How to Do a Partial Water Change

by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger

Aquarium cleaning can be a messy chore -- despite all the water involved! A partial water change is a good way to clear the water in your tank without destroying all the good bacteria that keep your fish healthy and happy.

When doing a partial water change, you only want to remove twenty-five to thirty percent of the water. This leaves enough good bacteria behind to help repopulate the tank and keep harmful chemicals out of the water. Take too much water away and you run the risk of having to start the nitrogen cycle all over again.

There's no one way to do a partial water change, but here's how I like to do it for the fish tank at the cats-only boarding facility:

1. Turn off filters, heaters, and lights and lift cords up out of the way. It's not a good idea to mess around with the tank (especially the water) while equipment is running!
2. Use a suction vacuum to remove one-third of the water from the tank. While it sucks up water, it also picks up gravel from the bottom of the tank. The vacuum has a filter that allows small particles (like uneaten food and fish waste) through but keeps gravel in the tank.
3. Dump the dirty water. Nothing says fun like muscling a bucket full of sludgy green water up to the sink! You may find it easier to do less than one-third of your tank at a time -- the bucket will be far more manageable.
4. Prepare the refill water. If you're using tap water, you'll need to treat it to remove chemicals that can be harmful to your tank dwellers. Most pet stores sell a variety of tap water treatments; some aquarium hobbyists like to filter and prepare their own water. Watch the temperature of the refill water -- you don't want the water temperature in the tank to change too quickly or your fish may suffer.
5. Carefully pour the refill water back into the tank.
6. Plug your equipment back in and restart everything. We also change the filter when we do the partial water change, so the water ends up sparkling and clean... for a little while at least!

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Aimee is a fiction writer... dog lover... music lover...

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