water changes for 5.5 for king

[katrina89]

I have a king and 2 mystery snails... what water changes should i be doing...

[Sapphoira]

What size of tank do you have? Do you have plants? is it filtered?

[shellieca]

Originally Posted by katrina89

I have a king and 2 mystery snails... what water changes should i be doing...

Are you running a filter? How long has your tank been running? I ask because if it's new& you're running a filter you'll need to test your water for ammonia, nitrites, & nitrates. That'll tell how often to do a water change. For example I have a 10g tank I'm fish in cycling, I test my water daily using an API Master Test kit, if my ammonia is .5 or higher I do a 50% water change, when the nitrites are .5 or higher I did a 50% water change. The cycling process is complete when the ammo & nitrites are zero & nitrates are 20 or less. On the tanks that are cycled I do a weekly 50% water change. If you're not running a filter I'd say at least 2 50% water changes weekly & making sure to vacuum the substrate. Also the rule of thumb for the snails is 2.5g per snail so your tank is going to have a higher bio load than it probably should which could cause you problems.

[katrina89]

I have a filter and a moss ball but I plan on getting some more plants but i just want some that float or something... and yea i did the research for the mystery snails... and unfortunately i read the wrong info on the wrong sites... saying they needed only a 1g... and i was having an algae problem so i ran out and got them... im willing to do the water changes tho... ive been doing a 50 % and then a 100% a week... bec i dont have a water testing kit yet or a gravel vacuum... but im tryin to fig out what to do in order to cycle bec i plan on atleast getting these things by xmass... the vacuum prolly sooner tho

[katrina89]

oo its a 5.5g