Maintenance

Water changes are the least glamorous job in fishkeeping and the single most useful one. I have kept tanks for years, from heavily stocked cichlid setups to a lightly planted 60 litre that mostly runs itself, and if I could hand a new keeper only one habit, it would be this: pick a day, change a decent chunk of the water, and do it every week whether the tank looks like it needs it or not. Filters get all the attention because they are the expensive bit of kit, but a filter only converts waste from one form to another. It does not remove it. That job is yours, and it involves a bucket. ...

Most aquarium maintenance advice is written for an imaginary keeper with one tank and unlimited enthusiasm. Real life is different: some weeks you have twenty minutes for the fish, some weeks you have two, and any schedule that demands perfection will be abandoned by March. Running several tanks plus outdoor tubs has forced me to figure out what actually needs doing, what can slide, and what should never be done at all. The short version: a tank needs a small amount of genuinely regular work, mostly water changes, and it is harmed by heroic irregular work. Here is the schedule that survives contact with a normal life. ...