Water Change

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The need for regular partial water changes cannot be stressed enough, regardless of the filter system you have. The fish will not thrive otherwise. There are several important reasons for changing some of the water on a regular basis.

Benefits of Water Changes

• Removal nitrogenous waste material from the aquarium. Even Nitrate is toxic to fish and levels over 30ppm (parts per million) can be damaging to a fishes long-term health. Nitrate is the end product of biological filtration and will carry on rising in the aquarium.

• When new water is added various minerals and trace elements are added along with it. Some of these are important to the fish’s health and any shortfall in these could be damaging.

• Some household chemicals are soluble in water and these to can be damaging: Nicotine, Insecticide, Air fresheners and so on. These also need to be removed.

Possible Effects of Not Changing Water

When the water changes are neglected the fish won't suddenly all die or anything. However:

• Growth rate will slow down, a lot of fish have a growth inhibiting pheromone which is released into the water so in an home aquarium where there are a lot of fish (compared to Nature) this soon reaches a level where it takes effect. This is the reason behind the myth that fish won't grow in a crowded tank.

• Also Nitrate itself is a growth inhibitor but more seriously any new fish introduced into the tank with high Nitrate levels could go into shock and die 48 hrs later even though the fish already in the tank appear to be fine having slowly become accustomed to the rising levels.

• Even though the fish do become accustomed to rising levels of Nitrate and other pollutants their health will eventually suffer because they are under stress.

• Algae will become more of a problem initially although ironically once the levels pass 60ppm the growth of Algae will be inhibited.

• The tank will take on a hard to define neglected look and will become an eyesore rather than a focal point.

How Much? How Often?

Unfortunately there isn't a straightforward answer to these questions because it depends. It depends upon the stocking level of live stock, the diet of the fish because a high protein diet will ultimately produce more Ammonia and therefore more Nitrates; large messy fish also will need more changes obviously. The only real way to learn how much to change is by using a Nitrate test kit and aim to keep the Nitrate level below 20 ppm. And then by changing around 25 to 30 % of the water once this level is reached. For a tank containing a pair of Oscars this could mean two water changes per week, but for a tank with just a few small community fish it could mean a water change of just once per month. It is worth bearing this in mind when deciding on the type of fish you want to keep. A general rule of thumb is a 5% change per week.

   Original article contributed by Fish Tanks and Ponds