siphoning substrate.

PhilipPhish

I use standard aquarium gravel. I don't know anything of my nitrate, ammonia, ect. and I've never used a testing kit before....

Chesherca

Ahhh, okay! Well most people on here will say that the test kit is a MUST-HAVE for any aquarist! It's really important to be able to tell exactly what's going on in that water - especially while you're learning - and this will be a HUGE help to you in figuring out how much water to change out weekly - and help you determine if you're getting enough yuck out without using the vaccume on your gravel.

PhilipPhish

I will most definitely invest in one! I just need to talk my mom into letting me do what I want with my fish.
She thinks she's a "fish expert" because she has been keeping fish for 13 years. But she currently has a 75 gallon with a tiger Oscar, 2 common plecos, and no heater.... so I guess she's just full of it most of the time.

Chesherca

Haha! That will likely be a challenge! There's keeping fish, and keeping fish RIGHT. . .and sometimes mothers can be notoriously difficult to convince to take advice from their children - especially when they happen to be telling them that they're WRONG!!! When I started my tanks, my own mom gave me some of her old books - they were SO outdated. . . things change quickly in the underwater world, and new things are being learned every day!

PhilipPhish

Yeah, I have noticed that!
I found books in my library about fish keeping, and they all seemed kinda off on some of the information.

I'm going to be doing a lot of babysitting, so I'm going to have to save up all of my money and go try and find some water testing kits.

Chesherca

Good luck! And until you get there, most fish shops will test your water for free - at least the ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite levels. Make sure they give you actual NUMBERS, though - don't leave with an 'it's fine' :)