Water Changes
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Water Changes
Perform regular partial water changes. Changing 25% of your tank's water every other week serves two purposes: it dilutes and removes nitrate before it accumulates to dangerous levels, and it replaces trace elements and buffers that get used up by bacteria, plants, etc. Water changes are the most important step in controlling disease, and large water changes are not safe unless the chemical composition (e.g., pH and GH) of your tank's water is similar to the water you are adding.
Comments
11/20/2008 10:14:45 PMErin said:
I do a 75% weekly change. I did not used to do this but since I have started my plants and fish are more vibrent, I have less algy, and my house plants thank me. Yes chemical comp is important and the best way to keep it consistant is to get it from the same source every time with as little tampering as possible. One tip on getting rid of additives and excess disolved minerals is to filter the water with a charchol filter 24 hrs before changing the water; I have found that the best ones are not in pet or fish stores but in feed and farm supply stores.
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