Thursday, January 8, 2009

55 Gallon Aquarium - Advice To Help With Changing The Water

By The Aquarium Lady

A 55 gallon aquarium, just like any other size of aquarium, needs to be looked after correctly if you want to make sure that the right environment is established for the fish and marine life to live in. Changing the water in your 55 gallon aquarium is crucial, as it helps to remove waste and debris which can accumulate in the tank and will replenish certain nutrients that can be lost over time.

When, you change the water in a 55 gallon aquarium, will depend on a number of different factors. The first of these being whether it is a cold water, reef or tropical aquarium, and the second being, what kind of water you are using to replenish the tank with.

Although you may have the most expensive filtration system possible for your 55 gallon aquarium, it will not be able to remove every single piece of waste or nitrate from the tank to keep the environment within perfectly balanced. Plus such filtration systems don't have the capability of being able to replenish those nutrients and minerals in the water that fish and marine life live on.

55 Gallon Aquarium - When Should The Water Be Changed?

When you own a 55 Gallon Aquarium, you should be changing around 25 percent of the tank's water each week, as this will help to keep the nitrate levels in the water under control. If you intend to use water directly from a tap to replenish that which has been removed, then you need to carry out some tests first, to check the pH levels and the hardness of the water. Such test kits can be purchased online or through your local aquarium supply store, along with the products you need to get the chemical composition right in the water before adding it to the tank.

When using tap water to replenish that removed, you need to make sure that the levels of nitrate in it are not too high. Ideally when looking to use tap water for your 55 gallon aquarium, the nitrate levels in it should not go above 40 parts per million. If they are, then you will need to use water from another source or you will need to use a water purifier.

55 Gallon Aquarium - Equipment For Changing The Water

The main pieces of equipment needed when it comes to changing water in a 55 gallon aquarium, is two buckets and a siphoning kit. These items are readily available from your local aquarium supply store, or for one of the many aquarium supply online stores. It is important that when you have these items they be used solely for the purpose of changing the water in your aquarium, and not for other tasks around the home such as washing your car.

Another thing you need to think about is the storage of any water you are going to be using, in order to replace that which you have removed from your 55 Gallon Aquarium. At all times this should be stored in ones that are made from food grade plastic; if not, then the chances of harmful chemicals leaking into the water is high.

When storing water, it needs to be kept somewhere dark to prevent algae growth. Also the water will need to be aerated on a regular basis, whether through using a hand air pump or air stones, as this will help to keep the water fresh by adding more oxygen to it, and keeps the level of pH in the water balanced. If left to stand, water over time without fresh supplies of oxygen, will turn acidic, and if directly added to your 55 Gallon Aquarium can prove to be extremely harmful to the fish and marine life in it. - 14915

About the Author:

No comments: