When it comes to having an aquarium, whether it is cold water or hot water, the main element that we are going to have is going to be water because we must fill the aquarium, depending on the liters it has, with water. There are many people who do not know what water to use in aquariums. Now, water can often be one of the main reasons why fish die and this can be due to the water that is used. Normally people use tap water to fill the aquariums and, once full, we put the fish in, but that water contains chlorine and chlorine is harmful to fish which leads to disease and even death of the animals.
Therefore, in this article we are going to explain what water to use in aquariums.
¿Qué se puede hacer?
Faced with this problem there are two solutions, both valid for my part because I have tried them. The first is by using a product that you can find in pet stores. It is a product that is thrown into the water to eliminate, in a matter of minutes, the chlorine that it has and make it suitable for the fish to live. This product does not cost too much and it lasts quite a long time.
Another solution to carry out is that of taking the water at least 24-48 hours before changing the water or filling the aquarium. If you let the water stand for those hours the chlorine evaporates and the water is already good for the fish. The problem here would be that you have an aquarium of many liters and you do not want to have buckets and buckets of water waiting to be able to serve to fill the aquarium.
Some what they do is buy mineral water, also a solution, but it is usually expensive (multiply the number of liters you need by the price of the water).
The first two solutions are those that are feasible with large aquariums and those that can be less of a headache.
What water to use in aquariums: types
As we know, there are different sources of water to supply the facilities and make our fish healthy. Among the types of water that there we have the following.
Tap water
It is usually the most appropriate and common that is used for store aquariums. This is due to its great ease of obtaining and that it does not have bacteria and organisms that could be harmful to the life of our fish. The problem with tap water is that some characteristics have to be corrected previously. Since tap water is intended for human consumption, has characteristics and substances that prevented pathogenic organisms. This is eliminated with the presence of disinfectant substances. In this case we find chlorine. This chlorine prevents various bacteria from growing in the water and makes it drinkable.
Other substances that tap water can carry are chloramines, fluorides or ozone. However, this is not an impediment to using tap water. And is that to remove chlorine from tap water, we just have to shake the water a little and let it rest for 24 hours. The chlorine will just evaporate. We can also remove ozone by filtering the water through an active carbon filter. Another way is use products like sodium thiosulfate to neutralize chlorine. This is done if we need to use the water immediately.
Another more dangerous substance that can carry tap water and that is harmful to fish is copper. It usually comes from the pipes themselves and water dissolves when they are new. If the pipes are new and frozen to stand for a while inside, the copper dissolves in the water. To remove copper you can use an active carbon filter or letting the water run from the pipe for a minute before using that water for the aquarium.
Some products such as flocculants are sometimes used in municipal waters. This serves to obtain crystal clear water and can be removed with activated charcoal.
Well water
The water that is extracted from the wells also has the advantage of being very cheap. We can choose and this type of water according to the use that we are going to give it. An advantage of this water is that it does not have chlorine or any other disinfectant substance that has to be removed. They also do not usually contain organisms that are pathogenic to fish. On the other hand, its disadvantages are that it can have substances that we must know how to measure and eliminate depending on the depth at which we extract the water.
This water usually contains excessive amounts of dissolved gases. Among these gases we find carbon dioxide and nitrogen. To remove these dissolved gases just shake the water for a few hours. Another problem that well water can present is that it has an excess of dissolved iron. We can simply remove this iron by aerating the water.
One of the characteristics why well water is not highly recommended at all is that it is low in oxygen. If we are going to have fish, the ideal is that the water has a good proportion of oxygen. It is best to shake the water vigorously for a few hours before using it. We must also have un oxygenator Installed in the aquarium to help oxygenator the water.
What water to use in aquariums: others
There are other water that, although they are not so recommended, can be used without any problem. We just have to know well the parameters and characteristics to muzzle it to what the aquarium needs. The rainwater that is one of them. We can store rainwater for use whenever we wait for it to rain for a while. This is done so since we can obtain the water without any substance from the atmosphere since it has previously precipitated. You also have to wait for roofs and gutters to be cleaned.
Rainwater has characteristics of being very soft. That is, it is similar to osmosis water or demineralized water. The ideal is to use an active carbon filter to ensure that the water will have good quality.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about what water to use in aquariums.
In this article they gave almost no importance to Chloramines and you should be very careful with them.