are you sure that.being that attentive is necessary? i've been successful at sea and fresh water for over 20 years and have never changed.water.so much during a cycle. a test kit is really only a must for salt tanks. fresh is so easy that as long as he doesn't over populate during the first cycling month, he should be just fine. why are you telling him to change water.so, so much? he needs the amonia laden water for bateria growth. that canister filter in.that tank is going to limit the amount of bateria anyway since it is closed and limited on space for the amount of media he needs for that size of tank. i've never had to, been advised to, or have seen anyone change water as much as recommended here? i'm not saying it is wrong. i'd just like to know what the thought is and if it is realistic in a fresh tank of it's size. you shouldn't apply all the recommendation to ANY tank. keep in mind the volume and the reasons for steps and logically apply rules. tank volume will be a great factor in how you start a tank. everyone will have different opinions on how all this is done and especially on maintainning tanks. while most everyone is correct, there are quite a few streams of thought on how to keep a tank. i just.warn you not to be too anal with a fresh/water tank. to much hands in tank is very bad. size the filtration to your volume, then double it, and the volume of media your filtration can bear. just don't flip out and add too many fish in the first month. plants will need a good co2 source of they will not survive. don't use food as your source of decomposing biological matter to generate amonia during cycling. let the few, very few, fish in the tank do their thing. even if you did get used bio media from someone, you need to cycle the tank water before adding more life. fresh water is easy. your tank is awsome. love the substrate. your tank will be great when done. but add more filtration. i recognize the inlet hose to your canister filter. thise alone are aweful. you will be cleanning your tank all the time. add another form of filtration. add power heads to move the water towards the inlet. the slate will get a ton of debris settling in and on that. keep water aggitated with that kind of substrate. fish will love it also.
really, just read as much as you can about WHY maintenance is required. understand the chemical ballances required. understand each.fish and what they require. understand HOW plants grow underwater and what they need to grow. once you have a knowledge footing you will just know how and when to act on.your aquarium. listen to/people here, but really just research the physics and you'd be much better off. many ways to do this, but you have to stick with one method. when people give you advice, ask WHY a step is taken. it is very simple and extremely LOW maintenance. i do one water change a year roughly on my planted tank, and NEVER on my salt reef tank. all i do is add water due to evaporation, change the mechanical media every three to 6 months and feed the plants (CO2 & food) and fish. add clearfast every now and then but poly filter polishes the water on its own.
godd luck buddy. it's a very rewarding/hobby.
I think everybody has said their piece now..i had 3 x mollies in my tank after 5 days after setting up...they didn't make it to day 3! my test strips said the water was absolutly fine...they tested it in the LFS and it had 0.25ppm ..not much...but in 2 days??? Plus they really suffered...its awful to watch. Whether they are "pets" or not.....they are still living creatures and should be treated as such, you wouldnt wanna swim in the local pool if it was full with sewage...so they shouldnt either. THE END
Please don't get the test strips. They are notoriously inaccurate and this could be the life or death of your fish. As for water changes, while doing a fish in cycle, you will be a water changing machine. If you don't have a test kit, you should be doing a 50%+ change a day with temp matched, dechlorinated water. After you are cycled, 25% per week should be good with a larger change once a month. Never use chlorinated water in your tank or wash your filter in tap water. The chlorine will kill your beneficial bacteria.
