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Ok first I know you are going to hate this but I was given a RES from a friend who could no longer take care of him it's a mature RES best I could do at the moment was a 20G tank I still will be getting a 75G tank for it but having said that this is my first time with a canister filter I have a Penn plax cascade 1000 coming in tomorrow being a little unsure I ordered the 2 pack of pro-carb filters and the pack of ceramic rings, I wonder after getting it set up how often would I have to change the water then?

I picked up a test strip today and my results were

Nitrate: 20 ppm
Nitrite: 5 ppm

I'm wondering how soon after using the filter would I notice the water to clear up?

If your filter and pump is good, you should be fine with changing the water every 2 weeks, but that depends on a lot of things. Just check your parameters regularly and you will know! We all have different routine that suits us better.

About your water clearing up, it also depends on your set up, turtle and tank. Ever since I've upgraded my tank, I never had nothing but clear water so I can't give you precise infos.

PokePony wrote:If your filter and pump is good, you should be fine with changing the water every 2 weeks, but that depends on a lot of things. Just check your parameters regularly and you will know! We all have different routine that suits us better.

About your water clearing up, it also depends on your set up, turtle and tank. Ever since I've upgraded my tank, I never had nothing but clear water so I can't give you precise infos.

So the media I have is fine? I wonder if my bio rings should be in the 2nd stage or the last stage or it dosen't matter?

Well the filter is installed really easy to setup I'm sure it's going to take a few to get clear but it's clearing up as I can see so far.

I ended up using the directional spout

Here's a setup recommendation: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=30145#p288938

Yeah that’s pretty much how I set mine up

Great, I’m sure he will love it.

I brought the wrong test strips for tank testing but after 24 hours of the filter running my Nitrte has went up from 0 ppm to 3.0 ppm I wonder if that's because of the bio rings don't have bacteria yet on them? I did add about 4-5 gallons more water due to the raise in water level with the new tank topper which might of had something to do with it?

I'd just give it more time, but test strip type kits aren't usually accurate. If you have a good municipal water supply, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

What should you suggest I test with?

I don't think it's necessary to test if things are running smoothly. If you feel a need to test, the API Freshwater test kit is pretty good.

I have the same filter with the recommended media set up from this forum. And a 75 gallon tank. I’ve never even tested my water. It’s been a few months now and it’s always crystal clear. Love it. 1-2 week 25% changes and 50% every 1-1.5 months. I have kids so it’s basically when I get time haha. But never have I said “ew the tank needs cleaning”

How long until I need to change the filter? I just came back from my vaction my poor RES was scared of me at first every time I came over to the tank she tried to swim away right into the side of the tank but after awhile she got used to me again.. finally allows me to rub her head.

It depends on the media setup and filtration:turtle ratio. Usually a month is fine... maybe stretch it to six-eight weeks.

That’s not bad I think I might switch to the spray bar do to the fact the tank is a little small so when feeding if she misses the food it gets knocked around by the water flow.