Ed
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« on: June 20, 2007, 05:56:47 pm » |
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I think most of us are getting tanks ready for viewing. Lee just posted this on Reef Frontiers. I thought what better timing.
How to Make a Safe Water Change for Fish
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Few experienced aquarists give much thought to making water changes. It has become second nature. The advanced and experienced aquarists take it for granted. For the beginner, the nuances and attention to water changes can mean a happy fish or a dead fish, and anything in between. So here is one way to perform a water change to make a happy fish:
1. Make sure you're using proper source water free of contaminants (including but not limited to: dissolved organics, ammonia, nitrites, phosphates, nitrates, silica compounds, smell, and poisons). If there is any doubt as to the quality of the source water, test it. Artificial salt manufacturers who recommend using tap water as the source water are wrong. The variations on tap water around the world make it such a wide range of ingredients in tap water, that tap water isn't consistently reliable enough for source water for the marine aquarium. Get more information about the downside to using tap water here: Chemistry and the Aquarium
2. Mix the source water, preferably using a submersible (inside aquarium) pump (not an aerator). The water should move up and down in the mixing container, not around in a circle.
3. Add the artificial salt to the water, in the quantity required to get close to the marine system's specific gravity.
4. Mix the salt according to the salt manufacturer's directions (as to how long to mix). (NOTE: The salt manufacturer should know how best to mix their salt into water, however studies have shown that the most stabilized water is achieved after about a week of mixing. This extended time is connected to gas exchange and the chemical reactions going on in the water between the various salts and the gases in the surrounding air.)
5. After mixed, check the specific gravity of the prepared water. [NOTE: If the salt mix is not properly balanced to provide the proper calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium, now is an opportunity to bring those chemistries into the desired range with the chemistries in the marine system.] The specific gravity of the new water should match as closely as you can with the specific gravity of the water it will replace. Usually, matching to within 0.001 sp. gr. unit is acceptable. Adjust the new water by adding a little more salt, or adding some source water. If a lot of salt had to be added (more than 2% of what you've already added) then go back to 4.
6. When the specific gravity of the new water matches the marine system water specific gravity, measure the pH and temperature of the marine system and the new water. Adjust pH and temperature of the new water to that of the marine system water. (NOTE: This is one of the places of the biggest common error -- the pH adjustment. The pH of the new and old water must be extremely close -- to within 0.05 pH units, if possible). The temperature of the new water should be no lower, and can be up to 1.5F higher than the marine system water.
7. Remove the water from the marine system. You can take advantage of siphoning in order to clean out detritus/debris around in the display tank, sump, and/or refugium.
8. Add the new water to the marine system.
After the above, it is important to replace evaporated water with distilled water (if you have a small aquarium), or RO/DI or deionized water for larger systems. Maintain a constant specific gravity of the marine system, a constant pH in the proper zone, and a constant temperature.
Some interesting information and things to know:
a. A sudden drop in temperature as little as 2F in an hour can cause a marine fish mucous coating to sluff off or improperly function. This causes the fish to become sensitive to infection and diseases it could otherwise fend off. This is the reason why fish who go through a drop in temperature suddenly become ill or infected. A small drop in temperature is significantly far worse than a small rise in temperature.
b. pH is measured not in 'straight numbers' but in a logarithmic function of the hydrogen ion concentration. A small change in pH number is a large change in concentration of the hydrogen ion. What seems like a small numerical change is actually a large change. Don't be fooled. A pH change of 0.10 pH units is significant to a marine fish that has never known the pH of its home waters to change by more than 0.01 units over the period of a year!
c. Salinity sets up the way the fish's internal chemistries function. The fish's internal physiology is based upon the fish's environment and that environment is the water, how much salt is in that water, and how clean that water ultimately is with regards to its home water quality. A fish can handle a rather rapid lowering of salinity (specific gravity) but not an increase in salinity. If salinity drifts too low in the system, raise it slowly (no more than 0.002 sp. gr. units per day). The fish's internal chemistries need time to adjust to a change in salt concentration in the water.
Making the fish think the water is cleaner but hasn't changed in pH, temperature or salinity is the key to a good water change!
Hope this helps.
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LEE
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