The Siphon Filter is a patented filtration system for fresh water, salt water and reef aquariums.  Typically filtration systems are biologic, media based or both.  The Siphon Filter is superior to any other filtration system because it uses a series of chambers coupled with a perpetual tidal motion to achieve physical, biologic, and media filtration.  Perpetual tidal motion is used to recreate exactly what you see in the ocean and tidal coastlines.  That is, using the basic physics of gravity and a siphon tube, this dynamic system creates a natural tidal environment to perform a myriad of functions, such as colonizing beneficial bacterial, pumping water through different types of media, creating a refugium with a slow tidal flow, or even keeping an intra-tidal tank as part of the filtration system. The possibilities are truly endless. This filter creates a true wet dry environment for biologic based systems and the tidal component acts as a natural pump for media based systems.

THE SIPHON CHAMBER    
The upper Siphon Chamber houses a 7” filter sock that provides physical filtration.  Additionally, this chamber employs 1, 2, or 3 buffering/reaction tubes that are perpetually rinsed with aquarium water due to the continuous tidal action.  There are no additional pumps to fail, thus no cost for replacing them, and there is no additional electrical expense because there is no pump to the buffering chambers. Gravitational forces act on the water falling from the aquarium, and this force drives the tidal system.  When the aquarium water fills the upper siphon chamber, the siphon tube begins its discharge phase at a faster rate than the incoming aquarium water; and the chamber is emptied until the siphon breaks a cycle.  Then the filling continues with the water coming from the aquarium.  This water again rises up through the buffering chamber while the siphon chamber is filled and the process is started again.  This cyclical motion offers superior wet dry filtration and offers superior buffering chamber media filtration. The siphon chamber is also equipped with an overflow wall, so that in the rare event that something plugs the siphon tube, the siphon chamber will simply overflow into the basin chamber.

THE BASIN CHAMBER
The lower basin chamber supports the siphon chamber by rails on either side of its walls.  The siphon chamber can be easily slid back and forth on the rails to access the basin chambers.  There is a divider within the basin chamber that has a bulkhead inserted into the divider.  When water is discharged into the basin chambers both sides of the chamber fill creating another perpetual tidal effect.  On one side of the dividing wall the return pump is housed with a protein skimmer (recommended).  On other side of the divider is a chamber that can be made into a refugium, a wet dry chamber or an intertidal tank to house invertebrates and other natural tidal organisms.  As the basin fills from discharge from the siphon chamber the waters surface area of the basin expands by the production of thousands of tiny bubbles.  This aerates the protein skimmer side of the chamber and “preloads” the skimmer; making the skimmer more effective.  Additionally, the water begins to flow trough a screened bulk head to the opposite side of the basin chamber where biobeads, a refugium, or a inter tidal tank exists.  This allows tidal flow into an out of this chamber creating a true wet dry and a true tidal environment for all kinds of organisms, whether it is macroalgae, bacteria or larger organisms such crabs, starfish or anemones.  The refugium or inter tidal section of the basin chamber can be lit by sliding the siphon chamber over to accommodate a light above the chamber (optional).

Regardless of whether you are running a fresh, salt or reef system, the siphon filter is versatile enough to handle it.