Maintenance Schedule

[FoundMoney]

I've been trying to come up with a routine for my tank for water changes and cleaning. It's a 30 gallon tank, that currently houses 8 small flame tetras and a juvenile bristlenose catfish. Will this schedule work:

Week 1 - 15-20% water change (I usually take out about 5 gallons of water and add an additional gallon lost due to evaporation each week)

Week 2 - Water change as above; clean gravel

Week 3 - Water change as above

Week 4 - Water change as above; clean filter sponge

Week 5 - back to Week 1

Is this enough of a water change? Is there something else I should be doing? So far, I'm keeping my ammonia and nitrites at 0 and nitrates have not gone above 5.

 

[wetwetwet]

All sounds good to me - maybe check the filter and sponges a bit more often just to make sure nothing is getting clogged

a gallon is alot to loose in a week - do you have a cover?



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[BobK]

I'd clean the gravel at least twice a month. I clean it once a week but I have a bigger bioload than you do. The 15-20% water change per week sound fine to me.

 

[FoundMoney]

Maybe it's not a gallon per week but I do need to add a bit more water back in than I take out. Basically I'm taking out about 5 gallons with every water change and then topping off the tank after that. So at the minimum, I'm doing almost 17% water change per week. Yes, I do have a cover.

I can certainly concentrate on cleaning the gravel more. In actuality, I'm cleaning it a bit every time I take out water with my syphon. It's just that I have a bunch of plants, rocks and driftwood so to really do a thorough cleaning I really have to disrupt the tank and I don't want to stress the fish out too much. It's really only once a month that I'm really working it.