TropicalGrimmish

I have a 10g tank with UGF with powerhead & topfin 20 power filter,my reading are good,should i vac when i see & think its dirty, or when reading high nitrate??

Butterfly

Vacuum when you do your weekly water change. If it's a fairly new tank then vacuum only 1/2 of the tank each week but it it's over a couple of months old vacuum each week.
UGF's tend to pull a lot of stuff under them so vacuum deep. hope that helps.
Carol

TropicalGrimmish

do you really have to change weekly?how about bi weekly??

Butterfly

Some people do water changes bi-weekly without a problem usually in larger tanks. A small tank is harder to maintain than a larger one and will have problems faster than a larger one this is why I feel it's important for you to do weekly changes. also the UGF will pull a lot of stuff under the plates, and while the bacteria needed is growing yes the waste still builds up and stays in the tank. That is another reason it will be important for you to vacuum weekly.
I have large and small tanks and do weekly water changes and substrate vacuums, I feel this is better for my fish. I have HOB filters which are rinsed at every other water change so the waste is physically removed from the tank.
Carol

TropicalGrimmish

i take it i prep my water with prime b4 i put new water??does water have to sit or just mix b4 replacing?

TropicalGrimmish

i went ahead and did a about 40% water change, not as hard as i thought, took me about 15 min to do everything.

Butterfly

There ya go! good job!
Carol

TropicalGrimmish

after my water change, when should i test my water? im also a littie concerned one of my cory's were going crazy swiming every where rapidly & then he stop & was breathing fast?? water was fairly the same temperature as the tanks water, could it have been"prime"..