Weekly waterchange/cleaning?

[Rayneuki]

Ok so, aparently I'm doing everything wrong according to my local 'experts'. (Read, Aunt and Mother).
Both claim that you're not supposed to do water changes as frequently as I do (Once a week, usualy on monday). That I also shouldn't be vaccuming as much as I do (Again, once a week with the water change).

From what I've read, you ARE supposed to. I'm not even doing near something like a 50% waterchange, just basic 20% if even that. I usualy take out 4 gallons from my 20 and 8 from the 30. I'm kinna curious where they get this all from.

Aparently my aunt whom hardly ever cleans her tank has fish that are over 15 years old? Corycats are the ones that are being claimed to be that old (Even though she breeds them or whatever). So I'm confused...

My mother knows another aquarium hobbiest whom doesn't even clean his tank untill there's algea all over it. I'm thinking they think 'cleaning a tank' is akin to pouring everything out of it and doing a deep clean. They've also never heard of 'bioload' or 'good bactera' in a tank.

Perhaps they're trying to say I'm doing something wrong because fish in my 30 are dieing? My aunt claims I have copper in the tank... or something. And that's why the tetras are dieing. =_= It's impossible but that's ok. I test my water, my peramiters are all .5 0 and 0 before water change (this is over a week mind you.) So I'm blaming the deaths on where I got the fish (I had deaths in my other tank from fish bought from there too. I just thought it might have been ammonia. Ammonia in the 30 AFTER water change is 0.

So, should I be cleaning/changing water every week like I do in my tanks? Or should I just leave the tanks like they said?
BTW the 30 is a sand bottom, so fish poo looks really gross on it. That's probably why It looses more water in the vaccuming.

 

[Lakea]

I think cory life spans are about 20 years? Anyways I don't see anything wrong with cleaning the water once a week, some people do theirs twice a week depending on bioload. I would keep on your water changing schedule!

 

[Avalon]

Your aunt and mother are a little old school. I'm not trying to say that they are wrong, but I suspect they have 'their ways.' In a fish only tank, it's best to keep things clean as you are doing. Letting things go over time allows for chronic situations, such as HITH (hole in the head). You can allow water changes to go to some degree, but eventually you'll need to do some heavy maintenance on your tank, particularly the substrate. It will get very, very dirty, and an overload of bacteria in the substrate can be harmful. The best cure is prevention via constant and consistent maintenance. Things do not need to be hospital clean, but like any good thing, it's best to be diligent and aware of overall environmental conditions. The old school thought is that a stable environment is good, and while it is, neglecting proper maintenance is quite harmful. You can certainly keep a stable environment by performing regular water changes and proper maintenance.

 

[Rayneuki]

Thanks for the vote of support guys. I thought I needed the weekly simply because I've got Kribs. I want to avoid HITH x_x not a good thought.

There is but one tetra left now, covered in ick. I'm treating the tank for it, but I have a bad feeling he's not going to survive. It's sad really, that the fish in the 30 had such a hard time.

Well, at least Davey Jones is ok (A bristle nosed pleco. Got him in a friend's tank until the 30 finishes out, along with an apisto and a GBR. ;o; Bonnie died on Clyde... and Dee died on Dum... That's when I immediately moved everyone out accept the tetra... Whom were already covered in ick. It's my fault though, I didn't QT them. -_-' Lesson learned. )