First water change - do I take the fish out first?

[wisecamel]

Hello fishmums...We've just got a little gang of 11 white cloud mountain minnows. It is an 88 litre tank and we have about 15 snails as well that came in on the plants. How often do you think I need to change the water? There are no nitrites or ammonia showing at the moment, but they've been a week in the tank now - And also - do I take the fish out to change the water? Or is that more stressful than leaving them in?
Thank you

Did you do a fishless cycle first? (this would have meant leaving the tank empty for about 4-6 weeks). If not then keep a very close eye on things. If you did do a fishless cycle then you should be getting zero for ammonia and nitrIte anyway.

When doing a water change you should always leave the fish in- moving them around can stress them out and has the potential to cause injuries if they flap around a lot. This is a good guide on how to do a water change.

Hello EauRouge - yes, I did a fishless cycle first of 5 weeks and I am using some nitrate reducing additive as well because there are high levels in the tap water around here. I am still getting zero for the nitrites and the ammonia - so I shall just leave them alone, they seem happy enough. Thank you for the link.

Yep, sounds like things are going swimmingly

I always leave my fish in when doing a water change, i do worry when the water goes a bit cloudy (from being moved around) but it always seems to clear quite quickly and the fish seem happy.