i have a question

[lil shant]

well i do a water change monthly and i add aquarium salt and easy balance and can i like make the tyme less and do a water change every two weeks and add the same water conditioner and aquarium salt and so if there is something else i can use plz tell me

[kc5gvn]

Hi lil shant, The reason for doing water changes is to remove built up nitrAtes from the tank. Nitrate readings should be less than 20 on a freshwater tank. Testing for nitrAtes will be a more accurate indicator of when you need to do water changes. The more fish that are added to the tank the faster the nitrAtes will build up in the tank. The more you feed your fish the faster the nitrAtes will build up. When replacing water only add enough salt for the amount of water being replaced. Salt does not dissapate out of the water. PH buffers lose their buffering capability over time. If you are changing your water weekly you probably only need to add enough PH buffer for the amount of water being replaced. If you are changing your water on a monthly basis then you probably need to add enough PH buffer for the entire tank. Here are a couple of examples based on a 30 gallon tank.

WEEKLY WATER CHANGE
Replace 6 gallons (20%) of water. Add enough salt for 6 gallons. Add enough PH buffer for 6 gallons.

MONTHLY WATER CHANGE
Replace 6 gallons (20%) of water. Add enough salt for 6 gallons. Add enough PH buffer for 30 gallons.

Please bear in mind that the above examples are based on a 20% water change on a 30 gallon tank. If you are only changing your water monthly, you probably need to do closer to a 50% water change. Again, this all depends on how much and how often you feed your fish and how many fish are in the tank. The most accurate method of how much water to change and how often is still by monitoring the nitrAte levels in your tank.

[Trickster]

A.K.A more fish + more food = more nitrate = more frequent water changes.

How many fish do u have?