Water change
Water change - the elixir of life for your aquarium
In the course of time unwanted substances may accumulate in your aquarium water. Your filter will remove nitrogen compounds, such as ammonium and nitrite and your plants will take algae promoting phosphates from the water. Your water conditioner may have bound any heavy metals present. So, why do you still need to change the water?
In addition to the substances just mentioned, there are many more that accumulate in the water through the excretions of the fish. Some of them turn the water yellowish. The partial water change (because you do not change all the water, but only a part of it) is much more than that: it is comparable to airing a room. Although the oxygen content in a room does not fall below the natural value of 21 %, we feel better, fresher and more energetic after we’ve aired it. We can also observe something similar with fish, which have even been known to spawn after a brisk partial water change!
The partial water change is the most important maintenance step, and it should be carried out together with the cleaning of the substrate. Siphon about 1/3 of the aquarium water with a hose. Instead of just sucking off clear water please connect the hose with a gravel cleaner ( JBL PROCLEAN AQUA EX 45-70 ). Go with its suction piece gradually through the aquarium ground and siphon the debris off (similar to a vacuum cleaner).
Subsequently the sucked off water need to be replaced by tap water and with the water conditioner JBL Biotopol you can remove the heavy metals and neutralise any chlorine contained in the water.
How to carry out a partial water change correctly
The bigger your aquarium the more reason you’ll have to want to fill it with a hose straight from the water tap. JBL has a water siphoning and refill system in its range which enables you to siphon off water and refill your aquarium again as part of a partial water change quick as a flash
Water treatment
Only in rare cases would your tap water be suitable for your aquarium fish in an unchanged condition. The tap water needs to be “conditioned”. Due to your water pipes it might well contain heavy metals, such as copper, lead and zinc. For us humans the quantities might mostly be harmless, but for our aquarium dwellers they can pose a serious problem. Furthermore chlorine is added to our tap water to sterilise it and thus make it drinkable. Chlorine is fatal for fish and invertebrates. Therefore it needs to be neutralised by a water conditioner.
How exactly does a water conditioner work?
The water conditioner JBL Biotopol contains multiple components:
- To neutralise chlorine, JBL Biotopol contains an active ingredient which converts the dangerous chlorine into harmless chloride.
- Chelators in the water conditioner actively react with heavy metals (iron, lead, copper, zinc etc.) and coat (chelate) them. This makes the heavy metal, e.g. copper, entirely harmless and it can no longer kill invertebrates such as shrimps. This chelation is not limited in time. Even after a time the copper is no longer released into the water. These "packed" but harmless heavy metals remain in the aquarium water until the next partial water change. Then they are partially siphoned out of the aquarium with the changed water and new heavy metals are added with the fresh tap water. Then the process starts all over again: the water conditioner chelates the new heavy metals etc.
- Aloe vera serves to protect the fish mucosa. It works not only for human skin, but also very well for fish. If you rub a drop of JBL Biotopol between your fingers, you can feel this effect. Chelators for plant nutrients: Plants need carriers to move trace elements into their cells. In nature they use e.g. humic acids for this purpose. JBL Biotopol contains chelators which, like humic acids, make the minerals and trace elements available to plants.