How Often Should You Change Aquarium Water?
An aquarium is an important place where fishes and amphibious pets thrive. Even if you see your aquarium water clear, you still get surprised by the amount of waste floating around after giving it a good stir. Do you know how often to change aquarium water in a month? If you don’t, we will answer that question in this article. Changing the water in the aquarium is crucial for your pets to thrive so that they may live a stress-free life under your care.
The water inside an aquarium gets dirty quickly because, unlike our four-legged pets, water dwellers leave their waste in the water in which they call home. Also, food particles join in on the fiasco. These wastes will stack up daily on each other until you take action to clean them. So how often do we need to change aquarium water? Let’s find out.
Changing Aquarium Water
Changing aquarium water is essential for aquarium maintenance. The frequency depends on a lot of different factors. You have to take in the size of your tank, the kind of water in your pets survive in, and unforeseen circumstances. It is also important to note that only a small percentage of water, and not all water needs changing in the tank.
If you have a smaller tank which has a lot of fishes, changing the water is more frequent compared to having a larger one with less fish. Changing 10-15% of the water per week is crucial for small tanks. If you have a bigger container, you bump it up to around 20% per week. So, to answer the question of how often to change aquarium water in a month, about 4 times will do.
Your Tank Setup
There are essential factors to consider before changing your aquarium water. To prevent frequent changes, having a good water tank setup is necessary. So, a water tank setup comprises of different filtration systems, gravel, plants, and minerals. Your tank setup can manipulate elements in water that help your fish thrive.
The gaseous waste by-product of fish builds up in the form of nitrates and phosphates. These usually accumulate over time and eventually becoming visible at the bottom of your tank. Nitrates and phosphates can put high levels of stress on fish, which can be fatal. So regulating these elements by having a proper tank setup can be advantageous to your fish's survival. It will also provide you with more time and less water to change in the aquarium.
But because an aquarium environment is artificial, there is no way for us to fully set up a tank that is capable of cleaning water by itself. So changing water needs to happen in one form or another.
Water Testing
Another way to know how often to change aquarium water is through testing. Water testing kits provide a lot of information crucial to fish survival. You can test for ammonia, nitrate levels, nitrite, and pH levels in the water. These elements are vital to know, especially if you have rare fish that will require a certain percentage of these elements in the water.
If your tank is already set up and established with different regulators for these elements, you still have to test the conditions of your water. Checking the conditions of your pool can be done once a month.
Because we only replace a certain percentage of the water in tanks, it is crucial to test for ammonia, nitrate levels, nitrite, and pH levels. We still have to check because water can contain ridiculous amounts of these elements even after changing 10-15% of the pool.
Replacement Water
Before knowing how often to change aquarium water, check your water first. Your fish need quality water to thrive in, so checking the water before adding it to the tank is crucial. We don’t fill the tank straight from your tap. Otherwise, you will cause a sudden spike in ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite levels.
What you can do is fill jugs with tap or fresh water then add some aquarium water conditioner to it. It will remove chlorine, ammonia, and chloramine in your tap water.
Additional Tips For Aquarium Water Maintenance
- You can also combat the need to change water in the aquarium by feeding less. Food particles have a significant impact on rendering unwanted waste material to your water.
- You can also keep less fish. Having less fish in your aquarium makes you deal with fewer fish by-products, which in turn can lead to waste material that makes the water dirty.
- Having a bigger aquarium is also another way to prevent frequent changes to the water in the aquarium. A bigger aquarium with fewer fish can spread waste out over to a more liquid, resulting in less waste.
- Adding live plants to your tank setup is also an excellent way to limit frequent aquarium water changes. As the plants grow inside the aquarium, they eat nitrates, which are very harmful in the water. But again, because an aquarium is an artificial environment, water should still be changed from time to time.
Conclusion
Knowing how often to change aquarium water is crucial for your fish to thrive. We have covered a lot of different factors to consider when changing aquarium water. For a quick review, elements in water should be checked regularly to provide the best environment for your fish. Don’t go adding tap water right away and always follow directions when using test kits and water conditioners.
I hope this article has shed some light on your fish care knowledge. Spread this information to your friends and family who also have aquariums. This will be beneficial not only to the fish but for them who are pet owners as well. Just remember to take your time when performing the tasks. We want our friends to have a stress-free environment when changing aquarium water. Taking your time will provide this and many more. It will help you zone in on the crucial things that need attention. Get more tips on aquarium care.