Care & Maintenance:

Congrats! You've made it this far. You successfully purchased, set up and stocked your aquarium! Now you think you are all done??? hahahaha...not quite.

A lot of people tend to think after adding all the fish, that's all that needs to be done. Just making sure you perform a little bit of maintenance every now and then will ensure your fish having a long and happy life.
I personally also like to change things ( besides the water ) from time to time. Not only does it give me a change of scenery but it does the same for my fish. Now some established fish can get stressed out by the changes but for the most part I find that my fish seem to enjoy finding new places to hide or check out. Some territorial fish do have to go through and re-claim a section of the tank, but this usually only takes a day or so and everyone usually comes out unscathed.

Long-term care also includes at minimum biweekly water changes of up to 20% of your total water volume for each tank. Personally I recommend a weekly water change of 15% total volume, this way there are not nearly the fluctuations in water quality ( build up of nitrates ) that only monthly or twice monthly water changes can cause. Maintaining your plants ( if they are not plastic ) to aid in keeping them healthy. As well as the removal of the occasional departed member of your aquarium.

Filter cleanings/changings, lift tube and other equipment should be manually cleaned of algae and build up with just a little elbow grease and hot water every month or so.

Vacuuming 10-20% of your tanks gravel bottom weekly ( especially if you have an under gravel filter system) One caution though, never do 100% of your gravel unless you do not have any fish in the tank and don't plan on having any in there for a while as a complete vacuuming can destroy a very beneficial and essential bacteria field. See the Vacuuming Page for my preferred method in performing this part of tank maintenance.

Changing weak or burned-out lighting, wiping off your glass and ridding it of any salt buildup, But most importantly, keeping a journal/log of all your experiences, water test results, filter changes and all other useful information ( even this site! ) after a while you may see patterns develop, and be able to head off trouble even before it starts. A good journal is any one that works for you, below you can see what a basic maintenance chart may look like on any given month,

July 98	Day	Feedings	Test Results	Observations	Misc.
	Mon.	flake/worms	pH7.0 temp 78	pangi bumped nose	new plants thriving
	Tue.	flake/worms	temp 77	~	~
	Wed	flake/shrimp	ammo. 0.0. Temp 77	Cory is getting picked on	~
	Thurs.	flake/tabs	nit. 0.01 temp 78	Cory's tail is nipped	~
	Fri.	flake/worms	temp 76	Removed Cory to sick tank	new plants thriving
	Sat	pellets/veggies	temp 77	pangi's nose is healing	~
	Sun	flake/worms	pH7.0 temp 78	20% water change	ammo & nit OK
	Mon.	flake/worms	temp 77	~	Cory starting to heal
	Tue.	flake/worms	temp 78	guppy pregnant?	~
	Wed	flake/worms	pH6.9 temp 77	2 ghost shrimp died	added salt 1 tsp
	Thurs.	flake/worms	temp 78	~	~
	Fri.	flake/worms	temp 78	Cory improving	~
	Sat	flake/worms	temp 78	~	setup fry tank
	Sun	shrimp/worms	pH7.0 temp 78	20% water change	10% gravel vacuumed

By all means make up your own calendar/journal with all the info you believe that will help you and your individual tank. The above is only a suggestion of how to start. You can also click the link in the left hand column to be taken to my downloads page where you can get free software to help you with this part of keeping an aquarium.