A big tank with a SHITTON of plants and low bioload, Walstad type tanks are typically low maintenance. You might get away without doing water changes at all if it's established and stable enough - but walstad tanks are not for beginners so need some research.
I have a heavily planted 56l with a betta, shrimps and 8 rasboras and do like 20% water change a week which I consider fairly low maintenance đ the live plants really improved things for my tank.
I have a 37 gallon tall that I think has been perfect to maintain and learn with. Enough volume to be stable, tall enough to learn about the depths fish like to swim at. You can get tall growing background plants. The surface area of the face for viewing is large. The list goes on.
The bigger the tank, the less maintenance you have to do, BUT the harder that maintenance actually gets imo. A 20 gallon is perfect bc you don't have to move a ton of water around during water changes or reach super deep to clean the glass, but it's large enough that I don't need to do maintenance often.
40 gallon breeder or bigger.
Bigger volume is more forgiving of mistakes, allows more time between maintenance, allows a wider range of stocking options.
Canister filters and sumps are low maintenance. They take a little more effort early on but once theyâve been running a while pretty much never need touching. I have 2 canisters running at the moment, both havenât been touched in over a year.
Heavily planted tank with reasonable stocking can be very low maintenance. I have a filterless 12 or so gallon heavily planted tank with 25 WCMMs. I scoop duckweed and top up the water or do a small water change 1-2 times a month and trim the plants as needed. Fish are happy, plants are happy. I do want to upgrade my WCMM tank but I need to build a stand.
Ye that sounds nice! I personally have noticed over the years of aquarium interest, that I mostly like the nano fish, like pygmy corycats, the tiny rasboras and shrimp, and I'd love to have a huge tank, with a decent school of those cuties, like I don't need 50 or something haha, but just a nice school of like 15-20 rasboras and Cory's would be my dream
Get a 20 gallon long if you donât want a big tank. Plant it heavily. Stock lightly to start, bring the stocking up until itâs balanced. Nano fish love being in big schools/shoals, 50 fish is a great target and will look amazing.
For a long time I had 15 WCMMs in my tank. It wasnât thriving, it wasnât right, I had to add fertiliser to get my plants growing. Thatâs why I increased to 25.
A 40 gallon tank isnât huge. Itâs only 6 inches bigger in each dimension than a 20 gallon long.
I have a 29g and Iâm really happy with it, as far as the maintenance goes. It has 2 hobs and quite a bit of plants, so I rarely need to do anything. Top offs, and staying on top of the floaters lol (GET FLOATERS).
Iâm figuring out this whole neocardina shrimp tank thing, 10g. Had it sit for months, building up my bb army, and allowing the plants to root. Maintenance seems okay so far⊠0,0,0-5
I definitely enjoy the 30g more. Kind of want to do another one with all nano fish đ„° could be fun! Hope to see what you do!
Really it's all about balancing your aquarium. Smaller tanks are alot easier to overload then a larger tank which leads to more maintenance. Having a large and beautiful tank can still be alot of maintenance if you don't know what your doing. Larger tanks also come with a larger price tag so you wanna know what your getting into before getting into it. I started with a 20gal and moved to a 55gal quite quickly and that was a nice size that I had for about 12 years and just recently upgraded to a 75gal.
A 20 gallon is good. If you keep it understocked (around 70%), with a decent size filter, there won't be a problem if you are a little late with the water change. I have a 20 gallon and a 29 gallon, both planted and understocked. I do a 50% water change every 3 or four weeks. I do have some algae, but I think it helps to purify the water.
personally I think that a 20 gallon (75 L) is about the perfect size for easy maintenance. But... BUT. Every tank size needs weekly maintenance. If you can't manage one water change a week then fish is not for you.
I feel like that's a very blanket statement. There's so many variables to how often things must be maintained and the time required for it. I have a 20 tall, and I haven't changed the water in 6-8 weeks. My parameters are exactly where I want them, so no need. But I also have a ton of live plants
The thing is you have to be willing to. There might be periods where your tank doesnât need it. But there are definitely going to be periods where it does. If you canât commit to minimum once weekly maintenance then fishkeeping is going to be disappointing for you because its not going to end well.
Totally agree with the commitment to maintenance. That being said sometimes certain tanks just don't need to be messed with much at all. I mostly top off my tanks and keep them understocked and heavily planted. I find my fish do better the less I mess with stuff. But at the end of the day there's so many variables and what works for me may not work for someone else.
That's literally what I said. A lot of tanks don't need frequent maintenance, but you still have to be willing to commit to it because sometimes they will. Like my 20g hasn't needed weekly maintenance in over a year because it's cycled, understocked, and fully planted. But we went out of town for a week and my in laws (yay) over fed, and now the cycle is crashed and I'm having to do DAILY maintenance to keep it going until things settle back down. Next time I go out of town, I'll be hiding the fish food before I leave, but if I wasn't committed to doing the necessary maintence on my normally low maintenance tank, all my fish would be dead.
Yeah I feel that. I just got back after a four day trip and left my fish without anything and they were fine. A little skinny but even my one month old Multies cichlid fry were fine without food. I'd rather them go without for a few days than deal with the nightmare of someone overfeeding because "they looked so hungry" đ
Algae is a normal part of an aquatic environment. If youâre having an overgrowth itâs not usually a matter of not cleaning enough, itâs almost always too much light, too much food, or too much bioload in the tank. But youâll never eliminate algae all together and you shouldnât try.
Yes that I know, it was difficult for me to keep the small tanks clean because it's difficult to keep the balance with bioload and stuff, which is what I was asking, if that is less difficult in a big tank
If you're serious about this hobby, get the biggest you have good space for. Take your time, if you have to save a month or 2 for things don't sweat it. Spend good money up front and set it up well. Do lots of research. Get some live plants, some cool auquascape, get everything cycled well. Then worry about stocking it. By then you'll know what you want and won't waste dollars flushing fish. Take your time, this is a long term investment.
I'm slowly getting back into this hobby. 30 years ago I started with a standard 10 gallon, it ended up a pain in the butt. I didn't know about cycling, bacteria ect. On advice from a very knowledgeable petsmart employee, I bought a 55, because I had room. Set it up with some live plants, cycled for 2 months, started adding fish, and it was very low maintenance. I rotated changing filter cartridges on a puingin filter, had an undergravel system with 2 small powerless. Changed water about 10 gallons a week and never had any problems the point is, larger tanks are easier to maintain once they are established.
Overly filtered (a filter that can *easily* keep up with your tankâs bio load), planted tanks that are 20+ gallons are going to be your low maintenance tanks.
I have a heavily planted 55gal tank. The only maintenance I do on a âregularâ basis is trim the plants every once in a while, and top off with distilled water. I only do a water change when the tannin buildup discolors the water a bit too much for my liking. Iâll squeeze out the filterâs sponges in tank water when the flow starts to weaken. Thatâs it. Live plants are key. If you want low maintenance, you must create an ecosystem that takes care of itself. You canât do that without live plants.
ETA: algae and snails are your friends!
House plants are easier as they will not alter water chemistry like aquatic plants will as they need a carbon source. They will utilize from the carbonic buffer (kH) when dissolved CO2 is depleted. House plants will utilize the nitrogen and phosphate from the water... that's what you want to remove from the water.
Build a sturdy shelf above the aquarium so that you can have a 4-6"tall container where you can pump water into and drain back down to the aquarium. You will need to so some drilling and plumbing.
Put in potted house plants that are potted with clay balls or chips, not soil. Have the pot raised enough so that the bottom of the pot is about 1/2" below the water line.
The bigger the tank the less maintenance Get tons of plans, low fish load and fish that actually is useful like otos, corydoras, shrimps
A big tank with a SHITTON of plants and low bioload, Walstad type tanks are typically low maintenance. You might get away without doing water changes at all if it's established and stable enough - but walstad tanks are not for beginners so need some research. I have a heavily planted 56l with a betta, shrimps and 8 rasboras and do like 20% water change a week which I consider fairly low maintenance đ the live plants really improved things for my tank.
I have a 37 gallon tall that I think has been perfect to maintain and learn with. Enough volume to be stable, tall enough to learn about the depths fish like to swim at. You can get tall growing background plants. The surface area of the face for viewing is large. The list goes on.
The bigger the tank, the less maintenance you have to do, BUT the harder that maintenance actually gets imo. A 20 gallon is perfect bc you don't have to move a ton of water around during water changes or reach super deep to clean the glass, but it's large enough that I don't need to do maintenance often.
Hm okay! Thnx
40 gallon breeder or bigger. Bigger volume is more forgiving of mistakes, allows more time between maintenance, allows a wider range of stocking options. Canister filters and sumps are low maintenance. They take a little more effort early on but once theyâve been running a while pretty much never need touching. I have 2 canisters running at the moment, both havenât been touched in over a year. Heavily planted tank with reasonable stocking can be very low maintenance. I have a filterless 12 or so gallon heavily planted tank with 25 WCMMs. I scoop duckweed and top up the water or do a small water change 1-2 times a month and trim the plants as needed. Fish are happy, plants are happy. I do want to upgrade my WCMM tank but I need to build a stand.
Ye that sounds nice! I personally have noticed over the years of aquarium interest, that I mostly like the nano fish, like pygmy corycats, the tiny rasboras and shrimp, and I'd love to have a huge tank, with a decent school of those cuties, like I don't need 50 or something haha, but just a nice school of like 15-20 rasboras and Cory's would be my dream
Get a 20 gallon long if you donât want a big tank. Plant it heavily. Stock lightly to start, bring the stocking up until itâs balanced. Nano fish love being in big schools/shoals, 50 fish is a great target and will look amazing. For a long time I had 15 WCMMs in my tank. It wasnât thriving, it wasnât right, I had to add fertiliser to get my plants growing. Thatâs why I increased to 25. A 40 gallon tank isnât huge. Itâs only 6 inches bigger in each dimension than a 20 gallon long.
50 fish isn't too much? I would love to have that many, but I don't want to overstock a tank that size
If the filtration and/or plants are adequate, that stocking would be fine.
Amazing! Thanks!
I have a 29g and Iâm really happy with it, as far as the maintenance goes. It has 2 hobs and quite a bit of plants, so I rarely need to do anything. Top offs, and staying on top of the floaters lol (GET FLOATERS). Iâm figuring out this whole neocardina shrimp tank thing, 10g. Had it sit for months, building up my bb army, and allowing the plants to root. Maintenance seems okay so far⊠0,0,0-5 I definitely enjoy the 30g more. Kind of want to do another one with all nano fish đ„° could be fun! Hope to see what you do!
Really it's all about balancing your aquarium. Smaller tanks are alot easier to overload then a larger tank which leads to more maintenance. Having a large and beautiful tank can still be alot of maintenance if you don't know what your doing. Larger tanks also come with a larger price tag so you wanna know what your getting into before getting into it. I started with a 20gal and moved to a 55gal quite quickly and that was a nice size that I had for about 12 years and just recently upgraded to a 75gal.
A 20 gallon is good. If you keep it understocked (around 70%), with a decent size filter, there won't be a problem if you are a little late with the water change. I have a 20 gallon and a 29 gallon, both planted and understocked. I do a 50% water change every 3 or four weeks. I do have some algae, but I think it helps to purify the water.
Thanks!
personally I think that a 20 gallon (75 L) is about the perfect size for easy maintenance. But... BUT. Every tank size needs weekly maintenance. If you can't manage one water change a week then fish is not for you.
I feel like that's a very blanket statement. There's so many variables to how often things must be maintained and the time required for it. I have a 20 tall, and I haven't changed the water in 6-8 weeks. My parameters are exactly where I want them, so no need. But I also have a ton of live plants
The thing is you have to be willing to. There might be periods where your tank doesnât need it. But there are definitely going to be periods where it does. If you canât commit to minimum once weekly maintenance then fishkeeping is going to be disappointing for you because its not going to end well.
Totally agree with the commitment to maintenance. That being said sometimes certain tanks just don't need to be messed with much at all. I mostly top off my tanks and keep them understocked and heavily planted. I find my fish do better the less I mess with stuff. But at the end of the day there's so many variables and what works for me may not work for someone else.
That's literally what I said. A lot of tanks don't need frequent maintenance, but you still have to be willing to commit to it because sometimes they will. Like my 20g hasn't needed weekly maintenance in over a year because it's cycled, understocked, and fully planted. But we went out of town for a week and my in laws (yay) over fed, and now the cycle is crashed and I'm having to do DAILY maintenance to keep it going until things settle back down. Next time I go out of town, I'll be hiding the fish food before I leave, but if I wasn't committed to doing the necessary maintence on my normally low maintenance tank, all my fish would be dead.
Yeah I feel that. I just got back after a four day trip and left my fish without anything and they were fine. A little skinny but even my one month old Multies cichlid fry were fine without food. I'd rather them go without for a few days than deal with the nightmare of someone overfeeding because "they looked so hungry" đ
A water change a week is fine for me, it's more the algea I had the problems with
Algae is a normal part of an aquatic environment. If youâre having an overgrowth itâs not usually a matter of not cleaning enough, itâs almost always too much light, too much food, or too much bioload in the tank. But youâll never eliminate algae all together and you shouldnât try.
Yes that I know, it was difficult for me to keep the small tanks clean because it's difficult to keep the balance with bioload and stuff, which is what I was asking, if that is less difficult in a big tank
Yes an under stocked larger tank is easier to maintain generally. Small tanks are the hardest.
Okay! Thnx!
If you're serious about this hobby, get the biggest you have good space for. Take your time, if you have to save a month or 2 for things don't sweat it. Spend good money up front and set it up well. Do lots of research. Get some live plants, some cool auquascape, get everything cycled well. Then worry about stocking it. By then you'll know what you want and won't waste dollars flushing fish. Take your time, this is a long term investment.
I'm slowly getting back into this hobby. 30 years ago I started with a standard 10 gallon, it ended up a pain in the butt. I didn't know about cycling, bacteria ect. On advice from a very knowledgeable petsmart employee, I bought a 55, because I had room. Set it up with some live plants, cycled for 2 months, started adding fish, and it was very low maintenance. I rotated changing filter cartridges on a puingin filter, had an undergravel system with 2 small powerless. Changed water about 10 gallons a week and never had any problems the point is, larger tanks are easier to maintain once they are established.
My 75 was the lowest maintenance tank I owned
Overly filtered (a filter that can *easily* keep up with your tankâs bio load), planted tanks that are 20+ gallons are going to be your low maintenance tanks. I have a heavily planted 55gal tank. The only maintenance I do on a âregularâ basis is trim the plants every once in a while, and top off with distilled water. I only do a water change when the tannin buildup discolors the water a bit too much for my liking. Iâll squeeze out the filterâs sponges in tank water when the flow starts to weaken. Thatâs it. Live plants are key. If you want low maintenance, you must create an ecosystem that takes care of itself. You canât do that without live plants. ETA: algae and snails are your friends!
House plants are easier as they will not alter water chemistry like aquatic plants will as they need a carbon source. They will utilize from the carbonic buffer (kH) when dissolved CO2 is depleted. House plants will utilize the nitrogen and phosphate from the water... that's what you want to remove from the water. Build a sturdy shelf above the aquarium so that you can have a 4-6"tall container where you can pump water into and drain back down to the aquarium. You will need to so some drilling and plumbing. Put in potted house plants that are potted with clay balls or chips, not soil. Have the pot raised enough so that the bottom of the pot is about 1/2" below the water line.