I do a 20% water change twice a week. My tank is overstocked and it keeps everything in check. I am overfiltered. I am growing out a few fish so my feeding is regular although not crazy overboard once a day 6 days a week three different foods each time. Usually a few minutes before lights out so my catfish eat properly.
A 20% water change twice a week still keeps nitrates in check and in my current situation a water change means lugging water around 5 gallons at a time. So not my idea of fun. I am lazy on checking parameters and check maybe once every one to two months.
I had two filters die on me recently so Ive changed my routine a little bit but I still dont change more than 20% at a time as it is too much hassle. Turning the heater off, which requires resetting the controller every time. Turning off all four filters. Losing siphon on all four filters. and lugging gallons of water around manually.
I also leave for a few weeks during each year for a week at a time. during that time they get bi daily feedings of flake (I hate flake food) and no water change for a week.
Thats my philosophy on it anyway. If my system cannot go a week without maintenance 3-5 times a year its not possible for me to keep it.
