Bubbles of air are forced up the central tube. This circulates 100% of the water around the biOrb and through the filters, it also creates oxygen for the fish to breathe and removes carbon dioxide from the water. In traditional aquariums a large surface area of water is needed to keep the water oxygenated. The biOrb works differently. The vigorous flow of the water ensures 100% oxygenation.
All aquariums use three basic forms of filtration to keep the water healthy:
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Biological
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Mechanical
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Chemical
Biological
As the water moves around the biOrb it passes through the ceramic media which are large rocks of sintered glass. The surface of these rocks become covered in filter bacteria, as the water moves over them the bacteria consume the toxic elements of fish waste (ammonia), that you can't see and convert it into safer materials (nitrate).
Ceramic media has a massive living space available for these bacteria, just one 900g bag has a surface area equivalent to that of a football pitch.
Mechanical
Larger pieces of waste pass through the ceramic media and are sucked into the filter cartridge. The filter contains a large sponge and a fine mesh to trap different sized particles of waste and keep them out of the main body of water. By trapping the waste in this way it makes it easy for you to remove. It's just like putting out the waste bin.
Chemical
Before the water passes out of the filter cartridge and back into the main aquarium it passes over small granules. These granules are a special biOrb mix and do several things, they remove the by products of the biological filtration such as nitrate and phosphate, help to stabilize the water and also polish it to make it crystal clear.