How to Setup a Low Maintainance Tank

[GodFan]

This is actually a spinoff from the self sustaining tank thread. It seems quiet a few people are interested in tbe idea of a tank that requires little upkeep. I am going to detail here how to setup a tank that requires no (or very few) water changes, algae scrubbing, or plant trimming. You can change certain parts to make it as you please of course. Also the plant trimming thing isnt as sound as the rest of the plan. You may need to trim some.

The key to avoiding water changes is to take out the bad stuff naturally instead of manually. For example instead of weekly WCs you can have emmersed plants growing out the top of the tank. You can also have immersed plants. You can use porous rock amd a deep sand bed in a tank with no plants however you will still have to do infrequent water changes since these methods only work on ammonia, nitrites, and sometimes nitrates.

if you go planted (the easiest way) you will want to have a substrate that absorbs and releases nutrients well. Dirted tanks work great!

You will need to balance the bioload, plant load, and light. Its not as hard as it sounds.
You do not want to overfeed obviously but that is even more important in this type setup.
I am tired so I may have missed something but thats the gist of it! Reply here if you have any questions! I have done this and currently have an african leaf fish setup that has had less than 3 water changes in 6 months plus!
God bless and happy fishkeeping!

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[mrvincent]

My 29g is now a low maintenance tank, as there's so much plants, nitrates get absorbed fast. The tank is overstrocked, but I can changer the water once per 3-5 weeks without any algae/nutrients problems.

The hard task is to cut and trim the plants... They grow like hell.

 

[obiwankenobi]

What kind of plants you got in the tanks?

 

[GodFan]

My 29g is now a low maintenance tank, as there's so much plants, nitrates get absorbed fast. The tank is overstrocked, but I can changer the water once per 3-5 weeks without any algae/nutrients problems.

The hard task is to cut and trim the plants... They grow like hell.

Thatvis awesome!

What kind of plants you got in the tanks?

I have crypt ballisneria, anubias, java fern, and some jave moss I cant get rid of lol

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[bubba rust]

Do you guys known if I could use normal dirt from the desert near by my house as substrate for a heavily planted aquarium? Or should I by top soil?

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[schoeplein]

Pick up a bag of Miracle Grow Organic Potting Mix. The organic part is most important. No chemicals.

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[bubba rust]

OK thanks

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[squirrilah fish]

My 30 gallon is really low maintenance. I have only fake plants, stony substrate, but I use the API super clear with biochem zorb filters and Purigen. I also run a 12w UV filter, and only feed what gets eaten. I have noticed the nitrates go up about 1ppm per day or two. I haven't "needed" to do a water change for months, but I still do a weekly to semi weekly change just to keep things clean.

 

[Wy Renegade]

My 30 gallon is really low maintenance. I have only fake plants, stony substrate, but I use the API super clear with biochem zorb filters and Purigen. I also run a 12w UV filter, and only feed what gets eaten. I have noticed the nitrates go up about 1ppm per day or two. I haven't "needed" to do a water change for months, but I still do a weekly to semi weekly change just to keep things clean.

I think you might have missed the point - the goal here is to set up a low maintenance tank with live plants so you don't have to use all the chemicals and filtration.

 

[GodFan]

I think you might have missed the point - the goal here is to set up a low maintenance tank with live plants so you don't have to use all the chemicals and filtration.

Yes that is true. You can still use a conventional filter though (I do). It adds alittle more difficulty if you do a filterless setup.

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[mrvincent]

What kind of plants you got in the tanks?

Java moss, java ferns, cryptocorines, giants Sagittaria, dwarf hairgrass and HC carpet, and two other types that I have no idea of the name.

 

[trennamw]

How would you make sure your water hardness and total dissolved solids stay consistent? It seems like without water changes those would continue to rise. It'd be gradual which is close to "consistent" but eventually it'll hit a level the fish don't like?

 

[mrvincent]

Yes, I have a RODI and a TDS meter, and sometime just for fun I test the FW tank water for TDS... They raise overtime.

I was testing nitrates every weeks in the past, but the tank is so beautifull and problemless that I don't anymore test for anything.

Hardness will raise only if you compensate evaporation with tap water, but I use RODI only for topoff. I'm just lazy, I have so much time to put on my reef tank, that I negligate a bit my FW one... Instead dosing ferts I just wait a bit more doing water changes...

 

[Rivercats]

Actually buffers (calcium) and ph drop over time especially without water changes. Once kh drops to below 3 or 4 ph can become very unstable.

The only problem I have with going long periods of time between water changes is that more than just nitrates build up and can cause problems over time. Here is one of my favorite posts from AquaChem about why WC's are actually needed....

"How confident are you that nitrogenous waste, phosphates, and GH / KH are the only thing that builds up? Don't make the mistake of confusing undetectable/unmeasureable with not there.


Fish don't just excrete ammonia. They excrete many, many organic molecules (metabolites, proteins, etc) that could potentially be toxic. These compounds could have a number of potentially hazardous effects on a tank, such as (and completely made up on the spot): noxious to fish gills, bioaccumulation, or fueling dangerous (or unsightly) heterotrophic bacteria or algae species like cyanobacteria."

I understand why some want a low maintenance tank but considering there are so many toxins that can only be removed through water changes you have to question how good is that for live stock. This is something IMO that needs to be considered when deciding how long between WC's is healthy. Just because plants look and are growing good doesn't mean the water isn't building toxins. Everyone has their own ways and opinions but this is an aspect of doing WC's that many don't consider.

 

[mrvincent]

My tap alk is 2dKH°... The tank is still 2dKH after 1 month without WC. PH fluke between day and night time, as I inject CO2 with pressurized CO2.

There's 0 algae since the tank is well established. A little bit of BBAs, but not a problem.

As you can see, my tank is now a jungle... (Sorry for the big picture loading time)

Anyways, that'll probably wont hurt to do a 50%WC right now, it's due... I'm really lazy lol.

 

[BBradbury]

Low Maintenance Tanks

The low maintenance tanks were nice during the years I had them. The Chinese Evergreen roots worked fine to maintain pure water conditions for the fish. The dead and decaying plant and animal material that fell to the bottom would dissolve, so there was always a source of nutrients and the plants grew very well.

I did miss the aquatic plants, so I dropped the water levels in my 55 G tanks and added some T5 lamps for the aquatic plants and opened up the tanks to the surrounding air and added some eco lamps for the land plants, since they require only ambient light. As long as the land plants have their leaves above water, they grow fine.

The combination of land and aquatic plants looked a bit strange at first, but over the last couple of years I kind of like the look. The fish don't seem to mind and the Anubias, Java fern, Christmas and Singapore mosses, Pennywort, Anacharis and Hornwort are pretty happy too.

B

 

[mrvincent]

Here's the proofs I'm not so much lazy tonight, I did a water change !!!

Does anybody know how to cut java ferns leaves without damaging the plant ? As you can see, the leaves are too long and are burning under the light out of the water...

 

[trennamw]

I'd suggest that the fact you're using RO water go up at the start of the post. And that you're watching tds. That's a huge difference. Or that you must top off with distilled. Still like someone was saying, KH may decline (and it can decline while tds stays the same, as I understand, so if you replenish KH you can end up with too much tds).

It's unfortunate there aren't more objective ways to quantify what water changes do, so everyone can know for sure when they're needed.

 

[mrvincent]

I do waterchange with the tap, and topoff with RODI only.

 

[GodFan]

I'd suggest that the fact you're using RO water go up at the start of the post. And that you're watching tds. That's a huge difference. Or that you must top off with distilled. Still like someone was saying, KH may decline (and it can decline while tds stays the same, as I understand, so if you replenish KH you can end up with too much tds).

It's unfortunate there aren't more objective ways to quantify what water changes do, so everyone can know for sure when they're needed.

I use tap only. There is alot of evidence that this method will work. I usually put a small amout of crushed coral in my tank to sdd calcium.

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