MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE
Water quality is not a guess. The hobbyist has complete control over water quality and can measure water quality with simple tests. The most important tests are for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH and a test for total alkalinity is also useful. Measure all of these parameters daily in new system. In mature system that have been stable for some time, measure ammonia, total alkalinity, nitrite, and nitrate weekly and pH daily. Regular water changes are an important way to maintain water quality. When water quality is poor, you should perform daily water changes and suspend feeding until the problem is corrected. In mature systems, perform a 10% to 20% water change every week. At minimum, you could change 20% to 30% every two weeks. Unless your tank is very sparsely stocked, you will notice that if you neglect the above schedule, at best your fish will not flourish, and in the worst case, they will die. Use of a buffer on a regular basis is your best hedge against a falling total alkalin...
