Fish Girl

Someone on another thread said I should do frequent water changes with my new tank because there might not be enough bacteria to support the waste of six fish. How frequent, and how much should I change at one time? Thank-you for your time.

Marc

Well, if your sig doesn't lie - you already have an overstocked tank. I can tell the bacteria are crying right now

You will need to do pretty frequent water changes.. Find out a safe amount where you can change a relatively large 30% or so without lowering the water level so much as to harm the fish. Or you could do several changes for a week or two for it to balance of about 1 gallon then just do a normal cleaning.

What water conditioners do you use, how much do you have in the way of decorations, etc..?

Fish Girl

I use Aqua Plus and Cycle to condition the water and for decorations I have a few rocks, some plastic plants and a live plant.

Jon

you should prolly try to not use water conditioners most people dont like them and they dont work very well... do small daily water changes (10-20%) and wait out untill your tank cycles.

if you dont have one already buy a testing kit ( pH / amonia / nitrite / nitrate is all you need)

if you amonia gets above 2 do some water changes ... once you see nitrite keep up the good work and wait it out... after a few weeks you should get these readings

amonia-0 ppm
nitrite- 0ppm
nitrate <10ppm

gl with ure tank and remember not to change your filter or to vac your gravel until you get good readings