I know we have a few aquium lovers on here, questions....

I bought my first setup recently. It's 29 gallon fresh water. I've read 2 books cover to cover and also read up on the internet. The main thing i've found is there is way more oppinion than anything else. I just added fish yesterday.

My question is....
How often do you test your water? I see people who are successful across the board with vastly different methods. Some never test it and just rely on experience (which i don't have but also feel you can really "know" what is going on). Some people only test it when buying new fish. Some people test it when buying new fish, when they think they are done cycling, every few months. Some everyday.

My problem right now is i don't want to spend the money on a test kit if i don't have to. It's $30 so it's no biggie, it's just that it seems fine to do it less often than "experts" say. I can get it done for free but if i'm constantly driving back and forth to the store, i'll spend that in gas and don't have time. I'll also end up spending more money just being there lol.


What is your method and what success rate have you had with it? I have my own ideas but i'm new and most defineatly not headstrong. I wouldn't even mind everyday, i just would rather wait accouple weeks until i get paid. Obviously, this is a critical time though.

I just replace the water in my tank completely like once every 2 years and change the filter whenever it gets to the point where water can barely go through it..lol. Fish doing fine, had em a couple years and i got an algae eater thats now 1/2 the length of my 10gal. tank. I do take a cup and change about 1/3 of the water in it every 6 months

here is the thing.....if this is ur first ever tank then imo it will be a bit of work. For the first few months you will def need to be checking ur water about once a week to make sure everything is going well. If you dont want to get the water testing kit any petco or petsmart will test ur water for free.

one thing i will def recommend that you get is something called "cycle". it comes in a bottle and what it does is just make sure the nitrates and nitrites in the tank are broken down and it helps the good bacteria in the tank to grow. Also a little beginner tip is that when you get ur first set of fish (which u have already done....ithink) is to get "hardy" fish that can withstand many different kinds of water since u are now starting up the tank. Also know that gold fish tanks are the hardest ones to take care of because the goldfish are "dirty" fish and changing the water and vaccuming the gravel will be needed constantly.

After a few months the tank will begin to mature and u will have all the good bacteria in the tank and u will not have to change/vacccum as much and it will become much easier.

hope this helps a bit

Do weekly 10-15 percent water changes. Top-offs will be necessary in-between. I don't test my water now since the tank is established. As far as a test kit, I use API Freshwater Master Test Kits.
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754034
In the drop down box choose "Freshwater Master Test Kit". The price should be 22.99, print that off and have the store do a petsmart.com online price match. It's a pretty big savings.

The "cycling" only happens in the beginning, takes anywhere from 3 weeks to 2 months. That's the only time I really test is when a tank is cycling or my fish begin to act weird.

Thanks everyone for the responses.

What are you using to cycle the tank?

5 red eye tetras

What are your final plans with the tank? What kinds of fish?

Not totally sure. Short term (next few months)-buy some more tetra's because they seem like a good compromise between easy to deal with and look cool (to me). Not sure exactly what type. I'd say 12-16 fish total. Then probably buy a lot of plants.

Right now, i'm thinking that it will be inbetween a "regular" and "planted aquirium". So i'll need atleast another light and probably CO2.


This could all change though, being that it's my first tank, i want to keep it simple but appealing. Since i have alot of non-aquatic plants, it just seems it would be cool to have a lot of aquatic ones too. The flip side is a few of my friends have some pretty cool tanks and have been into it for awhile which makes me want to go further or in a different direction. So, no set plans, my main goal is to not end up with a bunch of fish i won't like in a long time.