water changes

[619 Fish GOD]

how often should i do waterchanges (read my sig)
my tank is furished with bogwood and plants my tank is 3 weeks old on sunday
(oz time)

 

[Teelie]

At most every two weeks, about 20% of the water.

 

[Gunnie]

If your tank is cycled, I would recommend about 25% per week as a minimum. You can also check your nitrate levels to determine when to do a water change. Most people recommend that when your tank reaches 10 or 20 ppm on nitrates, that it is time for a water change. I have heard rams (at least the blue ones) are a little delicate and might need a water change closer to the 10 ppm on the nitrates. I don't have any rams, and most of my fish are pretty hardy. Nonetheless I usually do a 40% to 50% water change/gravel vac every week, and my fish don't get sick.

 

[sylvia]

Is this tank already cycled (fishless)? If not, you have put too many fish in it too quickly. 3 weeks is not adequate time for a tank to cycle usualy. This means that if you want your current fish to survive, you'll need to test your water for ammonia. nitrite and nitrates, then you'll probably find very high levels of nitrites or, possibly, ammonia, (ammonia will have probably already been converted but maybe not) and will need to change 10% of your water every few days to keep the fish in good condition.

If your tank was already cycled, I'd say one 20% water change per week should be adequate but test your water for nitrates and make sure the water is changed when they get too high. Plants help keep these down and can allow water changes to happen every couple of weeks in a tank that is not over-stocked.

I'm not sure but I think the fish you plan to add would make your tank over-stocked so be careful.

Basically, get some test kits and monitor your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. When they get too high, change the water. Unfortunately, doing this while a tank is still cycling will slow down the cycling process but will also save innocent fishy lives...

 

[619 Fish GOD]

my pet shop checked the water and everything was fine,also i dont own ammioa or nitra test kit but i do a ph which is 7.0 also i have been feeding 2 a day bad idea )