Springtime is Not a Good Time to Perform a Water Change
Be careful when you do a water change in the springtime.
The birds finally have returned to begin their spring and summer routines, the grass and early spring flowers have started to show themselves as the heavy winter coat of snow and ice melts away.
The sudden impulse to do some spring cleaning can direct one to decide to clean the aquarium thoroughly .
Proper aquarium maintenance should be a priority for the aquarist, or should be.
Especially for the novice aquarist who needs to develop proper habits for long-term success.
Often the aquarium that was started in the dead of winter when the set was given during the Christmas holidays starts to show that it needs some attention.
Its time to do a gravel cleaning and work on the substrate to remove built up debris and wastes Sometimes changing water can be more trouble for the fish than leaving the water in the tank for a more extended period! I am not suggesting skipping all maintenance, filter materials should continue to be replaced and cleaned on a regular schedule, and the glass may be taking on a bit of a film that can be removed, but the removal and replacement of water..
..
even that lost for evaporation should be carefully considered.
In this part of the year, skipping a standard water change may be the best gift you can offer the fish.
The warming days of early spring offer a period where the snows, at least here in Canada and northern North America, begin to melt.
Couple that natural defrost with the often rainy and miserable weather of early spring.
The rains also help the snow to hurry on its way.
The rivers and lakes rapidly begin to reach their annual maximum capacities, sometimes so much so that they overflow their banks.
Since we are still inexorably trapped in the age of inefficient internal combustion engines and dirty smokestacks spewing smoke and other compounds into the air all winter, the snow that is actually melting and running into these rivers and reservoirs is far from pure.
All those car and truck exhausts, as well as an abundance of wild animal wastes and other dead or decayed materials trapped in the heavy snows of winter flow into the water reservoirs along with the melting ice and snow.
Springtime run-off brings with it many unexpected contaminants which can cause more harm to the fish than simply letting the water removal and replacement chore lag.
Until the weather is much nicer and the floods and churning spring rains have given way to drier weather where the reservoirs are left to settle and debris fall to the bottom again, I often advise not using the municipal water from the tap for the fish tank.
Although distilled water is not recommended as the sole source of water for an aquarium, an occasional water change, especially in the dangerous months of early spring, is a much safer option.
Let the aquarium and its inhabitants wait an extra moth until the water is once again safer.
I prefer to refrain from doing any water changes (or even replacing evaporated water) with municipal tap water from the time that the first thawing occurs until at least a week after all the snow has gone and the weather has been sunny and dry.
Heavy rains, no matter the actual season will drive lots of impurities into the municipal water supply, and the water company often compensates for them with added chemicals to ensure the water is within the listed parameters for safe drinking water.
Nitrite and Nitrate often rises to high levels, as far as the fish are concerned, in many cases spring water changes actually raise the concentrations of both compounds since the aquarium had a lower concentration than the tap water is carrying.
Often the water company is simply overwhelmed by the sudden increase of organic and inorganic compounds washed into the water supply.
They can only add extreme amounts of chlorine or chloramine to compensate for any bacterial blooms from the water supply.
Their priority is not to make safe water for fish.
They are mandated with keeping the water from the tap safe for human consumption, this is often mutually exclusive, especially in the spring.
By no means should regular maintenance be suspended during this time, if water must be replaced for the losses due to evaporation, consider adding a bit of distilled water to raise the level.
I don't suggest this for every time water must be removed, this can get quite expensive, but it also does not do the fish much good either.
Standard aquarium water, as well as municipal tap water contains quite a variety of compounds in it, many are required by the fish to keep their osmotic pressures properly balanced over time.
Distilled water is pure water, with as few impurities as possible.
Over time valuable trace elements would be lost if all that was used was distilled water.
The other cleaning chores should be kept on schedule, cleaning the glass and removing and replacing the filter media and maintaining the filter should not be interrupted.
Rinsing the filter in used aquarium water can be a problem, a small bit of distilled water to remove dirt and debris from foam and re-usable media is one solution, a second would be to remove a small amount of aquarium water for the purpose, and then replacing that with the pure bottled water.
When the snow has fully melted away in the warming sun and we are in the longer days of maturing springtime, and there hasn't been a strong and soaking rainfall for a week, then it might be safe to use the water from the tap once again.
If at all possible, test the tap water for nitrite, you need to ensure that the water you are replacing in the tank is better than the water you are removing.
The most important concept of the standard bi-weekly water change is that you are using the new water to dilute harmful chemicals like nitrate.
This prevents nitrate concentrations from building and controls the process by removing high levels in the used water and replacing with very low levels from the tap.
This simply is rarely the case with the water from your tap during early and middle springtime, at least in ares where Spring run-off is a natural and normal occurrence.
The birds finally have returned to begin their spring and summer routines, the grass and early spring flowers have started to show themselves as the heavy winter coat of snow and ice melts away.
The sudden impulse to do some spring cleaning can direct one to decide to clean the aquarium thoroughly .
Proper aquarium maintenance should be a priority for the aquarist, or should be.
Especially for the novice aquarist who needs to develop proper habits for long-term success.
Often the aquarium that was started in the dead of winter when the set was given during the Christmas holidays starts to show that it needs some attention.
Its time to do a gravel cleaning and work on the substrate to remove built up debris and wastes Sometimes changing water can be more trouble for the fish than leaving the water in the tank for a more extended period! I am not suggesting skipping all maintenance, filter materials should continue to be replaced and cleaned on a regular schedule, and the glass may be taking on a bit of a film that can be removed, but the removal and replacement of water..
..
even that lost for evaporation should be carefully considered.
In this part of the year, skipping a standard water change may be the best gift you can offer the fish.
The warming days of early spring offer a period where the snows, at least here in Canada and northern North America, begin to melt.
Couple that natural defrost with the often rainy and miserable weather of early spring.
The rains also help the snow to hurry on its way.
The rivers and lakes rapidly begin to reach their annual maximum capacities, sometimes so much so that they overflow their banks.
Since we are still inexorably trapped in the age of inefficient internal combustion engines and dirty smokestacks spewing smoke and other compounds into the air all winter, the snow that is actually melting and running into these rivers and reservoirs is far from pure.
All those car and truck exhausts, as well as an abundance of wild animal wastes and other dead or decayed materials trapped in the heavy snows of winter flow into the water reservoirs along with the melting ice and snow.
Springtime run-off brings with it many unexpected contaminants which can cause more harm to the fish than simply letting the water removal and replacement chore lag.
Until the weather is much nicer and the floods and churning spring rains have given way to drier weather where the reservoirs are left to settle and debris fall to the bottom again, I often advise not using the municipal water from the tap for the fish tank.
Although distilled water is not recommended as the sole source of water for an aquarium, an occasional water change, especially in the dangerous months of early spring, is a much safer option.
Let the aquarium and its inhabitants wait an extra moth until the water is once again safer.
I prefer to refrain from doing any water changes (or even replacing evaporated water) with municipal tap water from the time that the first thawing occurs until at least a week after all the snow has gone and the weather has been sunny and dry.
Heavy rains, no matter the actual season will drive lots of impurities into the municipal water supply, and the water company often compensates for them with added chemicals to ensure the water is within the listed parameters for safe drinking water.
Nitrite and Nitrate often rises to high levels, as far as the fish are concerned, in many cases spring water changes actually raise the concentrations of both compounds since the aquarium had a lower concentration than the tap water is carrying.
Often the water company is simply overwhelmed by the sudden increase of organic and inorganic compounds washed into the water supply.
They can only add extreme amounts of chlorine or chloramine to compensate for any bacterial blooms from the water supply.
Their priority is not to make safe water for fish.
They are mandated with keeping the water from the tap safe for human consumption, this is often mutually exclusive, especially in the spring.
By no means should regular maintenance be suspended during this time, if water must be replaced for the losses due to evaporation, consider adding a bit of distilled water to raise the level.
I don't suggest this for every time water must be removed, this can get quite expensive, but it also does not do the fish much good either.
Standard aquarium water, as well as municipal tap water contains quite a variety of compounds in it, many are required by the fish to keep their osmotic pressures properly balanced over time.
Distilled water is pure water, with as few impurities as possible.
Over time valuable trace elements would be lost if all that was used was distilled water.
The other cleaning chores should be kept on schedule, cleaning the glass and removing and replacing the filter media and maintaining the filter should not be interrupted.
Rinsing the filter in used aquarium water can be a problem, a small bit of distilled water to remove dirt and debris from foam and re-usable media is one solution, a second would be to remove a small amount of aquarium water for the purpose, and then replacing that with the pure bottled water.
When the snow has fully melted away in the warming sun and we are in the longer days of maturing springtime, and there hasn't been a strong and soaking rainfall for a week, then it might be safe to use the water from the tap once again.
If at all possible, test the tap water for nitrite, you need to ensure that the water you are replacing in the tank is better than the water you are removing.
The most important concept of the standard bi-weekly water change is that you are using the new water to dilute harmful chemicals like nitrate.
This prevents nitrate concentrations from building and controls the process by removing high levels in the used water and replacing with very low levels from the tap.
This simply is rarely the case with the water from your tap during early and middle springtime, at least in ares where Spring run-off is a natural and normal occurrence.
