When should I do my next water change?

I did a big water change before adding corys to my new tank.

I tested the water this morning:
.25ppm of ammonia
0ppm of nitrites
5ppm of nitrates

At what point should I do another change?
How much do you usually change when there are fish in the tank? 25%?

Do I need to clean/change the filter any time soon?

 

I would change the water as soon as you detect Ammonia. This can harm them pretty quickly.
I change 30-40% of my water every week. And I clean my HOB usually when it starts looking gross, but most rinse out the filter media in tank water every WC or if you have a canister filter once a month or so.

 

I would change the water as soon as you detect Ammonia. This can harm them pretty quickly.
I change 30-40% of my water every week. And I clean my HOB usually when it starts looking gross, but most rinse out the filter media in tank water every WC or if you have a canister filter once a month or so.

Ok, thanks. I will do that right away!
And I'll rinse the filter media. Thank you!

One more thing- what if the water I add into the tank is 1 or 2 degrees warmer or cooler. Will that harm them?

 

Ok, thanks. I will do that right away!
And I'll rinse the filter media. Thank you!

Hope they are enjoying their new tank. Just keep checking ammonia levels until they start reading 0. The bb will adapt pretty fast so it shouldn’t take too long.

 

I did a big water change before adding corys to my new tank.

I tested the water this morning:
.25ppm of ammonia
0ppm of nitrites
5ppm of nitrates

At what point should I do another change?
How much do you usually change when there are fish in the tank? 25%?

Do I need to clean/change the filter any time soon?

I do 50 percent water changes every week

 

Are the corys the first fish? Is the tank cycled? .25 ammonia could be a few things. Could be from adding the new fish filters have to build up bacteria to eat the new load. And it could just be the test kit is giving a false reading. Next there could be ammonia in your tap water. Have you checked your tap? Did you add prime?

 

One more thing- what if the water I add into the tank is 1 or 2 degrees warmer or cooler. Will that harm them?

No, they'll be fine.

 

Thanks everyone. I just did a water change.
I couldn't get all of the little food pieces up. Some places are really hard to reach. I was also a little worried that I might vacuum up one of the corys. They were all swimming around nearby- I was expecting them to be afraid and hide.

I did use tweezers and tried to get more up that way, too. But there is still some food hanging around.

 

Get a turkey baster that way during your WC you can blow any waste or uneaten food towards tour gravel vac. Uneaten food will cause ammonia.

 

Thanks everyone. I just did a water change.
I couldn't get all of the little food pieces up. Some places are really hard to reach. I was also a little worried that I might vacuum up one of the corys. They were all swimming around nearby- I was expecting them to be afraid and hide.

I did use tweezers and tried to get more up that way, too. But there is still some food hanging around.

Also just a tip, if you are having food left by your fish(though they could be eating less due to being in a new tank) then maybe feed them less. Less food is better than too much food.

 

Once your tank is established and your cycle is done, you will want to do water changes every week or every other week, and the amount you change depends on the bio load. You want to change enough water so that you get 0 to 5 nitrate reading.

Also you dont have to rinse your filter media every water change. You want the filter to build lots of beneficial bacteria to keep the ammonia and nitrates at 0. When you do rinse the filter media, use tank water in a bucket because tap water could kill the bacteria you need.

 

Get a turkey baster that way during your WC you can blow any waste or uneaten food towards tour gravel vac. Uneaten food will cause ammonia.

What a great idea. Thanks!!

Also just a tip, if you are having food left by your fish(though they could be eating less due to being in a new tank) then maybe feed them less. Less food is better than too much food.

Thanks!
I had 3 of them nibbling on one half of a wafer I gave them this morning. How do I know that they are indeed getting enough food?

I'm going to feed them once in the morning, once in the evening- is that enough or too much? I guess I'll switch off and feed shrimp pellets tonight.

Once your tank is established and your cycle is done, you will want to do water changes every week or every other week, and the amount you change depends on the bio load. You want to change enough water so that you get 0 to 5 nitrate reading.

Also you dont have to rinse your filter media every water change. You want the filter to build lots of beneficial bacteria to keep the ammonia and nitrates at 0. When you do rinse the filter media, use tank water in a bucket because tap water could kill the bacteria you need.

Thanks very much for the advice!

 

I feed once a day, and you generally only want to feed what they can eat in 10 minutes or so. Start with very small amounts until you get a better idea of how much each time. If they eat all of it you can always give them more.

Edit: I just saw your other post, with the pictures. I'm interested in what others think, but I believe that piece of wafer is large enough to feed 12-15 panda corys.

 

Oh wow, and that was just a half of a wafer. I think I put two whole wafers into the tank, spreading them out in pieces because I was worried they wouldn't notice them if they were in one spot. Would you say to just break 1 wafer and put it in one spot in the tank.

 

As long as all two wafers gets eaten then stick with that otherwise drop it to one and continue to break them up in various areas that’s exactly what I do but our 20 ong has about 15 green cities so I drop a couple more than two broken up ones more like 7-8

 

I have 10 cories and usually just break up one wafer and drop it into different areas of the tank. Don’t worry about them not finding it, they will eventually! Though my Hikari shrimp wafers are small, but the spirulina ones are huge so I only do half of that.
I usually feed twice a day but do smaller feedings each time.
I always feed just enough to make me wonder if I fed them enough. Then I know at least I didn’t over feed- if that makes sense.