Now ive always read on numerous forums, the importance of regularly testing the water for ammonia, ph, nitrate and nitrites...

I understand all of this..

But my questions is, how regular is regular??

(besides testing the water immediately due to an emergency i.e cloudy water, suspected HITH etc..)

Should i be testing the water everyday??

or

Should i just test the water everytime i do my weekly water changes??

How often do you guys do it??

After your aquarium has been set up for a few months/years you tend to get used to the water chemistry. You normally know what your nitrate level will be like at the end of the week. However, weekly water tests won't hurt at all. I don't think there is any need to do it every day in a mature aquarium. In a lot of cases, your fish will tell you if the water isn't quite right. Laboured breathing, hanging at the surface, sign of disease etc. If you add fish, a specially large fish, then its always a good idea to test the water more regularly for the first week or two.

If you want to check your water after each change, by all means do so. It will certainly tell you how much you have reduced the nitrate by. It will also tell you if you've upset the biological filter at all, if this happens, you will notice the ammonia nitrite readings.

Thanks for that.

I do it monthly, more often if i've gotten a new fish:)

i do weekly water tests so i can pick up in advance if sumthing is going wrong with my water.

generally if your tank is cycled and you keep to a strict maintanance schedule then all stays pretty well unless you add more fish plants ect to yr water.

Thanks fo your imput guys, i was just worried a little cause i checked my water last sunday and the ph was perfect sitting at 7.0, i checked it last night and it dropped heaps (6.0).

Any advice on what couldve caused this?? I did a 25% water changed right before i tested the water and after the water change the water went cloudy..

Help pls.