by Mandy Boyd

Created on: February 23, 2007   Last Updated: April 02, 2007

Water changes are an important part of maintaining your aquarium. While today's advanced filters go a long way toward creating a suitable water quality, they are not enough. An aquarium is a closed system. This means that nothing goes in or out without our assistance. While filters can "clean" the water in a number of ways(mechanical, biological, and chemical)certain toxins can still build up in this system without regular water changes. The most notable is ammonia. Now, if you have a well established filter, your ammonia levels will probably be within a safe range for your fish. What most people don't know however is that the filter and the beneficial bacteria present in the tank are turning the ammonia into another substance. Nitrites are the result of bacteria breaking down ammonia. Nitrites are just as bad for your fish as ammonia. That is why a second from of beneficial bacteria is busy at work converting the nitrites into nitrates. Nitrates are less harmful to your fish but high levels can still act to add stress to their system and make them susceptible to disease. So, the question is how to remove the nitrates? Well, water changes of course. Regular weekly or bi-weekly water changes of 25 to 50% are the best way to help keep all of these levels in balance.

P.H. is another factor to consider when talking about water quality. Different fish require different P.H. levels, you can find out specifics for yours at your local aquatics store. That said, it is important to know that P.H. can deteriorate over time in a closed environment. While there are a number of chemicals on the market now that can help to balance P.H. these should not be thought of as a permanent solution as they don't treat the cause of the problem. The only long term solution is regular water changes.

In breeding fish the hobbyist is presented with a new water borne chemical. Growth inhibiting hormones are released by all baby fish, or fry. These hormones build up in the water and cause the fry to grow at a slower rate than they would in the wild and in some cases to stop growing completely. Filtration does not remove these hormones from the water. The only solution is to do frequent regular water changes to dilute to hormone level in the tank.

So the next time you think about skipping that water change just because everything looks alright, remember all the invisible toxins that are in the water that is your fishes only home. Do the right thing and change that water.

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