When: 1st water change, lights on??

[Playdope]

A few newb questions.....

When do I know to do my first waterchange?
I am testing 0 for ammonia, nitrite, and my nitrates are pretty low (I need a new test kit, the one I have now reads the lowest at 10ppm, judging by the color I am way below that.

When should I start putting my lights on? Should I start with a full photoperiod - or do I need to gradually increase the ammount of time the lights are on?

Thanks,
Jon

 

[tazdevil]

How long has the tank been up? I am assuming that you've gone thru the cycle already with those readings. Get in the habit of partial water changes every 2 weeks then. Unless you have any light requiring inhabitants at this point, I'd use a shorter photoperiod until you do to help keep down the nuisance algaes.

 

[Playdope]

I was planning on 15 gal changes every week.

Jon