man im so glad i found this sight.

heres the question i have a 55g tank with 2 lg gf, a oranda,an lion head..side question i believe my oranda is a pearscale oranda,,is that a breed,or am i just lucky enough to have one that almost looks like he glows??

i do a partial water change once a week,an about every 2 weeks i change my filter an my carbon. now i dont rinse my sponge infront of the filters with tap water, i rinse it with the water coming out of my syphin hose.

from what ive read on here,,,,should i just rinse ,my filters an not change my carbon to help keep the good bacteria??

thanks

You should rinse out the foam in the old water you just took out of the tank.
Just sqeeze it a couple times till you see the original color of the foam. There will
be bacteria still in side and they wont die as long as its tank water you're rinsing it with. Tap water contains chlorine which would destroy those necessary bacterias
in the foam.
The carbon basically removes the smells. My brother rinses out his carbon too.
I just replace it a new bag made from my wife's old nylons and new carbon.
Good luck with your fishiesl!!!!

"i do a partial water change once a week, and about every 2 weeks i change my filter an my carbon. now i dont rinse my sponge infront of the filters with tap water, i rinse it with the water coming out of my syphin hose."

First things first... welcome to the board! Weekly partial water changes should be anywhere between 25-50%. I do 50%; i also have bare bottom tanks which require heavier changes. If you have gravel, I'd recommend siphoning 1/2 to all of it weekly depending on what else you have in the tank to house the bio-bugs. It also depends on your stock load. The heavier the load, the more you'll have to siphon. Rinsing the filters once a week in the bucket (if you use one) should do the trick. Good job avoiding the tap water while rinsing the filter media.
B)