Freshwater Aquarium - Why Perform Water Replacement

Introduction

Water replacement is necessary to keep a healthy and happy aquarium. You are probably wondering what benefits are there in replacing the water in your aquarium. There are several beneficial benefits to replacing part of your freshwater aquarium water periodically.

How Much And When To Replace Your Water

When you read various articles on maintaining a freshwater aquarium, you will read about Aquarist who have different routines on how much water to replace and how often. Some Aquarist replace 20% of their water once every two weeks. I find this a little too much, to late.

I find that replacing 10% of my freshwater aquarium's water weekly is fine for my 75-gallon freshwater aquarium. Keeping to this routine has kept my fish healthy and happy.

Why Replace Your Water

There are several reasons why you will want to replace the water in your aquarium.

• Remove Chemicals- One of the sayings used by people who follow the hobby of aquariums is "dilution is the solution to pollution". The most common chemical concentration you will want to dilute is nitrates that can only be removed by dilution or plants. If you have high levels of ammonia and nitrites you will want to do a water replacement of 40% immediately and check your bacteria colony to make sure it is working properly.
• Debris- Since you have an enclosed eco-system you will also need to remove any waste that builds up in your aquarium. In nature, tides and currents sweep the debris away, but with an aquarium you become the tides and the currents to remove this waste.
• Fertilizer- Another reason you will want to replace the water, especially if you are a gardening nut like me, is you can use the water in your plants or garden. This water is full of phosphates, nitrates and fish poop, just what your plants and vegetables love.
• Salton Sea- Without water replacement you aquarium becomes a mini Salton Sea. Salton Sea is a synthetic sea in Southern California, formed when water was brought to the Imperial Valley in California from the Colorado River. This lake has no outlets and was initially hailed as a lush resort in the 1950s. But because there is no outlet, just evaporation, salt has built up in this land locked lake. Today the place is abandoned and nothing lives in the water because of the high salt content. Your aquarium would turn into a mini Salton Sea if you did not offer an outlet by performing water replacement.

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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