Managing the water in your aquarium

I have been a tropical fish enthusiast since for many years, I have noticed on many of the groups and blogs that I belong to that a number of discussions regarding taking care of the water in a aquarium. In this post I would like to offer what works best for me, based on the condition of the water in the part of the country that I live in.

Here in Connecticut, I am lucky to have some of the best water in the county, it's very clean, and while chlorinated, and has florid added, it is not heavily layered with metals. Our water, however, does require some pre-treatment before it can be used to do a water change in my tank. I have a 20 gallon tank, and I use a 6 gallon camping water holder, and two 1 gallon plastic pitchers. 24-36 hours before I want to change the water in my tank, I fill the containers and let them stand to allow the water to come to room temperature, and to give some of the chlorine, and added metals a change to evaporate. I change around 25% of my water every weekend, I use a tank vacuum to get up the waste that my fish produce, and any uneaten food. I change the filter in my pump every two weeks, and on every other filter change I thoroughly clean my filter, with the exception of the bio wheel.  I use a tooth brush for scrubbing, and for getting at any algae that my Clown Loach has missed. When I am done vacuuming and scrubbing, I add water back into my tank by using the water in the one gallon pitchers first, and then pouring water from my water container into the pitchers. I put two teaspoons of Aquasafe in each pitcher. I have read many articles from other Tropical Fish enthusiast who are not crazy about this product, but I have had great results with it. Lastly I add 5 tablespoons of aquarium salt. This procedure helps to keep my tank clean, and my fish healthy, while I am sure that each aquarium enthusiast has his or her own system, this is what works best for me and my fish.