Water Change

[spanky]

How often should you do a water change on a 10gal with a filter and live plants.

 

[ian]

the best answer is almost always with the more the water change the better.
I recommand each week once with 25%-50% water change.

 

[joan]

Well, if you've got just one or two small newts in an almost full 10 gallon with a filter and live plants and it's cycled, I'd say every other week. You should get a test kit. Once your tank is cycled, you'll have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and then you'll have to test for nitrates, and when they get high, over 20ppm or so, then do a water change.

 

[spanky]

Are all test kits about the same or can you recommend one.

 

[edward]

I prefer the dry tab test kits as they are a little more accurate than the dip strips and/or liquid reagents. Just make sure to use the same tubes for the same tests to prevent any misreadings.

Ed

 

[ali]

I don't know much about the accuracy, although I would trust Ed's judgement on that. Before reading his post I would have recommended Jungle 5 in 1 test strips. The package of them is about $10 and you can normally get them at Wal-Mart but def. at a pet store. I like those because they test everything and they're easy to use.
I didn't know that they weren't quite as accurate though.

 

[jeff]

Strips always leave you with a high level of unknown levels, but they can at least tell you when something like amonnia is way off or nitrites are too high. However, I agree that the time it takes to do a complete water test using the old way is still much better. Also, when in doubt, do a water change.

 

[spanky]

I am going today and look for a test kit. When I test I should have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and if the nitrate level is over 20ppm change about 50% of the water.