hello again:) i bought a test kit for ammonia and nitrtite.( titration kind) and my ammonia& nitrite tested 0 ppm. so the strips were faulty!well upon cleaning my filters out twice a month instead of once a month, they act normal, not stressed anymore. When i cleaned the filter floss, it was black, and its normal color was white.... no wonder they felt like crap!( that wasnt keeping my water clean with all that dirt in it.) I was wondering what my water changes should be like? right now im changing 1/3 of the water once a week. I have 5 orandas in a 55 gallon tank, and they all are 6 inches including the tail. I feed them twice a day.

water changes variers as long as u keep your nitrite and ammonia down... as well as nitrate ...
because you are in the ratio of 1fish to 10gallon 1/3 is good enough ... just check on ur readings for the 3 things ... u should keep them constant at 0 for nitrite and ammonia and about 10 for nitrate... then ur water will be all good ...
usually i use water conditioner as well to remove any toxic ...

Yeah, because you have 5 in a 55, 1/3 is good enough, as alanworm said. But nitrates can go up to 20, i do a 25% water change every sat. on all my tanks, and my nitrate is at a constant 11.
try different things, but not anything too drastic, it could kill your fishies!

Unlike our tanks that get a 90% change every day.

I change 35-50% once a week

I have 2 orandas per 55g.. I take out 10g a day.. and do 50% every sat.. works well with me and my fish are very happy..

I do a 75% change every week. 2 orandas and a moor in a 55 gallon. 1 sick fantail in a 29g.

90% every week. ( to match PH and temp is important)

50% - 75% a week on my 60gal

What filters do you have???

I change about 50% a week