How and how much water should be defended for an aquarium?

For most modern people, the main source of water for any need is running water. Any adult has heard that the liquid from there, to put it mildly, does not correspond to the best ideas about its quality - chlorination, which is the main method of cleaning, adds far from the most useful chlorine, the quality of cleaning often leaves much to be desired, and when passing through rusty communications re-clogged with all sorts of unpleasant things.

Even a large and strong person who simply occasionally drinks such water puts his health in danger.

One can only imagine how destructive the constant stay of fish in such an environment is. For this reason, it is imperative for many aquarists to defend the water before it enters the pet tank.

Even if your moisture source isn't from your water supply, it doesn't mean it's good for your aquarium. Harmful impurities can be present even in the reservoir, which has not been affected by anthropogenic impact. Finally, not all bodies of water are suitable for living creatures and not every species of fish may be sensitive to some kind of irritant, which is not critical for other species.

Trying to settle the liquid from a familiar source, you can observe various interesting phenomena when it becomes cloudy or a precipitate forms in it that has not been observed before.

Funnily enough, a significant percentage of fish breeders regularly perform this ritual, but no one really knows exactly how much water needs to be defended. Plus, you don't need to be a genius to understand the obvious — advocating doesn't solve all problems. Often, even after it, the liquid may still remain unsuitable for normal fish activity.

Having sifted out myths and idle fictions, we come to the conclusion that there are three types of pollutants in water, moreover, representatives of each type can react to upholding in different ways:

• solid impurities precipitate and remain at the bottom, while the purified top layer of water can be carefully drained;
• gaseous impurities are light, therefore, in an open vessel, they can escape into the atmosphere;
• liquid components, unfortunately, are not removed from the water by settling.

As for humans, polluted air is unpleasant, so fish cannot live in polluted water. That's why the latter must meet certain requirements if you value the life of your pets.

It's fair to say that different biological species can put forward different requirements, therefore, the generalizations below are comfortable for most species, but not for all. We specifically focus on those species of fish that beginners usually start with, who do not yet really understand how to properly take care of whimsical species.

One of the most important criteria is the acidity of the liquid.... Both acidic and alkaline ions are present in water, and if they are equally divided, the environment is considered normal, that is, neutral. It is this that is considered ideal for the normal functioning of most aquarium animals and plants.

The acidity level is indicated by the letters pH and a number, if we are talking about a neutral medium, it will be described as pH 7.

It is not in vain that this criterion comes first - settling does not affect it in any way, which means that moisture must be chosen correctly from the beginning.

Another important criterion is rigidity. It directly depends on how many "foreign" substances the water was able to dissolve in itself before it got into your sump. Most often, an increase in the level of hardness ensures the presence of dissolved calcium in the moisture.

Unlike many other substances dissolved in a liquid, calcium (in a normal dosage) is even useful for fish, since they form "details" of their body from it. Each species requires a certain level of hardness, which is desirable to be observed, while fish and plants gradually extract calcium from the moisture, making the latter softer.

Another impurity that stays in a liquid in a dissolved form is salt of various origins.

Inhabitants of the aquarium can extract minerals dissolved in salt water for their needs, therefore It is the responsibility of the aquarist to ensure that the salinity inside the artificial reservoir is always maintained at the same level.

On the Internet, you can find a variety of tips on how long to settle tap water from the tap - there are even absolutely fantastic values ​​indicating that the exposure should be up to ten days.

If you doubt the adequacy of such recommendations, you are right - the result appears much faster, and the further procedure does not bring any visible benefit.

Gaseous impurities in their bulk are removed from the water almost instantly at the time of collection, and this happens especially quickly if moisture is collected correctly - we will talk about this in more detail in the next section.

The situation with solid impurities is somewhat more complicated. First of all, according to current regulations, tap water should not contain them at all, but this, of course, is an unattainable ideal - rusty metal pipes, gradually decaying, emit the smallest crumbs of rust, which, together with moisture, enters the aquarium. If you are sure that your water supply system consists entirely of modern plastic pipes, then there really should be no impurities, but at least for the first time, you need to check the liquid for sure.

At the same time, the appearance of some sediment does not mean that the moisture has cleared - it is believed that it needs to settle for 12-24 hours so that the majority of the harmful components sink to the bottom.

In some cases, when the liquid is particularly turbid and dirty, it can be defended for 2 days, but it would be better to find another source. It is generally accepted that a proven source, from which you have repeatedly taken water for an aquarium, can not be checked strenuously - figuratively speaking, the same 12 hours should be enough.

However, even in such a situation, experienced experts advise periodically rechecking the moisture - in nature there are no constant values ​​of purity, which means that foreign impurities could get into your water supply system or well.

When collecting water from a specific source for the first time, it is necessary not only to extend the settling period, but also closely monitor the precipitation to learn more about the properties of moisture.

When taken from natural reservoirs or wells, the liquid often turns out to be cloudy due to the suspension of silt and sand, which is inevitably present in it.

The only reason why this can interfere is the inability to admire pets because of the constant turbidity.

The sand, as a rule, settles itself rather quickly, but in order to "calm down" the clay, you need to plant plants with a branched root system in the aquarium, which perfectly retains this substance.

Only at first glance, a person does not actually take part in defending.

Using a simple example, you can see possible errors by considering how to properly remove chlorine gas from tap water.

• The gas particles are scattered throughout the volume of the water, and your task is to bring them in direct contact with the air to ensure complete gas evacuation. You can help this process already at the stage of pouring water - for this it is advisable to collect it in a container for settling with a powerful jet, since at the moment of impact the moisture will push out gas bubbles from its bowels.

• The larger the area of ​​contact of the water surface with the atmosphere, the faster and more efficiently the release of any gaseous pollutants, including chlorine, will occur.In a bottle with a narrow neck, only a small percentage of water will come into direct contact with air, which means that a lot of bubbles can remain somewhere in the thickness of the bottle. It is most reasonable to settle the liquid in a wide container.

• Covering the container for settling with a lid, you impede normal gas exchange, so chlorine, even when released from the water, simply has no way out to leave the container. Diffusion has not been canceled, chlorine in a closed space can again penetrate into moisture.

Ordinary settling does not give the slightest effect when removing liquid impurities, but the modern chemical industry is able to solve other problems.

A little tricky is that to choose the right air conditioner, you must know what substances can be dissolved in moisture, so as not to add extra "chemistry" where there is already an excess of it.

To clarify what threats are typical for water bodies in your region, you can in the sanitary and epidemiological station, they will also tell you what exactly should be used to purify the water.

• Do not get carried away with frequent water changes - by putting sedimentation on the conveyor, you will be in a hurry, so sooner or later show an unforgivable disregard for this procedure than harm your pets. If you have not overcrowded your own aquarium, then the big problem is that there is no flow inside and there is no constant renewal of fluid, but various beneficial microorganisms that break down nitrates and nitrites will be able to multiply.

• If the water in the aquarium after a change after a few days becomes cloudy, this is normal, but it indicates that the moment of the next exchange has nevertheless come. The fact is that the waste products of living organisms get into the water, which is the reason for this phenomenon.

• Even if you constantly use water from the same source, in modern conditions you cannot be sure that it will be the same day after day. You may not notice the difference, and new impurities (or the absence of old ones) by themselves might not be a problem for the fish, if not for one "but": they may not like the abrupt change in living conditions. For this reason, experienced aquarists try not to change all the water at once, leaving about 2/3 the volume of the old liquid. This approach allows not to disturb the biological balance as well, because otherwise the population of bacteria that break down the waste products of the inhabitants of the aquarium may die.

• Almost the only situation in which it is possible and necessary to fill in completely new water is a complete cleaning of the aquarium from contamination. Of course, the aforementioned colonies of microorganisms will die, but theoretically they should have disappeared anyway during the cleaning process, so there is no point in risking and leaving the old dirt.

• In some situations, there is no way to wait for the water to settle and the aquarist has to fill in the unsettled liquid. This is better than giving up the moisture cycle altogether. But such a move is allowed only in extreme cases, and in volumes not exceeding 1/5 of the aquarium.

You can learn how to change the water in the aquarium from the video.