First let me say that I'm no expert and don't play one on TV or websites! But I have been in, and out (mostly in) of the hobby for about 50 of my 70 years. So no expert, but learned a thing or two.
𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥,, 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵.
This can be a challenge and requires a shift in mindset. Although plants can uptake nutrients (ferts) in the water, rooted plants uptake nutrients from their roots so a sterile substrate can slow growth. I would suggest stopping gravel vacuuming.
𝘐𝘧 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺, 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘖𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴.
True to a point, although some basic rules hold true. Aquariums are a closed system where fish food and fish waste pollutes the 'fresh' water. Periodic partial water changes along with filter maintenance and sometimes gravel vacuuming attempt to maintain sufficient water quality. There's quite a difference in the artificial vs. planted tank .... and then there's over stocking and over feeding. So many variables.
𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘳𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.
I'm unsure of my 'planet' but I can say that the quality of my well water that was high in nitrates improved when the land across the road (95 acres) was leased to a different farmer. The previous farmer used petrol-chemical ferts while the current one uses cow manure...oh the air is so 'sweet' when the stuff hits the fan.
Then again, I don't have chlorine or fluoride in my water. But if you drink your water, how bad can it be? Now I wouldn't drink pond water, but fish seem to do okay in it! I think we might say that nearly any tap water is likely or at least usually better than old aquarium water.
As I mentioned in another post, I think plants can make all the difference. I'll attach a photo of my 60g tank in the living room. I do very few routine periodic water changes for this tank.
(admittedly, some pruning is in order). Living plants help filter the water. I feed fish modestly and I do not use ferts. I only clean the filter when exit flow is significantly reduced. Call me a crazy old man, but I believe that a natural balance is achieved.
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