That's what everyone says, but it's not. Well, it's not what I define as a lot of work, anyway. I do my water changes weekly, sometimes a little more often if I deem it necessary. Takes about 1.5 hours to do the basement tanks (the monster tanks), and about an hour or so to do the rest of the ones upstairs. I give the glass a wipe with a sponge every couple weeks or whenever it starts to look a little dirty, and voila.