How often to change the water in the aquarium: why it needs to be changed and in what volumes

Often, those who start breeding aquarium fish are interested in the question: how often to change the water in the aquarium, and whether it should be done at all. It is known that it is not necessary to change the liquid in the aquarium too often, since the fish can get sick and die, but it is also impossible not to change it at all.

How to solve this issue, let’s find out together.

How often and why to change the water in the aquarium

Changing the water in an aquarium is an essential part of maintaining the health of its abodes. You can talk endlessly about how often you need to change it, and different sources will give different data about this. But you can only come to the only correct schedule for changing the old liquid in the aquarium to a new one on your own, everything is actually purely individual.

To understand toexactly when you need to change old water in your aquarium, you need to understand why this or that amount of water needs to be changed. After all, if you make a mistake in proportions, then it can cost the life of aquarium pets.

Life stages of fish in an aquarium

Depending on the degree of formation of the biological balance, the life of the inhabitants of the aquarium divided into four stages:

• new aquarium;
• young;
• mature;
• old.

At each of these stages, the frequency of filling changes should be different.

How often do you change the water in a new aquarium?

As soon as the aquarium is filled with plants and fish, it must always be maintained biological balance and regime.

It is necessary to monitor not only the condition of the inhabitants, but also the condition of the environment from the habitat. The main thing at the same time is to maintain normal not only fish, but the entire aquatic environment as a whole, because if it is healthy, then the fish will feel great.

In new aquariums, when the first fish are introduced, this environment is still unstable, so it cannot be interfered with. That is why you can not change the water in the aquarium for the first two months. Such an action in a large aquarium can cause inhibition of the formation processes, and in a small one it can lead to the death of fish.

Features of changing the filling in a young aquarium

Despite the fact that in two months the aquatic environment will be more balanced, it will still will be considered young. From this moment until the complete establishment of the environment, you need to change about 20 percent of the water about once every two weeks or a month. If possible, it is better to change 10 percent of the total volume, but more often. Such a change is necessary in order to prolong the mature stage of the aquatic environment. When draining water, use a siphon to collect debris on the ground, and do not forget to clean the glass.

Mature aquarium and fluid change

The maturity of the aquatic environment comes six months later, now you will no longer disturb the biological balance inside it. Keep changing fluid at 20 percent of the total, and don’t forget to clean.

Rules for changing water in an old aquarium

This stage for the aquatic environment occurs one year after the launch of the fish. And in order to rejuvenate it, you need to change the water more often for the next couple of months. But no more than 20 percent of the volume of the tank and once every two weeks. It is necessary to clean the soil from organic matter more thoroughly; for 2 months of such procedures, it must be washed entirely, regardless of the size of the structure. This will rejuvenate the fish habitat for another year, and then you will need to repeat this action.

Why lowering nitrate levels is important

It is very important that the level of nitrates in the aquatic environment does not rise, this is due to the lack of regular water changes. Of course, the fish in the aquarium will gradually get used to the increased level, but too high a level that continues for a long time can cause stress and illness, it often happens that the fish die.

If you regularly change the fluid, then the level of nitrates in the aquatic environment is reduced and kept at an optimal level. As a result, the risk of fish diseases will be significantly reduced.

The old liquid in the aquarium loses its minerals over time, which stabilizes the pH of the water, in other words, maintains its acid-base balance at the proper level.

It looks like this: in the aquatic environment acids are constantly produced, towhich decompose due to minerals, and this maintains the pH level. And if the level of minerals is lowered, then the acidity increases, respectively, the balance is disturbed.

If the acidity increases and reaches its limit value, it can destroy the entire fauna of the aquarium. And the replacement of water constantly introduces new minerals into the aquatic environment, which allows you to maintain the required pH level.

What if you do a larger water change?

Of course, it will not work without changing the content. But when changing very it is important to maintain proportions, do not reduce or exceed the recommended fluid change volume. The change must be made very carefully, since any sudden changes in the aquatic environment can adversely affect its inhabitants.

So, if you simultaneously change the water in a large volume, you can harm the fish. For example, if you replaced half or more of the volume of water, then by doing so you shifted all the characteristics of the environment:

• changed the hardness of the water;
• pH level;
• temperature.

As a result, fish can get severely stressed and get sick, and tender plants can shed their leaves. In most cases, the replacement is carried out using tap water, and, as you know, it quality far not the best. Its characteristics are:

• increased levels of minerals;
• a large amount of nitrates and chemicals, including chlorine.

If you change the water in increments of no more than 30 percent of the aquarium volume at a time, you are not adjusting the conditions too much. So, harmful substances come in a small amount, due to which they are quickly destroyed by beneficial bacteria.

With the recommended one-time 20 percent fluid change of the total volume of the aquarium, the balance of the aquatic environment is slightly disturbed, but quickly restored in a couple of days. If you replace half of the filling, then the stability will be broken so that some of the fish and plants may die, but the environment will return to normal after a few weeks.

If you change the content entirely, then you will destroy the entire habitat, and you will have to start it up again, acquiring new fish and plants.

Change fluid completely possible only in exceptional cases:

• rapid flowering of water;
• permanent turbidity;
• the appearance of fungal mucus;
• introduction of infection into the habitat of fish.

It is highly undesirable to change the filling at a time in large quantities, this is only allowed in the emergency situations listed above. It is better to change the fluid often and in small doses. It is recommended to change 10 percent of the volume twice a week than 20 percent once.

How to change the water in an aquarium without a lid

In open aquariums, the liquid has the property evaporate in large quantities. In this case, only pure water is subject to evaporation, and what is in it remains.

Of course, the level of substances in moisture increases, and not always useful. In such aquariums, you need to regularly change the water more often.

Which water to choose for a change

If you use the contents of the tap for replacement, but it needs to be defended for two days to remove chlorine and chloramine. Of course, in different regions, tap fluid will have different quality, but in general, it will not be high. Therefore, change such water often and little by little, or purchase a good filter.

Liquid in different regions may differ not only in quality, but also in hardness. It is better to measure its parametersto understand how to fertilize an aquarium. So, with too much softness, the aquarium may need mineral additives. This is especially important if you take water after purification by reverse osmosis, because osmosis removes not only harmful substances, but also useful ones, including minerals.

So, we can conclude that the change of water in the aquarium should be done in small doses, regularly and progressively. On average, you will change about 80 percent of the water in a month, without harming the flora and fauna of the aquarium at all, preserving all the nutrients of the water and a fertile habitat. The main thing is not to be lazy and not to forget about your duties to change the aquarium content in time.