Guide
Aquarium maintenance routine
A healthy tank is mostly a tank with a steady routine. Here is the weekly rhythm that keeps water clean and plants growing, and the one or two habits that quietly cause most problems.
TL;DR, Aquarium maintenance
A healthy tank is mostly a tank with a steady routine. The backbone is a weekly water change of around a third, a quick glass clean, a filter rinse when flow drops, and regular plant trimming. Feed lightly, test now and then, and top up evaporation with fresh water rather than more tank water. The one rule that catches people out is never rinsing filter media in tap water, since chlorine kills the beneficial bacteria you spent weeks growing. Small and consistent beats a big cleanout every few months, which does more harm than good.
The routine at a glance
Daily
- Feed lightly, only what's eaten in a couple of minutes.
- Glance at the fish and count them, spotting trouble early is half the battle.
- Check the heater and filter are running.
Weekly
- Change roughly 25 to 50% of the water with dechlorinated, temperature-matched water.
- Scrape the glass and wipe off any algae before it hardens.
- Trim fast stems and remove dying leaves.
- Dose fertiliser for the week if you're not doing it daily.
Every 2 to 4 weeks
- Rinse filter media in old tank water when flow noticeably drops, never in tap water.
- Test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and GH/KH if you keep shrimp.
- Clean the impeller and intake if flow is weak.
As needed
- Top up evaporation with fresh, dechlorinated water, not more tank water, since minerals stay behind when water evaporates.
- Replace or top up root tabs for heavy root feeders.
- Gently vacuum open substrate in the fish areas, leaving planted zones alone.
How to do a water change
- Prepare replacement water: dechlorinate it, and match the temperature to the tank by feel or thermometer.
- Unplug the heater if the water level will drop below it, to avoid it running dry.
- Siphon out the planned amount, using the siphon to lift waste off open substrate and out from under decor.
- Refill slowly so you don't uproot plants or stress fish, pouring onto a plate or your hand to break the flow.
- Plug the heater back in, and dose any remineraliser or fertiliser the fresh water needs.
Filter maintenance, without crashing the cycle
- Only clean media when flow drops, not on a fixed schedule, since a filter is a living bacteria colony.
- Rinse sponges and biomedia in a bucket of old tank water, swishing gently. Tap-water chlorine sterilises them.
- Never replace all the media at once. If a cartridge must go, add the new one alongside the old for a few weeks first.
- Clean the mechanical stage (floss, coarse sponge) more often; leave the biological media as undisturbed as possible.
Common mistakes
- The big cleanout: stripping and scrubbing everything at once, which wipes out the bacteria and crashes the tank.
- Rinsing filter media under the tap, the single fastest way to lose your cycle.
- Topping up evaporation with tank water instead of fresh, which lets minerals and TDS creep up over time.
- Overfeeding, which is behind most algae and water-quality problems.
- Skipping water changes because the water looks clear, when nitrate and hardness are climbing invisibly.
Frequently asked questions
Direct answers to the questions search engines and AI assistants surface most often about this species.
How often should I do a water change?
For most planted community tanks, around a quarter to a half of the water weekly is a good rhythm. High-tech tanks with heavy dosing often do larger weekly changes; low-tech, lightly stocked tanks can sometimes go longer. Consistency matters more than the exact amount.
Can I clean my filter with tap water?
No. Chlorine and chloramine in tap water kill the beneficial bacteria living in the media, which can crash your cycle. Always rinse filter media in a bucket of old tank water instead.
Do I need to vacuum the substrate in a planted tank?
Only the open, unplanted areas where waste collects. Digging through planted substrate disturbs roots and the beneficial bacteria and can release trapped gases. In heavily planted tanks the plants and cleanup crew handle most of it.
Why top up evaporation with fresh water, not tank water?
Only pure water evaporates; the minerals stay behind. Topping up with more tank water would concentrate them further, slowly raising hardness and TDS. Fresh dechlorinated water keeps things stable.