[GSAS-Member] Water Quality

["Doerr, Jesse" <Jesse.Doerr@fei.com>]

As I'm getting into bigger tanks I'm looking for more information on
water quality.  I would like to avoid dumping large quantities of water
down the drain, and so far my experience is that it is has been
unnecessary. 
For a while now I've been keeping a 3 tank system that is pretty heavily
planted and probably overstocked with fish.  The total system is about
45 gallons and has about 30 barbs, 20 tetras, and recently 20ish
platties.  Despite the bioload everyone is healthy, active, and showing
great colors.  The rummy-nose are showing nice read heads going almost
all the way back to the first fin and the barb males have a deep dark
color.
So as far as I can tell everything is going fine and the system has been
stable for about 2 years now.
Water changes tend to be infrequent, typical maintenance is just
replacing evaporation and feeding.  The last water change was over 3
months ago and when I inspected a sample of the water today it looks and
smells like it's in great shape.  There is no foaming, no odor, and it
is almost exactly as clear as tap water in the same glass, just with a
very faint yellow tinge. 
Can anyone provide me references on what else I might need to look out
for?  Is there a risk of a buildup of minerals or chemicals other than
nitrogen and other derivatives?  I have noticed that juivinals do grow
more quickly when I am doing actual water changes.
Jesse

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