I just got a new filter because the other one stopped working. now i have a baby oscar in a tank with a new filter (it restarted the cycling process).
Now my ammonia is at 1.0 i usually change about 20-50% at this point BUT! everytime i have done this i kill fish. i dont want him to get ammonia poisoning and i dont want him to die because of the water change.
Now the reason im here is because i have a friend with 5 tanks with several different fish he told me to stop checking the levels the only reason im considering this is because his fish do EXTREMELY well.
So my question is do a water change or leave it alone?
thanx in advance

I would do a 25% water change and make sure to add a tap water conditioner like stress-coat and then add some stress-zyme or another product that can help the biological aspects of your filter. An amonia reading of 1 is not good and is only going to get worse. What are your other readings and how big is your aquarium?

Hi and welcome to ofl.com.Do you're water change as jelima said but add ammo lock,this turns ammonia into a non-toxic form so it wont harm youre fish.It's to be added every two days and then a water change on the 7th day.But don't forget you're stress zyme to help you're filter on it's way.

When you do a water change you are diluting the fish waste so its a good thing. Your friend may never test and everything is working for him because his levels are fine or if his levels are high his fish havent got any problems yet. Water testing will give you an early warning if your water quality isnt the best. I wish i had tested my water when i first started keeping fish!!! Add stress zyme and do daily water changes until your test results show your water is good. Water changes dont kill fish, high levels of ammonia, nitrite or nitrate do

Can you borrow some of the bio filter (the tubes or small rocks in the filter) from his filter to put in your filter. This will kick start the cycling process and if you get enough may even instantly cycle the tank. If you do borrow so bio filter keep it wet when transporting it and dont hang around when moving it to your filter

water changes can only do yr tangood so de clorinate the water and do sum water changes test every couple of days and you should be sweet