How Often To Change Water In Aquarium

The Aquarium and Swimming Active Online Publication

Water Changes
How Much and
How Oft

By Tony Griffitts

I of the most important factors in maintaining a salubrious aquarium or pond is performing water changes on a set schedule.  Depending on who you ask, you can go a response of 25% monthly to 90% daily.  What is not understood widely is why water changes are important and what you are accomplishing when you do one.  There was lot of bad data written about water changes in the past and nonetheless being written today.  With this article I promise to articulate upwards some common misconceptions, and quantify how much and how frequently a water alter should be made.

Erstwhile H2o

When drawing water out of the aquarium, remove the water from mid-column.  Never gravel vacuum an aquarium that does not use an nether gravel filter, as this upsets the ecological balance of the bed and can lead to dangerous ammonia and nitrite levels a few days after.

Why is old water a bad matter, and how do you know when your water is sometime.  Water out of the tap normally has 0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrite, and 0 ppm to <four ppm nitrate.  In an "established"  (established = completed the nitrogen cycle) aquarium or pond  nitrate levels tend to rise over fourth dimension.  How fast nitrate accumulates is highly variable.  Nitrate is formed by the bacterial action on waste material from the animals, and the decomposition of decaying plant matter.  The aerobic leaner known as Nitrosospira and Nitrospira, help intermission down the waste in an aquarium or swimming from ammonia, to nitrite, and then into nitrate.

If you have a heavily stocked tank or pond your nitrate level tin accumulate very rapidly.  Aquariums and ponds tin exist designed to tiresome down the aggregating of nitrate by having live plants, deep sand beds (DSB), refugiums (with DSB and Macro Algae), algae scrubbers, or a denitrator filter.  If you take none of these nitrate reducing elements in your tank or pond ecosystem, the nitrate tin accumulate very quickly.  If you have two or more x inch (25 cm) Oscars (Astronotus ocellatus) in a 50 gallon (190 50) aquarium your nitrate levels will accrue very quickly.  A 25% h2o change monthly will non be sufficient, and volition likely atomic number 82 to a status know every bit "Hole In The Head" (HITH) disease, mutual in Oscars because of the great corporeality of nitrate that accumulates in tanks with these large fish.  The quantity of nitrate in the system determines when your water is one-time.  The lower your nitrate level the amend information technology is for your fish and invertebrates.  All species of fish and invertebrates take a different tolerant level to nitrate.

How Much Nitrate is Safe?

Myth Buster

An aquarium and pond myth that is floating effectually that says Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter breakdown ammonia and nitrite in an aquarium/swimming.  There are a lot of aquarium products that are produced by many aquarium product manufactures based on this myth for seeding new tanks and ponds with good bacteria.  These products do not work because they practice not have the right bacteria.  The right bacteria is Nitrosospira and Nitrospira, and as of this writing, I only know of ane refrigerated production called "Bio-Spira" produced by Marineland that contains the right bacteria that does work.

Myth Buster

An aquarium and pond myth that is floating effectually says not to do a large h2o modify as this removes to much beneficial leaner that breaks down the ammonia and nitrite.  This is not true.  Benign leaner that breaks down ammonia and nitrite alive on surface area within the tank/pond and filtration system, it does not live in the water cavalcade.  That is why many filters on the market today have some sort of biological filter media, similar Bio-Wheel filters, trickle filters, sponge filters, canister filters with bio-media.  These types of filters have big amounts of surface area for nitrifying bacteria to colonize.

Tip - Start Help for pH Shock

"pH Daze" in fish has visible symptoms.  Fish that showroom pH shock will lay on the bottom of the tank, often on their side, and will be breathing abnormally heavy.  This condition can be reversed provided you return the fish to pH level information technology was adapted to.  It can accept the fish several days to recover, and then if yous put the fish in a tank that has fish, brand sure you isolate the fish either in a plastic critter container or a hang on the tank breeder internet.  Fish with pH shock are non very mobile and can easily be picked on and killed by other fish in the tank.

Near  freshwater and marine fish can tolerate short term exposure (less than 2 weeks) to 100 ppm nitrate, but any higher long term exposure (greater than 2 weeks) tin cause health problems with sensitive fish like Regal Tangs (Zebrasoma xanthurum).  My electric current recommendation for maximum nitrate level for fish is 100 ppm.  In reef aquariums where Clownfish "Host Anemones" are kept, my recommendation is below xx ppm nitrate.

Quantifying Water Changes

How much water to change and on what type of schedule will depend on the bio-load of the aquarium or pond, and any nitrate reducing factors you have implemented, if any.  In some well established reef aquariums that have depression bio-load and use DSB, refugium, denitrator, and or algae scrubbers it is not all that uncommon for nitrate levels to accumulate very slowly, or not at all.  In a reef aquarium where nitrate levels are undetectable I recommend at lease a 50% h2o change once every 6 months to supersede any modest trace elements that may exist used up past the reef inhabitants.  Marine fish with Marine Caput and Lateral Line Erosion (MHLLE or HLLE) can accept their condition reversed if they are moved to a tank that is able to maintain it'southward nitrate below twoscore ppm.

Well-nigh aquariums and ponds are not able to maintain low nitrate levels.  When e'er you practice a water modify it is recommended that you change out at least fifty% at a fourth dimension to reduce the nitrate past concentration by 50%.  In general the pct of water you modify is equivalent to the per centum of nitrate reduction. If your nitrate level is 100 ppm and you lot need to get it down to beneath twenty ppm to keep that anemone yous have wanted to get for your Clownfish, you need to do at to the lowest degree a fourscore% water change to get it downwardly below the target level.  2 40% water changes volition not get you down to <xx ppm, information technology will only get y'all to 36 ppm.

In virtually cases the larger the water change you can do the meliorate, with one exception.  Aquariums with high nitrate levels often have a low pH.  A large water change on an aquarium with a low pH can crusade fish mortality within 24 hours from condition known as "pH Daze".  When large quantities of water are replaced in an aquarium this often results in an increment in pH.  In systems that have strong buffering like marine aquariums, the risk of pH shock is not as bully as with freshwater.  Soft freshwater has a poor buffering capacity, so make sure before you lot do a large water change, cheque the pH.  In this case several small water changes (25%) over several days to slowly bring up the pH earlier a large water alter is washed will aid the fish adjust to the college pH slowly.

You should examination your nitrate level after you have done a water modify to find out what level the nitrate is at, and make a note of the engagement and concentration.  I week afterward check the nitrate level over again and subtract the nitrate reading you took after the water modify from the nitrate reading you take at present.  If your nitrate accumulated 20 ppm in that time you have an idea of how fast it accumulates in your tank.  In this instance if you started with 20 ppm nitrate, you have 4 weeks before your tank reaches 100 ppm, at which fourth dimension you should exercise at to the lowest degree an 80% h2o change to get at or beneath xx ppm.  When I do a water change on my tanks or pond, I drain the water downwardly to merely enough to give the fish enough water to keep them wet, and and so I fill it back up with de-chlorinated water.

Testing for Nitrate

Tip - Give-and-take of Warning

Aquarium Pharmaceuticals liquid nitrate test kit is a very popular test kit, because it is very like shooting fish in a barrel to utilise.  The instructions that come with the exam kit say to shake canteen #2 thirty seconds.  If you milk shake bottle #ii only 30 seconds yous are likely to get a false depression nitrate reading.  I recommend yous shake the canteen #2 for two minutes before calculation it to the test sample to get a true reading of your nitrate content.  I accept seen a lot of reef hobbyist have problems with their tank because their nitrate was really off the chart when the examination (following the instructions) showed near 0 ppm.

The primary reason behind water changes is nitrate reduction.  Almost Freshwater and Saltwater Master Exam Kits come with a nitrate examination kit, but they can also be purchased separately.  I recommend that you cheque the nitrate at least once a month, and before and after water changes so you can get an idea on how fast nitrate accumulates in your organisation.  Nitrate exam kits come in pulverisation, liquid, and examination strip forms.  My personal preference is the liquid test kits.  They are easy to utilize and are accurate enough to brand a good estimate on how often you should make a water modify and how much you demand to alter.

If you are testing your nitrate for the first time you may exist surprised that your nitrate level is off the scale.  To get general reading in this example for freshwater y'all volition need to cut ane part sample water with iii parts of tap or distilled h2o (or a known water source that has 0 nitrate), and for saltwater y'all will need freshly mixed saltwater with a nitrate level of 0 ppm.  In one case you have completed the test and have a legible reading, multiply the result past 4 to get the true reading. Yous may have to cutting the sample h2o even more to get a reading.  On several occasions sample water I have tested had to be cut by 20 times to become a legible reading.

Tip - Gravel Vacuuming

Never do a heavy gravel vacuuming on an aquarium that does non use an Under Gravel filter.  This can upset the ecological remainder of a sand or gravel bed causing an ammonia and nitrite spike a few days subsequently.

Water changes are the fundamental to long term health of a closed aquatic environment.  Nitrate reduction through water changes is a must for most airtight systems.  Put your nitrate test kit to work to monitor the overall wellness of the closed organization.  When you do your water changes remove the water from the water column, and try not to disturb the sand or gravel bed to much, as this can lead to ammonia and nitrite spikes a few days after.

Published - 20061213

Source: http://www.aquaworldaquarium.com/Articles/TonyGriffitts/Water_Changes.htm

Posted by: huppforgerbours.blogspot.com

Share this post