how often

you made me ink

SAVED YOUR LIFE!
Sep 25, 2005
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Houston, Texas
i have two 10 gallons setup ive had them setup for awhile and i was wondering how often i should be checking on the ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites?? :huh:
 
once i get my tanks going and everything settles, i actually hardly test the waters, as long as i keep the cleaning and feeding routine nothing should change much unless i add fish or change anything else around. i only check when i see the fish acting differently.
 
According to the most sacred rule of the thumb you have to do your water test in a weekly basis in a stablished tank. However, I test mine when I do the water changes, which is every other week.

Regarding to blitzen's post, if you wait until your fish start acting different, you'll have lost some precious time to correct the problem. When a fish changes its behaviour, the water problem arrived many days before-
 
I do the same as blitzen. It's been a while, but the fish act differently immediatly after a problem. It's a matter of knowing exactly how your fish act. Even a slight disinterest in food and I check ammonia and nitrite and observe all other fish.
 
I usually test my water every other water change. Or when problems or when a change in the fishes behaviuor occurs. Problems not including fish being Certain types of algae. That's pretty much it.
 
i wait until color changes, different feed patterns etc. i have a routine and the fish knows it so i notice things right away; i dont wait till the fin rot consumes half the fish or is totally covered with ick.

but if all you have is the 2 10s its not too hard to do weekly tests with the changes. i on the other hand do about 150 gallons worth of water changes 5 times a week. no time to do that many tests or afford all the chemicals to check every aspect of my water. i also dont lose too many fish, the last one that died on me was a 1 inch cichlid that wouldnt take all the stress of getting shipped from the east coast and then resent to my house only 2 days after arriving on the west coast.
 
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