Water chemistry freshwater fish

Anyone who wants to succeed in the hobby of tropical fish have filed the necessary time to understand some basic chemistry of water fish tank. This will help your fish to not only survive but to grow!

I recommend that you get a good aquarium water testing kit or kits of many individuals. You will need a kit that will test as follows:

* Ammonia
* Nitrite
* Nitrate
* PH
* Water Hardness
* Chlorine / chloramine

Definition
Aerobic Bacteria
This is a bacteria that need oxygen to live.

Anaerobic Bacteria
This is a bacteria that can live without the presence of oxygen, or bacteria that do not require oxygen.

Ammonia
This chemical is the result of fish waste and rotting food in the aquarium. Ammonia is a major killer of tropical fish. new tank that will go through cycles or so tanks stocked aquarium will show ammonia readings with your test equipment. Ideally, we want to read to become ammonia 0 ppm.

Chloramine
Chloramine is a combination of chlorine and ammonia. It is a powerful disinfectant than chlorine alone and used in areas where this is required additional disinfectant. Like chlorine, you must remove chemicals from your tap water before adding it to your aquarium or tropical fish also will kill you.

Chlorine
This chemical is found in most tap water and used to kill the bad bacteria in our drinking water. Clorine must be removed before entering your aquarium or it will kill your tropical fish.

Copper
This metal can come up with tap water if you have older copper pipes. It can also get introduced to your tank if you have used any drug-based copper. Copper can be very dangerous for fish and invertebrates.

Nitrate
Nitrite is converted to nitrate during the cycling process. Nitrates are not toxic like ammonia or nitrites but their harmful and will stress your fish at a high enough level. The only way to remove nitrate is through partial water changes. Ideally you want to have a test kit readings of less than 20 ppm in fresh water tank and even less in salt water tank.

Nitrite
Ammonia is converted to nitrite by bacteria in your tank. Nitrite levels will soar in new tanks that have not been cycling. Nitrite just as toxic to tropical fish as ammonia and the only way to quickly reduce the levels of nitrite is through water changes. Nitrite eventually will be converted to nitrate by bacteria that grow in the tank and filters. Ideally, the tank is established you want to read this to 0 ppm with a test kit aquarium.

Nitrogen Cycle
This cycle usually takes 2-8 weeks to complete and will occur in all the new aquarium. You can speed up the process by using a filter material or gravel from an established tank. Even then he still could take several weeks for the tank to cycle. It is a cycle in which ammonia is converted into Nitrite and Nitrate Nitrite is converted to. Please read the article Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle for more information.

Ammonia -> Nitrite - Nitrate>
pH
pH is a scale used to measure the acidity or alkalinity of water. Range 0-14 scale with 0 the most acidic, 7 being neutral and 14 being the most alkaline. It is possible to raise or lower your pH levels with changes in water or chemicals from a local shop for your pet.

Phosphate
Phosphates can be introduced into your aquarium mainly from tap water, dead plants and fish food. High phosphate levels can cause algae outbreaks. There are products on the market to remove phosphate and you can do your part by keeping up with maintenance of your aquarium and do regular water changes. Saltwater reef tank guards and watchmen freshwater plants may want to invest in a phosphate test kit.

Salinity
This is the amount of salt dissolved in water and measured with a hydrometer.

Specific gravity
This is a measurement of the density of the amount of salt dissolved in salt water than fresh water. Explained another way, salty water consists of the elements more than fresh water. Density measurements show us how salt water is heavier or more dense than fresh water.

Water Hardness
The level of water hardness has to do with the amount of minerals dissolved in water. Calcium and magnesium are the major minerals dissolved in tap water. "Soft" mineral water soluble minerals have relatively little while "hard" water soluble lot. Water hardness does not really matter unless you are excessively soft water. Then you might have a problem with pH levels of escape. For saltwater aquariums this is especially true. Violence carbonate from sea water to give a good indication of how stable your pH.