hey it creates water flow in the tank and gives more circulation in the tank ... it can be attached to an undergravel filter which connects by a series of tubes that go to an undergravel plastic screen that lays under this gravel... when dirt poop anything gets into the gravel it gets sucked up by the water being forced out from the powerhead and then gets cycled around inot the tank until picked up by your regular filteres ... this system works wonders for me 