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As an aquarist, you are accustomed to testing your aquarium water regularly, but are you forgetting about heavy metals? Most test kits include tools for measuring ammonia, nitrate, pH, water hardness, and other common water parameters, but often leave out tests for heavy metals. |
Heavy metals are commonly introduced to your system through the water supply. Tap water can carry trace amounts of heavy metals such as iron and copper; if you are using tap water as a water source for your aquarium, you could be introducing harmful heavy metals to your delicate ecosystem.
Luckily, there are test kits that you can employ to help determine if any heavy metals are present in your aquarium.
SEACHEM iron test kit
High iron levels in aquarium water energize algae. The
Seachem Iron Test Kit for freshwater and saltwater aquariums will help identify if there is any iron in your aquarium. The economical kit contains 75 tests and provides the aquarist with the ability to run 6 tests simultaneously.
API copper test kit
Copper, which can be found in your municipal water supply, is toxic to invertebrates and can be unsafe for fish and corals. To monitor the copper levels in both your freshwater and saltwater aquariums, the
Copper Test Kit from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals measures both free and chelated copper levels. The kit contains 90 tests and tests from 0 to 4 parts per million.
safe from the start
The safest way to avoid introducing heavy metals to your aquarium water is to always use RO water or a RO unit. The
Coralife Pure-Flo II RO Unit is a 3-stage reverse osmosis unit that includes a faucet adapter for easy use with your existing water supply. This unit will remove up to 99% of impurities to produce clean, pure water that will be free of heavy metals and safe for your aquarium.
