Freshwater Aquarium - The Solution To Pollution Is Dilution?

Introduction

Most if not all Aquarist know that the best solution they have to keeping their water in the proper specification is dilution. So the term all Aquarist know is "The solution to pollution is dilution". But what does this mean?

If you have a freshwater aquarium you need to monitor several parameters. If any of these get above the required specification, usually you will need to take action by diluting the water in your aquarium.

Dilution

The definition of dilution is taking a substance, such as water, and mixing it with another substance to make it weaker. Lets look at an example.

You have a 75-gallon freshwater aquarium and your nitrates are high endangering your fish. Steps you can take to cut nitrates are to feed your fish less because the decay of excess food creates nitrates.

You can also add more plants in your aquarium because they will consume the nitrates that have been created. But both these actions are slow and take time to cut the level of nitrates in the water.

For immediate action, to reduce the level of nitrates is to replace some of the water in your aquarium. If the nitrates are real high, most Aquarist will replace 40% of the water to get the level of nitrates down.

This action of removing the polluted water, high nitrates, with water that does not have any nitrates in it is called dilution. So you can see "the solution to pollution is dilution".

When To Use Dilution

Other times you will want to use dilution are when other parameters are high, such as ammonia and nitrites. These two, ammonia and nitrites, are toxic to your fish at very low levels so you should immediately dilute your aquarium by up to 40% if you have indication of ammonia or nitrites in your aquarium.

When Not To Use Dilution

You probably should not use dilution to solve a high pH level in your aquarium. If you are like me you use tap water to replace the water in your aquarium. Because of the chemicals added to the nations tap water, it makes the water basic.

So if you have high pH, replacing the water will probably not do much. In this case the best thing to do is add some chemicals specifically designed to lower the pH in an aquarium.

Conclusion

If you have high levels of chemicals in your aquarium, in most cases, "the best solution is dilution".

If you want more information on how to keep an aquarium, download a free eBook, titled "15 Tips On Building And Maintaining An Aquarium", at http://www.squidoo.com/homefreshwateraquariums or at Your Home Freshwater Aquarium.

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