Some of you are like this, and some are not but the bottom line is that you need to perform water changes when you keep a planted aquarium. Sounds simple right? Well I know a lot of folk who don't perform many water changes, because...
I did a 20% water change the other week - that's enough right?...
That's not enough I'm afraid. If I've kept you attention, read on.
Water changes are needed to remove pollutants that plants produce - you can't see them, but they sure are there. When plants grow, they like everything else that grows they produce waste. These waste products (organics) need to be removed, otherwise they build up, become more concentrated and then cause you problems and normally show up in algae form. In many CO2 infused aquariums, your turbo charged tank is really motoring and plants are growing like weeds, so it's important to stress that the quicker your plants grow, the more waste they produce and this is why it is essential to:
perform 40-50% water changes every week.
It's a bit like flushing the toilet if you catch my drift. Imagine not flushing the toilet...YUK!!
How often do you perform water changes?