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I have had my 29 gal FW tank up for about 5-6 weeks now and I did a strip test ( i know its not as good as chemical but its all i got.) with these readings i was wondering if its time for a water change, and if its completely done cycling.

nitrate- about 30-40
nitrite- 0
hardness- between 100 to 120
alkalinity- not quite at zero... has a small green tint
PH between 7.2 and 7.6

is it time for a water change, or time to add anything? im concerned about the alkalinity. I have 1 corie, 2 angles 2 dwarf gouramis and 3 cherry barbs, i have had them and they are all healthy.

yes its time for a water change and you should do anywhere from 15%-25% a week. the alkalinity is nothing as that doesn't deal with the cycling process.

I'd say very much time for a water change. I try to keep my nitrAtes between 10 and 20 ppm. Should be done cycling, didn't see an ammonia number....but with that ammount of nitrAte it looks like you're done.

^_^

Ok thanks
So say I do a 15% water change. If i remove 9 2-quart pitchers, and add the same I shoudl be good, right? Do you mix it all in a bucket with water treatment, or just add the treatment to 1 pitcher and add the rest of the quarts in sepratly?

Best to get a good sized bucket for that tank. If you have a gravel vac, vacum the debris( like fish waste and left over food) from the gravel. You will suck out water with the vac. Do this until you remove about 20%-25% of the water. Then mix in new water that is the same temp. PRETREAT the water with conditioner in the bucket first BEFORE adding to the aquarium, chlorine is toxic to the fish. It should say how much conditioner to use on the bottle. Hope it helps. Also the bucket or whatever you use, make sure that it is strictly for fish only and you aren't using it for anything else. You can get good sized buckets cheap at dollar stores.



[span class="edited"][Edited by 2004-09-07 18:12][/span]

[span class="edited"][Edited by 2004-09-07 18:13][/span]

Ok thanks buttloads