Water is the most important and basic element in keeping a healthy, successful aquarium. There are many factors that affect the quality of water for aquarium use.

Chlorine and Chloramine are added to water to eliminate harmful bacteria in drinking water for human consumption, but are very toxic to fish, beneficial bacteria and plants. When first setting up an aquarium and whenever partial water changes are conducted, always use Aqua Plus to make the tap water safe for fish.

Aqua Plus also contains Pure Herbal Extracts that reduce stress in fish associated with handling. In specific areas around the country where Chloramine is present in the water, always use a highly concentrated chlorine neutralizer such as ChlorXChange as well as Ammonia Remover filter media to absorb ammonia. ChlorXChange is also recommended for preparing water for marine aquariums.

Metallic Ions present in tap water are chelated by ChlorXChange and made available for consumption by plants.

Tap water that originates from wells can be plagued with many other potential undesirable elements, such as phosphates, nitrates, extremely high metal levels (ex.- iron) and many other organic and inorganic compounds. The use of Aqua Plus is mandatory and it may even be necessary to consider the use of special filtration devices located at the tap. Plumbing replacement with new copper pipe can be potentially lethal, especially with soft water. It would be highly recommended to add double doses of Aqua Plus and use generous quantities of carbon to help remove copper. In marine systems containing invertebrates, this is a situation which would necessitate careful attention.

Water hardness and pH are two basic parameters that are easily measured with test kits and are important in providing an optimal aquarium environment.

It is suggested to test tap water at least on a seasonal basis to make note of any fluctuations and adjust accordingly with effective products such as pH Adjust UP, pH Adjust DOWN and pH Stabilizer.

Source water may necessitate the use of certain filter media to help achieve favorable conditions for fish and plants. Peat is probably one of the most useful media for tap water that is hard and alkaline when plants, and/or acidic, soft water originating species of fish are being kept.

The following groups of fish generally prefer these listed pH ranges.

Livebearers: 7.0 to 7.6	Rasboras: 6.2 to 6.8
African Cichlids: 7.8 to 8.5	Rainbows: 7.0 to 7.4
South American Cichlids: 6.2 to 6.8	South American Catfish (Corydoras, etc.): 6.2 to 6.8
Tetras: 6.2 to 6.8	Goldfish & Koi: 7.0 to 7.5

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Test kits allow easy analysis of aquarium water and the resulting corrective action to be undertaken. They provide the information necessary for tailoring characteristics such as pH, Carbonate Hardness (KH), Iron (Fe) and General Hardness (GH) that are important for the particular type of aquarium being maintained.