How to change the water in the aquarium?

 

 

 Anyone who owns an aquarium or is thinking of owning one should know that constantly and meticulously changing the water in the aquarium is absolutely essential to ensure that its inhabitants live well, are healthy and that no more serious problems arise.

In Premium Buces we have talked to you about what are the parameters of the water that must be taken into account to adapt to each type of fish and plant, we have talked about the necessary processes to get started, such as the aquarium bike, and we have talked to you about what certain species of fish need, such as Corydoras, but today we are going to talk about the most fundamental whatever the type of aquarium you have: the change of water, to be done regularly and constantly

What steps must be followed to change the water of the aquarium? What do we do with the fish during? How can we get the chemical parameters that we had, are they still maintaining with the water change? All these doubts, and many other questions, which we will discuss in today's article. So if you want to know how to do this routine procedure to have a proper aquarium.

 

 The water change: and if we do not do it regularly?

The aquarium water change is something that you will eventually master and do almost without thinking, but in the beginning you will have to be careful enough to do it the right way.

First of all, as we have already told you in other articles, the water in our aquarium there must be generated a circuit of nitrogen and other chemical parameters, as well as simply changing again and again. Fish and living beings in the aquarium generate waste constantly, and these wastes produce substances harmful to your own life. If we were to rely exclusively on changing the water, we would even have to change it several times a day to ensure that its inhabitants have the right circumstances.

Therefore, even before having fish, we will have to do the aquarium cycling: this process, which will take a couple of two or three weeks more or less, will ensure that in the aquarium they live in the biological filter some bacteria that will convert ammonia into nitrogen so that the fish are doing well. However, this is not enough, and if we depended only on these bacteria, the cycle would eventually collapse: the fish waste would never be cleaned up and the bacteria would have too much work to take on.

 

 So, the right thing to do is to join the process of exchanging ammonium for nitrogen at the hands of bacteria in the biological filter, with a cleaning of the aquarium water in periods of about ten days or two weeks. Thus, we will avoid to know what would happen if we did not carry out the change of water in a routine way, since all these consequences would have as main victims a los fish and plants.

However, on the other hand, we must be careful not to change the water of the aquarium too often. That's why we tell you that at the beginning it will be difficult to adapt, although later you will get used to it and it will be easy to do:

A constant change of water, for example every few days, can put an end to the bacteria that collaborate in the chemical balance of the water. If we managed to do this all the parameters are perfect, and are ideal for the inhabitants of our aquarium, then we change the water every two days, we will make a chaos with these parameters: having to pay attention to chlorine, ammonium, carbon dioxide and oxygen, and that's without mentioning the temperature, which can also alter the health of fish.

And so? ¿How do we do? Well, you have to do the water change in a very specific way and following some simple steps that we will tell you next, and that if you follow to the letter, they will make everything perfect and you will have no problems.

 

POINTS TO CONSIDER BEFORE CHANGING THE WATER IN THE AQUARIUM

When will we do the first water change?

Before we start telling you the steps to follow one by one, let's talk about the aquarium stand. It is important for you to know that when you first put the aquarium in, you will not have to do any cleaning until about 50 days after you have poured the first water into the aquarium.

Why so much time? Well, because first the aquarium cycling process, which can take some three weeks. In addition to that, after cycling, you will have to put the fish very little by little: If it is a community aquarium, you will have to put one or two fish in first, see how they get used to it and how they seem to be underwater, and then put them in a maximum of one pair for a week more.

This adds up one month in total, that is to say days 30. After that, when the aquarium is already assembled, with its aquarium cycling done and with all its inhabitants in (the fish, first of all, but also the plants, which must be underwater from the first moment of the cycling process), and and the first normal use of the aquarium, so to speak, there will be wait 20 days more to change the water for the first time.

The fish must begin to get used to aquarium environment, with the nitrogen cycle completed. For this reason, and although later, as we have said, it is advisable to change the water every two weeks or so, in the first instance, it will be good for them to be 20 days with the same first water to see how it goes water parameters, check if they act strangely, if they eat, if they seem to be sick, and thus have a real knowledge of how the water is, before changing it for the first time after cycling.

 

Should we remove all the water from the aquarium?

This is one of the most common doubts when it comes to changing the water in the aquarium. There are people who believe that changing all the water completely every two weeks, which is a very cumbersome task, which takes time and also involves a lot of water costs.

But this is not the case: when we change the water regularly, we have to change on a 20% of the total amount of water in the aquarium. For example, if we have a large aquarium, 26.4 Gallons, we will only have to change some 5.2 Gallons more or less.

This percentage that we tell you does not mean, is that remove only this part of the water will balance the two most important things we are looking for when cleaning the aquarium: on the one hand, clean the dirt and debris in excess against which it could not biological filter, and on the other does not end with the measurements of water parameters that we carried out during the first days of the aquarium.

However, and even if you have to change 20% of the water, as we said, once every ten days or two weeks, you will also have to do a total water change at some point. It depends a lot on the impression we have of how the aquarium is: if we see it excessively dirty, if we see that there is too much algae, or if we see that for a while the fish and plants are not as they should be and we have already tried to change only part of the water and it does not end up working. In all these occasions, it is better that we spend the time necessary to improve the aquarium totally, change all the water and do whatever it takes to balance parameters.

Materials we will need for the water change

Once we have calculated that it is time to change the water of our aquarium, we will first have to get the appropriate materials. All these things we tell you before talking about the steps of changing water, you will have to think hard enough so that later, once we have started to change the water, we do not have to improvise.

Well, stops changing the water of the aquarium regularly, we will need specific materials for this, and not use under any concept any product that we have at home for other cleaning things. Maybe it seems logical, but any other cleaning product Even the most neutral soap, which is not specific for aquariums, can do a lot of damage to the fish and plants that live in it, so get this pack of instruments with which you can do every cleaning:

1.  A vacuum cleaner or siphon, which we will use precisely to remove 20% of the water in our aquarium.
2.  A cubo, in which you will have to put the new water with which you will fill your aquarium eliminating the dirty water. Then, we will tell you step by step, but this water you will have to leave it ready at least the day before. If it can be, get your hands on another cube of water just in case.
3. A mop, because, obviously, the water will fall out during removal and placement and you will surely have to scrub around the aquarium once you have completed the whole process. In the same way we also advise you to prepare a towel and paper towel. 
4.  A sponge, to help you clean the aquarium glass inside. The crystals become very dirty, due to waste and also due to possible algae in your aquarium. This makes it very difficult to see and is important, so that the aquarium looks clean After changing the water, be sure to clean the windows.
5.  A water conditioner, like the one we have in the Premium Buces Store, which you should pour into the new water from the bucket before putting it into the aquarium. This conditioner will help us make the new water optimal for the aquarium. For example, eliminate chlorine and make it conform to the parameters more or less of the rest of the aquarium.
6.  A biological complex, which is basically a collection of nitrifying bacteria that will help us so that in this change of water, the new water can adapt to the same low levels of nitrogen and ammonium that we must have in the aquarium: that is to say, a product that helps us to return to have the parameters that we get once the aquarium has been cycled.

And that's it! The vast majority of these products will not have to be purchased for each cleaning of the aquarium water: siphon or vacuum like cubo and, of course, the materials to clean and dry the water, are things that we can all perfectly have in our home. As for the water conditioner and the biological complex of nitrifying bacteriaWe will simply have to buy it and it will take us a few weeks to clean the water.

 Where do we place our fish while we change the water?

Should we move the fish while we do all this 20% water change? Our answer is clear on this, although there are some debates and opinions of all kinds: WE recommend moving the fish during the cleaning.

It is true that you must have to be very careful when changing places and plan a place where you will clean where they can be as comfortable as possible, noting at least the passage from one water to another. Now we will tell you little tips to make this change in the least abrupt way possible. But the other possibility is that the fish stay in the aquarium while you remove the water, put a vacuum cleaner, clean the windows and then remove the decorative objects to clean them.

This translates into stress for the fish, something that is really bad for them. This also translates into one of those movements you make them, without meaning to, daño. Therefore, we recommend that the best thing is to change the place in the meantime, yes, making sure that we bring the change correctly and that the place where we bring them is good for them.

Thus, the place where we take the fish must have, in the first place, the same temperature as the aquarium from where they come out. To do this, it is convenient to leave this container prepared with water the night before: This will acclimatize the temperature of the water, and also remove some chlorine. It is important, if we let this water rest for part of the day, to put the container in a neutral point where the sun does not shine, so that it does not become too hot, nor any current, so that it does not remain cold. If you do not have enough time to let the harmful chemicals in the water are removed naturally, you can always use a product called dechlorinator.

Finally, talking about how to move the fish from the aquarium to the temporary place, another little tip: there are people who use a net to quickly remove the fish and bring them into the container. If you are afraid of stressing him or taking his breath away for a while, one thing you can do is to use a bowl or medium container to make the change much better. You gently put your hand in the aquarium with the bowl in hand, sink it and leave it there until, with a lot of patience, the fish gets closer to you. Then you can move the bowl to put the fish inside and take them this way, in the aquatic environment, to the other temporary container.

However you make this change, we also recommend that you pay attention to the fish while they are in the temporary container waiting for the water change. If you are more than one better person, because then one of you will be able to see them and detect in case someone shows strange behavior, so you can act in time.

Finally, you must be also ensure that the new container has no trace of any type of soap or cleaner, which could destroy all the care of the water temperature for the fish to be well in this transit.

And now that we know the time we have to wait to do the water change for the first time, as well as the amount of water we have to change exactly the materials we will use to perform the whole operation and where and how to leave our pets in the meantime, we will tell you the step by step of this process, so that you have no doubts on how to do it regularly.

STEPS TO CHANGE THE WATER IN THE AQUARIUM

Only by following these steps can you make a completely successful water change. At first, you'll have to figure it out, but once you've done it a few times, it will be something you do almost without thinking. Go for it:

1. First is prepare the new, clean water that will replace the water that was in the aquarium. 24 hours before, or the day before, we leave prepared water at normal temperature in the bucket that we told you you were going to need. During this time, the chlorine in the water evaporates, but even so, as we have already told you, you can also run the conditioner to help eliminate the chlorine completely.
2. We also leave another bucket or container that we want with water prepared a few hours before to dislodge the fish. We lack conditioner and we let the temperature cool down. These two steps will have to be carried out a few hours before to begin to change the water.
3. Once we have the two containers of water ready, we take out the fish. We place them in the container that we have thought, in the way that we want but that is the least harmful for them. This will allow us the aquarium is empty and so we can handle it more easily.
4. Now yes, we will proceed to remove the dirty water from the aquarium. For this we will need the siphon or vacuum cleaner. We recommend the siphoneur because this, by the way, clean the gravel of the aquarium, which never hurts. Of course, if you are going to clean the gravel in-depth, take into account what is convenient for some types of fish, as the Corydoras what do you need digs in the gravel as a form of natural behavior, and that perhaps they will appreciate that you do not leave the gravel without any type of waste. the water that we dirty the aquarium, those 20% that we were talking about, will have to go in another cube. If you don't want to throw it away, you can use it for other things like watering the plants (something that will be useful for you, as it is water full of nutrients) or washing the dishes. When you make this change of water with the siphon or a vacuum cleaner, beware of the plants so as not to suffer: some plants have smaller roots They easily get out of hand from where they are planted, so be careful.
5. Once we have removed the old water, and in case we have decorative elements in the aquarium such as rocks, sticks and even boats or some other aesthetic objects, we must remove them carefully so as not to damage the plants, as they will receive additional cleaning. This is very important because it can happen that we change the water again and again and we always see that the water parameters are not balanced, or we have a level of toxicity in the water that we do not know where it comes from: these objects can accumulate waste and we do not realize. In the same way as for the other elements of the aquarium, these decorative objects they are not washed with water and soap. We recommend to wash them very carefully under running water, trying with clean hands to remove the rests that they could have.
6. Always with him aquarium proportionally empty, we must clean the windows of the same. This is also very important for the general aspect of the aquarium: if we change the water again and again but do not clean the windows, even if the water is clean, we will always have a vision of dirt that will overwhelm us and will not allow us to see our aquarium in its entirety and the fish and plants that inhabit it. We use a sponge, without any additional cleaning product, simply with the aquarium or tap water support. Some people also use algae scrapers, which are specific to getting those pesky visitors off the aquarium windows. We've always been able to do this with the sponge, but that's because we do it constantly when we clean the water and don't let the algae get too sticky and dry on the glass.
7. Once we have cleaned the windows, we can reintroduce the decorative elements into the aquarium. We place them with great care, already clean, waiting for the fish to come with them. We know that we insist a lot on this, but it is not surprising: please, do not use soap either for crystals or for decorative elements, because it can be fatal for your fish, and all the care you have taken so far will be of no use to you.
8. It is time to fill the aquarium with clean water that we have prepared in a bucket. How should we introduce the water? Well, it is very, very important that you do it little by little. Water has weight, and if we drop the bucket carelessly, we will surely lift the gravel from the ground, as well as we will damage the plants and their roots. Throw the water very carefully, and with the help of another person in case the cube weighs a lot.
9. When we already have the new water in the aquarium, we must first observe how the water looks in general. It should make the water crystal clear, and to touch with the hand should have a temperature the same as when we had not yet added the new water.
10. Now, with clean water and a clean aquarium, we should pour the biological complex that we have purchased. This, from our point of view, is essential, because it is inevitable that when we throw away some of the dirty water that we have changed, we have lost nitrifying bacteria from the biological filter. So, to avoid us noticing that things are not going well the following days after the water change, we will give this hand to the biological filter and bacteria that are in charge of converting ammonium into nitrite and nitrogen so that they can continue to maintain a quality water. Pay attention to the instructions biological complexes that you use: there they will indicate the amount to be added proportionally per liter of water, and it is important not to exceed the amount or not to be below.
11. We return to turn on the biological filter, which we will have deactivated during this time, as well as the thermo-heater of the aquarium. Now everything is back to normal: our aquarium has clean water, fed with good bacteria for it, with clean decorative elements and glass and plants in place.
12. We went to put our fish in. Just as we were careful when transporting them in the temporary container, their return to the aquarium will have to show the same care. We pick them up in the container next to the aquarium and take them out very quickly and put them in their place of origin.
13. Spend some time observing how the fish are in the new water. The positive part is that the fish notice immediately that something is wrong, so by spending some time on this task, we will see if everything is fine in the water and the change is working for them.
14. Wait about 24 hours to see how the fish are in the new water to feed them. This way you will also have time for the biological complex to settle on the filter and be ready for the arrival of the first fish food waste.

After the water change: are your fish acting normally?

Let's make the unlikely but possible case that a few hours after doing the water change, something goes wrong. We can notice this for different factors:

• That the water, even just being changed, seem cloudy just a little later.
• That the fish have a strange behavior: not eating, moving or interacting, or in the worst case, lying on the bottom.
• That came out of nowhere a lot of algae.

What could have happened? Well, it could have happened that we had a mistake, and that some of the steps to perform that we have not done correctly. We may not have put enough biological complex, or it could be, and this would be more dangerous, that we did not completely remove the chlorine from the water.

We have already told you that chlorine is very harmful to the health of fish, and this will be noticed immediately. If we have not added enough biological complex and the filter is low in nitrifying bacteria, it is possible that what happened at that time for everything to have collapsed, is that the ammonium levels have increased.

So to solve this problem immediately what we need to do is use chemical compound tests that we should have at home, because no matter what the water change, whenever our fish have strange behavior or something abnormal happens in the aquarium, they will have to be used.

Common mistakes when cleaning the aquarium

We have already learned what is the complete procedure to change the water in the aquarium correctly: we know how much time it must spend to make the first change of aquarium, in which case we are beginners. We also know what materials we will need, and that on our website, Buces premium, you can get almost all of them and buena calidad. We also learned how to do the change of scenery for the fish, something that we will have to master to never give them problems. And finally, we learned the step by step cleaning routine that we will have to give our aquarium.

In the last section, we talked about the worst situation that can happen to us when we have an aquarium at home, and this must be avoided at all costs: that we have not done a step right, and that affects the quality of the water of our aquarium and therefore the life of the fish.

 

But we will be more specific on this subject, and we will tell you about some common mistakes that, in our opinion, do not harm the overall process, but they do and can spoil all the other worries:

• We have already repeated it several times throughout the article, but The worst mistake we could engage is not knowing that any of the instruments we use, none of them, minimal residue of soap or cleaning chemical. This, no matter how small, could lead to pollute the water and therefore make the fish sick even if on the surface everything looks clean and good.

• Another common mistake, which may seem insignificant but it is not, is that when filling the bucket with clean water to rest until the moment of putting it in the aquarium, you must let the tap water run for at least 30 seconds. Why? Well, because there are often in the faucets the pipes in our houses remain that agglomerate, and that invisibly they can finish in the water that we will carry the fish. Therefore, we let run a little the water and when it is already rid of these rests, we throw it in the bucket.

• Regarding the water that we are going to pour, another common mistake is to heat it artificially, instead of pouring it and letting it rest long enough for its temperature to acclimatize. Not many people know this, but many artificial heaters carry copper, and this copper could end up in the water of our aquarium where our fish and plants live. You have to be very careful with this because it can cause problems and it will also be very difficult to detect. It is better to let the water warm up naturally, with the necessary time to do so.

• Another common mistake is using a hose instead of a shower head or faucet to fill the clean water into the aquarium change. The mistake is not just to use a hose, but to use it wrongly: the hose must let the water run for a while, because there may be stagnant water in it for a long time, that water has plasticizers that you have acquired from the inner lining of the hose, and that causes, directly, a deadly poisoning or chemical poisoning of the aquarium water, which would only lead us to change everything in the aquarium and start from the beginning.

• The hose has another problem, which is the enormous pressure with which the water can come out. If we let this pressure come out with the water we leave in the bucket, and we don't let this water rest, it will take some pressure bubbles to our aquarium that if they resist, they can be deadly to fish. How is this possible? Because the pressure bubbles stick to their gills, making them suffocate. This may seem like an exaggeration, but it is something that can happen and that you should know about so that it doesn't happen to you.

• Finally, a common mistake, surely the most common of all mistakes when changing the water in the aquarium, is being in too much of a hurry to do it. This is a task that even if you have mastered it, you can not do it in ten minutes and assume it will prevent you from being in a hurry to skip a step in the first place Essential because it does not give you time to think each and do it calmly. Secondly, the rush will lead us to accelerate the processes that can lead to failure: do not let the water rest long enough y that contains chlorine, do not make it gently move the fish from one place to another, do not give time for the bacteria of the biological complex to adapt to the filter and be able to perform its function, throw away the fish food too early and let the water be filled with ammonia, and so on. Take it easy! Everything will be better, and we will lose much less time, if we take the necessary care to do everything in the beginning and no problems arise.

The hose has another issue., which is the enormous pressure with which the water can come out. If we let this pressure come out with the water we leave in the bucket, and we don't let this water rest, it will take some pressure bubbles to our aquarium that if they resist, they can be deadly to fish. How is this possible? Because the pressure bubbles stick to their gills, making them suffocate. This may seem like an exaggeration, but it is something that can happen and that you should know about so that it doesn't happen to you.