# Water change question



## 94NDTA (Jul 14, 2003)

I have had my virgin 30gal tank/filter/water for 5 weeks. I currently have 6 neons, 5 guppy fry, and one 3 inch pleco. I just bought a water test kit that has pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate test. What should my ammonia/nitrite/nitrate/pH be at, and if it's not at the correct level what should I do to correct it. Is about 10 gal. too much for every 2 weeks, or does that sound right. When doing water changes, do I add new tap water then water treatment? Or do I add it seperately in another bucket? Thanks in advance!


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## piranahman (Aug 13, 2003)

check out supernates webpage..he has all the water parameters,
http://24.222.13.130/nate/tank.html. i think.

basically your fish produce waste, this produces ammonia, bacteria develops and eats the ammonia. these bacteria fart a lot and produce nitrite. new bacteria come in who eat nitrite. these bacteria fart and produce nitrate...You get rid of the nitrate by doing water changes ( me personally i change about 20% every 7 to 10 days)..

with this in mind your tank has cycled when your ammonia is about 0ppm. nitites 0/ 0.25 ppm, nitates below 10ppm. ph is dependant on area and what you got in your tank. as long as it stays constant ( mines at 6.5)

hope this helps im quite new to all this but im sure theres more guys on here who can answer everything


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## 94NDTA (Jul 14, 2003)

Thanks for the link!!! What about the water conditioner?


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## piranahman (Aug 13, 2003)

if u mean the dechlorinator stuff i always put it in the bucket b4 adding.. it works straight away though so dont think it makes too much difference


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## Honda99_300ex (Apr 18, 2003)

I like to dechlorinate the water in a seperate bucket, that way you don't risk anything


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## 94NDTA (Jul 14, 2003)

Allright, so I should get like a 10 gal. bucket then.


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## piranahman (Aug 13, 2003)

nahhh...i actually use one of those storage containers. fill it wiv water, add ur stuff and then syphon it in. u obviously want to get a vacuum syphon hingy to clean ur gravel when u do water changes


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