Water changes?

i am so confused. ive always done a water change and vacume to my tanks once a week. but when i went to my local pet store and picked up my panda oranda they said to do a water change only once a month. they said by doing a weekly clean will cause stress on my fish. i have several filters and bio sponges (not wheels) and my water quality is always good. but what should i do? water change once a week or monthly? im just so use to doing the water changes on a weekly basis and tomorrow is the day i do them. plez help!

Water changes?spyware removal

When I get new fish, I stay away from doing a water change for a bout a week, or I do a water change right before I add the new fish, as I don't want to stress out and already stressed fish.

That being said, weekly water changes of 10-15% or so is great! there is no problem with doing that!

I know if i went a month without cleaning my tank, it would look horrible!

Water changes?virus protection software

Once a week is actually what is recommended by most hobbiests. If you under stock your tank you can get away with 2 times a month, but you vacuum you gravel every week, right? I bet you vacuum up lots of gunk. Imagine a whole month's worth!

The cleaner their water is, the better. You don't want to cause undue stress, but unless you're shaking up the tank, removing stuff, splashing new water in, etc, they shouldn't be very stressed. I always give my fish a treat of brine shrimp or some such after a water change; they know to expect it and follow the gravel vac around. The angelfish even try to eat the particles that they can see going up into the gravel vac. Silly fish. All in all, my fish are not very stressed by the water change.