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Water Changes
Maintaining high quality tank water
Home aquariums do not have all the benefits of a true life ecosystem and the aim of the fish keeper should be to try and replicate the real life environment as closely as possible, using workarounds where biological solutions are not possible. This is the case for tank water, where aquarium plants and filters/filter bacteria are relied upon to maintain water quality.
Rivers, lakes and seas contain vast volumes of water that are filtered naturally by many different processes such as rocks, bacteria, plants and water-flow. Home aquariums by contrast have small volumes and slower water flows, making it difficult to disperse and dilute toxins and waste caused by fish respiration and excretion. The result is a build up in phosphate, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, which can eventually lead to stress and eventually the death of your prized fish.
As time goes by essential minerals in the tank water also become depleted, altering the gH and making life harder for plants.
The best way to reduce these effects is by implementing regular water changes, whereby fresh water is introduced to the tank. Depending on the size of the tank and the type of tank life present varying volumes will need to be changed.
An Easy Routine:
1) Siphon the water out using a tube and bucket. Hover the siphon tube just above the gravel to remove any settled pieces of dead food/waste at the same time.
2) Take out any rocks or ornaments that need algae removal and scrub them using a clean brush (one that hasn't been previously subjected to any cleaning fluids). Use the old tank water to clean them in as tap water will kill any beneficial bacteria on the surface of the rocks and then place the rocks back into the tank
3) Fill the buckets up with water, ensuring that the temperature is as close as possible to that in the tank. Add water de-chlorinator and then slowly fill the tank up again.
General Tips:
At least 25% should be changed monthly.
Smaller, but more frequent changes are better than larger, less frequent changes.
Smaller changes do not need as precise a temperature match as larger ones.
Always use a water conditioner (de-chlorinator) and match the temperature, pH and hardness as closely as possible before introducing the new water to the tank.
Use the opportunity to siphon away any old food, plants or muck from the gravel surface.
Guideline Recommendations:
Lightly Stocked Tank - 25% fortnightly.
Typical Tank - 10-20% weekly.
Well Stocked Tank - 25% weekly.
Large Fish (eg. Cichlids) Tank - 33% weekly.
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Article posted on 23/10/2006 by darxide
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