Leo Carter

About Leo Carter: Making Aquarium Water Chemistry Easier to Understand

More than 16 years of learning a key lesson of fishkeeping: the best way to maintain a healthy aquarium is to understand the water.

It’s important to realize that clear water does not mean that the water is healthy, and sometimes a seemingly unhealthy tank can still be biologically stable, which makes me interested in the subject of aquarium water chemistry. I aim to help aquarists find out what the results of their water tests actually say about the water instead of just telling them what they should aim for.

I care for aquariums, keeping in mind what I have learned about water parameters, testing water on a regular basis, being patient, and keeping water parameters stable. I am particularly interested in how the nitrogen cycle operates in maintaining fish tanks. Fish excrement, uneaten food, the way in which filters work, beneficial bacteria, the frequency of water changes, and the number of fish kept in every tank are all factors to keep in mind in maintaining a fish tank. It is possible to troubleshoot aquariums that behave abnormally if one understands how everything fits together.

Why I Focus on Aquarium Water Chemistry

Reading regarding water chemistry may seem complicated due to many terms that are used right away without understanding their meaning.

Instead, I would like to ask something much simpler and more practical: What information does a particular parameter of water provide about the aquarium?

Ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and pH are more than just numbers. All of those terms help one understand the way biological filtration works, to what extent an aquarium requires to be cleaned, and how stable aquarium water is.

While cycling an aquarium, for instance, amassing data such as ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate tests is useful for identifying the developments that take place in the biological filtration process. Meanwhile, in an established aquarium, constant water testing allows for comparing the results and observing changes and trends before any manifestations of the behavior of fish and existing aquarium problems appear.

As a writer, I have a responsibility of interpreting the data that is collected in a useful way that may help determine why readings change, what else is worthy of checking, and why it is often better to make gradual steps in implementing changes instead of reacting at once based on one test result.

Aquarium Cycling and the Nitrogen Cycle

One of the topics I come back to is actually how to cycle an aquarium.

When you familiarize yourself with nitrogen cycle processes, you will have a better understanding of water-related problems that can occur with new tanks. Simply put, wastes produced in an aquarium lead to ammonia. Beneficial microorganisms will take care of ammonia and change it into nitrite as part of the biological filtration process.

Ammonia and nitrite should not go unnoticed inasmuch as they can be dangerous for fish. In turn, the nitrate level can be controlled with the help of some basic practices such as water changes, preventing surplus waste, and using plants whenever it’s possible.

I prefer to define fish tank cycling as a biological activity rather than a timetable. Fish tanks will be built under completely different conditions; hence, seeing the actual test results would be more interesting than waiting for a certain number of days.

Understanding Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate

Whenever there is an issue with the aquarium, I would delve into the reason behind it instead of only focusing on the problem.

Measurable levels of ammonia in the aquarium speak about waste being put into the aquarium at a rate that is faster than the biological filtration can handle. Levels of nitrite can also assist in telling us a lot about the nitrogen cycle, and increasing levels of nitrate might indicate that waste is piled up faster than it is being removed.

Knowing all the parameters together adds a lot of value to the analysis.

That is why I write my articles in such a way that ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, filtration, feeding, stocking, cleaning, and water changes are all connected rather than treated as separate issues.

In my way of troubleshooting, I take the following steps: taking water samples, analyzing what is going on with the aquarium, reviewing some recent changes, identifying the possible cause, and correcting the issue.

Aquarium pH, Stability, and Sensible Adjustments

The pH level in aquariums is a subject where just one number can cause anxiety.

It is important to take into consideration that while pH reading is important, the situation is as well. Various fish and other living organisms require different water parameters, and changing parameters even in order to reach an ideal pH level may have serious negative consequences.

Therefore, I would recommend aquarium owners focus on pH. Instead of analyzing solely the reading, it is more important to pay attention to all influencing factors.

Water used (source water and its hardness), substrates, stones, biological processes, and processes of making water changes are the main factors that affect the pH of water in the aquarium. I believe that it is better to understand the reasons for changes in pH in order to decide whether it is actually necessary to act.

Having consistent conditions contributes to making efforts to control the water in the aquarium less frequent.

Water Testing, Dechlorinators, and Better Aquarium Maintenance

An aquatic test kit is of real value only when the outcomes influence the attitude and decisions of an aquarium owner.

In my article, I discuss the frequency of aquarium water testing, which parameters to pay special attention to while cycling the tank, how to analyze the results of tests done in the course of time, and why keeping simple records can help see some trends that the results of one test alone cannot indicate.

I also discuss the functions of water conditioners and dechlorinators for aquariums. Tap water that is going to replace water in the aquarium might contain chemicals used to treat the water, so it is important to treat it accordingly to remove these chemicals before introducing it into the aquarium.

Aquarium water changes, temperature, filter maintenance, feeding methods, stocking, water conditioning, and biological filtration are interconnected. Proper aquarium maintenance is not about discovering one miraculous product or one perfect measurement. It means keeping the entire system in good condition and under control.

It is about keeping the entire aquatic system as stable and manageable as possible.

How I Write for Stardexa

At Stardexa, I deliver useful articles to those looking to gain knowledge about aquariums, instead of merely following instructions.

I answer the questions that every aquarium owner asks and that I have come across in my work.

For example, what made my ammonia increase? Is my aquarium fully cycled? Why do my nitrates keep rising? Should I lower my pH? How often do I need to test my aquarium water? Can cleaning the filter make biological filtration worse? What does an aquarium dechlorinator do?

I try to achieve this by breaking the topic down into causes, signs, tests, and actions.

I would like to make aquarium care comprehensible without misleading the audience into believing that all aquariums behave in the same way. Water chemistry is an interconnected system of biological processes and chemical reactions, which means that it is often more useful to know why something is taking place than to remember a rule.

What You Can Expect From My Aquarium Articles

My interest in aquariums lies in numerous subjects, including aquarium water chemistry, aquarium cycling, the nitrogen cycle, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH of water in aquariums, water testing, dechlorination methods, changing water in aquariums, biological filtration, and stable water parameters in aquariums.

Having spent over 16 years in the fishkeeping industry, I am still firmly convinced that one of the most important skills a student of aquariums may acquire is knowledge of reading aquariums as a total system.

Water test results, fish behavior, maintenance history, filtration, feeding, stocking, and changes in water parameters provide separate parts of the story about what occurs in aquariums.

My goal is to assist you in assembling these components. It is important that you make sense of the goings-on in your aquarium and understand why these things are happening so that you can easily identify issues, make informed decisions about maintenance, and ensure the right environment for your aquatic life.

Contact me: [email protected]