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A maintenance programme is an important part of successful aquarium management and regular water changes are in important part of this routine. The big questions are ‘how much and how often’?

Filtration systems may help to reduce pollution in a tank but they will not solve all the problems. While a tank may look to be in good condition with clear water and healthy fish it could be the case that the fish are becoming acclimatised to a slow but steady rise in levels of toxicity. This is often the case when everything has been going smoothly for weeks on end and then suddenly everything starts to go wrong.

In all aquariums substances will be produced, which if left, become harmful – to fish and to plants.
These substances will appear from various sources. Dead or decaying plant materials produce toxins. Uneaten fish food will result in phosphates being produced and fish excrement will produce nitrates. Both of these elements are required by plants but there is no way of knowing how much there is. The fact is that if nothing is done, the level of toxicity will steadily increase.

The solution is to carry out water changes – where a percentage of the water in the tank is drained away and replaced with fresh water.

The following graphs show the effect of changing different amounts of water and at different time intervals. Without water changes the toxicity levels will increase indefinitely but do a regular water change and the toxicty will level off.
In order to keep toxicity to a minimum it is better to carry out large water changes on a regular basis. This is particularly important if you have a high fish population (or messy feeders).
If you follow the EI doseing system to feed your plants then it is important to change the water – 50% or more on a weekly basis.

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