the top of the bottle you just poked the holes in and placed the PVC into and put it all inside the bottom of the bottle – right side up – making certain it is secure inside the bottom. Be careful that the PVC is not taller than the water level.


6. Take the air tubing and insert it in the PVC pipe all the way to the bottom of the bottle. Take your sponge and secure the air tubing inside the PVC by tucking it in all around it. Attach the opposite end on the tubing to your air pump.


7. Put the charcoal in the outer bottle about two inches deep. It should completely surround the inner bottle’s top (which has the PVC pipe in it). Level the charcoal out around the inner filter.


8. Take the filter wool and fill the rest of the bottle. Compress it so that it will secure the materials inside the bottle. Leave about ½-inch from the top empty.


9. Put the filter into the aquarium and secure it into position and fill with water. Once you have done that you can turn on your air pump and your aquarium filter will be functional.