Nothing is more important in aquarium keeping than water quality management. There are many excellent products available out there to assist in water quality management, but in my opinion, there is still no replacement for water changes, good filtration, and good feeding habits.
Water Changes; changing water in more frequent, smaller amounts is preferable to larger less frequent changes. Make sure the water going in has the right chemistry (PH, ect.) and temperature. I like to use reverse osmosis water, then add the elements I need back in (especially for saltwater or soft water aquariums such as discus). Well or spring water is also usually excellent. Otherwise use a de-chlorinator (sodium thiosulfate), if chlorine or chloramines are present (Wonder shells remove chlorine, stabilize KH, and add electrolytes). Water changes are important for Nitrate removal and buildup of toxic organic and inorganic material.
Good filtration consists of biological, chemical, mechanical, and germicidal.
-Biological: Sponge Filters are excellent bio filters (generally used in smaller aquariums, but there are larger ones now available, as well a sponge pre-filters for intakes of other filters, such as canister and HOB filters), wet/dry on a larger scale, fluidized bed, and under gravel filters (Your canister filter, power filter, ect also can be biological filters- just make sure to not change all media during cleanings. You want to wash some of the media out in used aquarium water. Ceramic bio rings are excellent in canister filters for bio filtration). Live rock in marine aquariums also acts as bio filters. Biological filtration removes ammonia and nitrite from your water (anaerobic bacterial can remove nitrates in limited quantities in saltwater). Nitrates are best removed by plants such as Hornwort in freshwater. There is much more information available about Bio-Filtration here: “The Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle”
-Chemical filtration is achieved by carbon, zeolite (freshwater only for zeolite), and many other inorganic filter media such as resins.
-Mechanical filtration is the removal of debris from the aquarium via filter floss, cartridges, ECT. Canister filters excel at mechanical filtration. HOB (Hang on the back- power filters) are also reasonable mechanical filters (The Aqua Clears are not very good mechanical filters, but generally good bio-filters)
-Germicidal filtration is the use of uvc radiation or ozone to kill disease pathogens in the water. I highly recommend UV sterilization in ANY aquarium, especially fish tanks with high disease risk rates for disease such as goldfish or discus.
Good feeding habits simply means feeding what the fish will consume in 2-3 minutes (very general rule), twice per day. Also using a quality food that is highly digestible is very important for less waste (Spirulina 20 flake, HBH, Omega, Sanyu, Hikari, and Ocean Nutrition are excellent, TetraMin in my opinion has too much cereal and indigestible amino acids). Most fish foods available have too high of a cereal content and not enough fats and fish proteins.
This is a VERY general discussion about water quality; See our full Aquarium Information site below.
Let’s face it, most people realize that our water quality is not what it should be, but not many are aware of just how bad it’s got, and how that can impact on your health and well-being.
You may have read the recent report from the AP agency which stated that,” U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking quality water — contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked.”
Federal and industry officials say they don’t know the full extent to which these drugs are released by U.S. manufacturers because no one tracks them, making it hard to assess the water quality impact.
With further studies showing that we have over two thousand toxic chemicals in our supplies that can cause cancer, with herbicides and pesticides showing up in most samples of tap water, the situation is clearly critical.
We must take some responsibility for the lack of quality ourselves as we demand the latest gadget and buy more and more things. The result is more manufacturing and more chemicals being used, sprayed on the fields etc and this all finds its way into the water supply and into our homes.
I think the new phenomenon of pharmaceuticals in the supply is the most worrying when it comes to water quality, as the municipal plants can’t seem to prevent them getting into our homes as these synthetic drugs have such small molecules only a sophisticated filtration system can block them.
Fish are even reported to have changed sex in our rivers due to the huge amount of hormones, antibiotics and other prescription drugs that exist. So how can we avoid putting our health a risk?
The best solution is a high quality home filtration system, with the most effective being multi-stage carbon block filters with ion exchange. These will remove 99% of all the contaminants, leaving you with healthy tasting pure water again as it should be.
Then you can rest assured that whatever the next contamination scare that comes along may be, you are fully protected with the best water quality possible.
Image taken on 2008-07-22 11:09:39 by U.S. Geological Survey.
Instructional Video on the Inland Shrimp Farming Industry discussing Pond Construction, Pond Preparation, Water Quality, Transportation and Acclimation, Stocking, Nutrition and Feeding, Water Quality Management, Pond Aeration, Production, Harvesting and Marketing and Cooking the Shrimp … shrimp seafood aquaculture Alabama Pond Construction recipes pond grown water quality management
Image taken on 2009-02-14 13:42:35 by bryankennedy.
First, why is water quality important to public health? Around the turn of the century, before chlorination began, waterborne illnesses were rampant in countries with large populations. Today, they are still rampant in third world nations and countries struggling with war or inadequate governments.
Worldwide, more than 5 million people die of waterborne or water-related diseases, every year. But, the Centers for Disease Control and the US Environmental Protection Agency reported only seven deaths in the US during the last reporting period.
That bears repeating. Of the 5 million people that died, only 7 of them lived in the US. If you were wondering why is water quality so important, that may give you part of the answer, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Here’s another question.
Why is water quality important to long-term health?
The human body is primarily a bag of fluids. All of those fluids must be replaced on a daily basis or dehydration will result. Acute dehydration is pretty rare, but if you ever worked in an emergency room, you would see that a lot of hospital visits could be avoided if people simply drank enough fluids.
The question of why is water quality so important to a person’s long-term health has to do with several things. First, while acute dehydration is relatively rare, many chronic health complaints are related to inadequate fluid intake. Even the appearance of your skin is negatively affected when you don’t drink enough.
Second, chemical contaminants and heavy metals that are present in most supplies build up in the body faster than they can be disposed of. This leads to a variety of chronic illnesses. In addition, many of those chemicals cause cancer. For those that wonder why is water quality so important; that should drive the importance home.
Public treatment facilities in the US and other countries have done a lot to prevent waterborne illness, but they can do very little about the chemical contaminants and traces of heavy metals that are detrimental to our long-term health. Once you understand why is water quality important, you may be tempted to buy bottled, but that’s not really a good choice.
Bottling companies are allowed to use publicly treated supplies. They may or may not take additional steps to purify it. In other words, you could be buying your own tap-water.
If you truly understand the answer to “why is water quality so important”, you realize that home purification and filtration is the best option. Chlorination may have solved the problem of waterborne illnesses, but it greatly increased the number of cancer cases that are diagnosed every year. Researchers estimated that 70-80 new cases each year are a direct result of chlorination, because of exposure to cancer-causing chlorine by-products called THMs.
The better home purifiers and filters remove both THMs and chlorine, improving the taste and the safety of tap-water. They are affordable and a worthwhile investment in your long-term health. Now you know why water quality is important and how to ensure that yours is of the highest quality.
To become better informed about the available options you have in relation to the water purification technology you can install at your house and what I personally recommend, visit my website.
Image taken on 2009-09-04 00:49:19 by eclectic echoes.
Image taken on 2007-07-22 15:49:01 by Sue Waters.
Poor water quality has large economic and quality of life costs, in terms of health impacts and foregone revenues. According to the Philippine government’s monitoring data, just over 36 percent of the country’s river systems are classified as sources of public water supply and that up to 58 percent of groundwater sampled is contaminated with coliform and needs treatment. Approximately 31 percent of illnesses monitored for a five-year period were also caused by water-borne sources, and many …
Water quality varies from place to place, season to season and even according to the pipes that it runs through. In most municipalities, public treatment facilities are in place to address some of the impurities that are present. But, if you really want high quality water in your home, you need to install a purifier. Here’s why.
The public treatment facilities have many steps in place to reduce impurities, but one of their biggest concerns is bacteria that cause waterborne illnesses. In order to kill the bacteria, most facilities use chlorine or chloramines.
Chloramines negatively affect water quality, taste and smell, but they do reduce the incidences of waterborne illnesses in industrialized societies. So, chlorine is something of a necessary evil.
There are lots of facts about chlorine that the general public is not made aware of. For example, infants and children should not consume chlorinated water, because it causes anemia. Only the highest quality water should be used for making infant formula. Some people are aware of the dangers of chlorine. Others just don’t like the way that it tastes.
We have been told that drinking more high quality water will improve our overall health and is better than drinking soft drinks or other beverages. Because of that, many people are buying thousands of bottles, every year. Yet, those bottles are a major source of pollution. They cost a lot of money and they leach contaminants into the liquids stored within them. Obviously, the best choice for many reasons is a home purifier.
If you read your local water quality report (sometimes called a Consumer Confidence Report), you will see that THMs are listed. THMs are chemical compounds that are created during disinfection processes. The amount that is listed on the report may be very small, but the level continues to grow as it travels through the pipelines.
The amount that is released into the air, when waters are heated for cooking or showering, is 300% greater than what is present at the treatment facility, according to scientific researchers. The researchers are concerned because THMs are known to cause cancer.
Only a high quality water filter will trap THMs. Most of the inexpensive systems on the market reduce only chlorine.
Other contaminants, such as herbicides, pesticides, lead, benzene, VOCs and even prescription drugs may also be present. Chlorine and THMs are the most common, but the best systems provide the best water quality by addressing all of those other contaminants, as well. Among other things, a purifier of that type gives you peace of mind.
To learn more about your options regarding water purification systems that you can install at your house, visit my website.