"~ jan" wrote in message
...
I respectfully beg to differ.
snip

The thread on to test or not to test happens a lot on
rec.aquaria.freshwater.misc. It seems the two schools of thought bang heads
quite often. I can say from my experience with a 55 gallon
aquarium...testing is not needed. When I first started I did constant water
changes, tests, etc. Fish loses were not uncommon for me, even though my
water was perfect.

When I finally just left the tank alone, and let it run, things got better.
My filters stayed super clean, my fish were happy. Then I got feeling guilty
that I was doing them harm, because of one of these threads. I started
testing, water changes, siphoning the substrate, etc. I lost three fish in a
month and a half, including my gar (still very upset/****ed about that).

So now I am back to...leave it alone. Top off water when needed. Change
filters when they are getting gross looking. Occasionally siphon the
substrate when it looks gross, if it ever does. Fish is again crystal clear,
and fish are happy.

Disclaimer: This post is not a scientific analysis. Just my 2 cents.

BV.