Fish List for 55 Gallon

Ok, here's where I'll get in trouble :shock:

Most people say to either treat each bucket or treat the tank first before adding your water.

I have always just refilled the whole tank, then added my dechlor. According to most, this is the wrong way to do it. But heck, there's even been times I've forgotten the dechlor altogether :roll:

 

I know a lot of people (myself included, but I don't have chlorine in my water) who will just hook a hose to the faucet and fill the tank directly from there. They will either just add all the dechlorinator in the beginning or after they've added half the water.

As for how much water to change, 25% per week is a good start, but you really need to just watch your nitrAte and you'll eventually figure out how much and how often you need to do water change it to keep it below 20ppm.

-Chelle

 

Do you reccomend any certain test kits for nitrates/chlorine?

 

The main tests you need are ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte. pH, KH, and GH are nice, but you don't really need them. Personally, I use Aquarium Pharmaceuticals liquid tests.

As for chlorine, most cities have chlorine and/or chloramine in their water so you'll need dechlorinator. I live in a small town and recently found out the whole town uses well water. Plus we plan on installing a water filter soon and among other things, it's supposed to remove chlorine. Out of curiosity, I bought a test for chlorine & chloramine and that's how I found out I don't have any in my water so I don't need to use dechlorinator. You can go ahead and buy the test, but chances are, you're going to have chlorine & chloramine.

-Chelle