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Fish Tank Water Chemistry
By Janet Ashby
A basic understanding of water chemistry will help a lot in maintaining and enjoying your fish tank and ensuring that your fish thrive. A good water test kit will help you to keep your fish tank in balance. A water test kit should include tests for * Ammonia
* Nitrite
* Nitrate
* Hardness
* Chlorine and chloramine
* pH Definitions Aerobic bacteria - bacteria that need oxygen Anaerobic - bacteria that do not require oxygen Ammonia - ammonia is produced as a waste product by the fish and is poisonous. It is converted to nitrite and then to the less harmful nitrate by nitrifying bacteria, Ideally the ammonia reading should be 0. Fishless cycling is a good method for increasing the bacteria needed to deal with ammonia. Chlorine and chloramine - these are both used in water treatment as disinfectants and are poisonous to your fish. Chlorine will always be present in your tap water. Chloramine is used in some areas and may be present. Chlorine can be removed from the tap water by allowing to stand for a few days. Chloramine cannot be removed this way and needs to be removed with a commercially avaiable product. Copper - copper may be present in your tap water, especially if you have older pipes. It can also be present in fish medications. It is harmful to both fish and invertebrates. Nitrates - nitrates are produced by bacteria in your tank form nitrates which in turn are produced from the ammonia excreted by the fish. Nitrates are much less harmful than nitrites or ammonia although a very high level will be harmful to the fish. Regular partial water changed will keep the nitrate level below the acceptable 20ppm. Nitrites - nitrites are produced from the ammonia excreted by the fish and are poisonous. They are converted to the less toxic nitrate by nitrifying bacteria. Ideally the nitrite reading should be 0. pH - measures the acidity of the water. A pH of 7 is neutral. A lower pH acidic, a higher pH alkaline. Phosphate - these can be present on tap water and fish food and can also be introduced into the water by dead or decaying plants. A high phosphate level can cause algae to proliferate as it acts as a fertiliser. Phosphate levels can be kept low by regular water changes. Salinity- this is important for salt water fish tanks and is the amount of sodium chloride present. It can be measured with a hydrometer. Hardness - this is a measure of the dissolved minerals in the water. Magnesium and calcium are the main contributers to water hardness and are present in tap water, especially if you live in a hard water are. Unless your water is very soft this will not really affect your fish tank. For salt water fish tanks it is more of an issue as live coral and some invertebrates need these minerals to grow.
This intel first appeared on: http://www.bestfishtankaquariums.com/2008/12/02/fish-tank-water-che...
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The copyright for this content entitled "Fish Tank Water Chemistry" has been specified by the contributor as:
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This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.
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This intel was contributed by janetra
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May, 2012
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