Are Smaller Tanks Easier to Maintain than Larger tanks?

[dalto]

+1 with the pill box idea.... my thought that larger would be more stable is based simply on the fact i believe a larger amount of water would take larger quantity of heat, time, or chemical to change things such as temp and ph rendering them easier to handle... for instance if the PH up bottle reads 10 drops per gallon... that few extra drops if amistake is made should in theory make a more dramatic difference in a 10 gallon vs a 90 ... i believe the same for heating the tank if your heater breaks temp drops should take longer to change in a 90 vs a 10.... i could be wrong, however....

On the pH drops I can see that if you failed to dose properly, although I would argue that most situations shouldn't require dosing pH drops.

On the heater, your heater should be sized to your tank so a smaller tank should have a smaller heater capable of producing less heat. This breaks down in tiny nano-tanks though as it is hard to appropriately size heaters in the less than 5g tanks.

The bigger the tank, the easier such a systemic shock is to absorb, because the effects of that event are diluted. For example, the death of the only fish in a 11 litres (3 US gal) causes dramatic changes in the system, while the death of that same fish in a 400 litres (110 US gal) tank with many other fish in it represents only a minor change. For this reason, hobbyists often favor larger tanks, as they require less attention.

Why would a dead fish cause systemic shock, even in a 3 gallon tank? Is this something you have experienced or is this just a cut and paste off some other site?

 

[Ricky 1]

It's from a very good sauce dalto, I think it makes sense, a dead fish doesn't in a large tank but probably would in a 10g, whether it's cut and paste is of no consequence.......

 

[AlecFish]

WHOA this thread got a lot of replies.

So the gist of my original post was to figure out maintenance wise, what would take the least amount of time looking at it. So my family can basically ignore it. If I do leave a tank for them to look over it will likely be either a plant heavy shrimp tank or maybe a school or two of fish. Very lightly stocked, all excess fish waste, nutrients etc. should be soaked up by the plants.

The whole reason behind me not wanting to do huge water changes is because I simply I can't. Unlike most of you who are fortunate enough to be on city or town water. I get my water from my well and unfortunately water is a guaranteed thing when they build your house. The well pump is severely undersized and we're also atop a hill so the well isn't as deep as it needs to be. It costs $12,000 to drill a new well. Not cheap, not going to happen anytime soon. So the least amount of water I can use and the less maintenance possible is what I'm looking for.

If there's no big difference from a 4 footer to a 3 footer I don't see any point in downgrading. I'm not gonna downgrade to anything less than 40 gallons. I've never liked small tanks. I've always liked to have a little extra space.

So this begs me the question of, if I increase the amount of filtration will that allow me to do less water changes i.e. less maintenance on the tank?
I'm running an aquatop cf500, lets say I get another one of those. Would that be a good idea?

 

[Ricky 1]

I still think you would have to do partial WC to keep your basic water parameters and nitrogen cycle in order, I will let others answer as I might get my head bit off...........lol

 

[bigdaddymagnum]

i mean in theory more filtration does increase biological surface through extra media which means cleaner water the problem is your stock seeing as some fish dont tolerate strong current ... i mean theres really no way around water changes, i think everyone can agree its essential ..... so yes it should increase length between but how much length im not too sure....

 

[aqua_holic]

Filtration doesn't do anything other than clear particulate matter from the water and eliminate ammonia and nitrogen. If you have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite, then adding more filtration will still give you 0 and 0. 0 is 0. The nitrogen cycle does not need to be maintained - it's an automated process. Nitrates are what filtration does not address, so water changes are necessary. They not only remove nitrate, but maintain a stable pH and replenish minerals and stuff that are used by the fish and plants.

Adding filtration definitely will keep the water and tank cleaner because of the extra media, as was said. That means it will take longer for the media to get clogged meaning you won't have to do as much maintenance. But you'll still have to do water changes.

The amount of water changes you actually need to do is quite debatable. The prevailing view is every week - everyone will tell you that, no matter what the specifics of your tank are. It's a cookie cutter approach. I used to be in the weekly water change club. It's great if you can and want to do that, but it's not like the fish are going to die if you do them every 2-3 weeks. However in my experience, 4-6 week intervals sustained over a long period of time will negatively impact the fish. But there is certainly a lot of grey between weekly and monthly. And to clarify - a long time is a year. Most fish will be fine for a 3 or 4 month stretch like that. Too, my tanks are stocked pretty heavy.

 

[dalto]

So this begs me the question of, if I increase the amount of filtration will that allow me to do less water changes i.e. less maintenance on the tank?
I'm running an aquatop cf500, lets say I get another one of those. Would that be a good idea?

Water change amount and frequency is related to the bioload on the tank. Adding filtration will not reduce the need for water changes.

 

[treemanone2003]

I'll be as polite, blunt, and honest as possible in regards to a direct answer to your question. In actuality, there is no tank, whether smaller or larger that is easier to maintain. If there were one to exist, everyone would have the same exact tank. The only tank that would fit your description of "easier to maintain" is one of the 11 empty tanks sitting in my garage collecting dust.


Sent from my iPhone that doesn't like me.

 

[AlecFish]

I'll be as polite, blunt, and honest as possible in regards to a direct answer to your question. In actuality, there is no tank, whether smaller or larger that is easier to maintain. If there were one to exist, everyone would have the same exact tank. The only tank that would fit your description of "easier to maintain" is one of the 11 empty tanks sitting in my garage collecting dust.


Sent from my iPhone that doesn't like me.

I was hoping I'd find out a way to not get this answer. But being realistic here it's the best thing to do.

I appreciate all the feedback on this thread, but I can't ignore the obvious.


If you were in my situation would you sell everything or store it?

 

[bigdaddymagnum]

in short , it looks like no matter what tank size you get or filtration setup and equipment you get the same attention and maintinance will be called for....

 

[treemanone2003]

I was hoping I'd find out a way to not get this answer. But being realistic here it's the best thing to do.

I appreciate all the feedback on this thread, but I can't ignore the obvious.


If you were in my situation would you sell everything or store it?

I wasn't trying to come across as rude or impolite, but just my honest thought. The fact that you care enough to ask the question before it becoming a nightmare shows your dedication, and that's what makes the difference in my book.

If I were in your shoes, I would break it down and hold on to everything. We all know that you can't replace it for the same price you paid for it, and everybody is looking for the best deal when buying it. I don't think your parents would sell your room when you leave so it'll probably be very safe where it is. Just empty. As I said earlier, I've got 11 in my garage collecting some dust. Just waiting for the time that I purchase my own place and I am not a renter. Then it's all getting put to great use. If I moved to my own place today, I'd have 15 tanks going. A 10g being the smallest and a 265g being the biggest. Until I could get the 300g I desire, lol.


Sent from my iPhone that doesn't like me.

 

[Fishfur]

I"d say the same. So long as you have a place to store it that's not costing you money, keep it. With any luck you'll be able to get back into the hobby in a few years.

And if it turns out to be awhile longer than you expected or hoped, well, there are always ways to sell stuff and it is all replaceable. For more money, of course, but there's little that is truly irreplaceable.

I carted my empty 29G tank and gear around with me for years before I finally decided letting it go was easier than lugging it from one place to another. It was going to get broken eventually. So I sold it all.

When I finally could get back into the hobby, I started by buying used stuff, and really, it did not cost me very much, nothing like as much as new. Of course it's not what you wanted, but life is going to keep giving you hard decisions to make. They're just part of the deal.

 

[AlecFish]

Thanks for the help. I respect the honesty, no sugar coating things.

I'm super devoted into this hobby, and I really only started this thread to get a plan for when the time does come. Ultimately I knew what would have to happen. I was just trying to get some outside opinions rather than just arguing with myself.

As far as all my plants and fish, craigslist or getting them rehomed at the local pet shop is what I'm planning on doing.

 

[bigdaddymagnum]

im sure other users on this forum would give your fish a good home rather random craigslist

 

[Fishfur]

It's nice to see someone who has at least planned for this ahead of time. Even though you hoped somebody had a magic solution, which is totally understandable, you're facing reality.

That's a lesson nobody can learn too early. I hope your education is a great success and you are able to enjoy the hobby again sooner rather than later.

 

[emeraldking]

To answer your thread question, IMO smaller tanks are not harder or easier to a degree. Smaller tanks have a tendency to "crash" easier if that's what you're looking for. It really depends on the time you can commit to it.

True! That's the problem with smaller tanks that they tend to crash easier! I totally agree with you...

 

[dalto]

True! That's the problem with smaller tanks that they tend to crash easier! I totally agree with you...

Other than an overlarge bio-load what factors do you believe causes a smaller tank to crash? For that matter, what do you mean by "crash"?

 

[aqua_holic]

You beat me to it dalto

 

[PB_Smith]

Other than an overlarge bio-load what factors do you believe causes a smaller tank to crash? For that matter, what do you mean by "crash"?

it really is rather simple.

In a smaller volume of water any contaminates are more greatly concentrated and parameters can more quickly and broadly go wrong if something such as a death or power loss of even a couple of hours happens.
Even with an appropriate bio-load, in the event of something like a power loss, a ten gallon will go bad a lot faster and more dramatically than a 100 gallon tank with appropriate bio-load.


That is the principle behind sump systems, sumps provide a greater total water volume than the display tank itself can and therefore reduce the overall concentration of any waste or contaminant and that it turn also helps prevent any problems where the BB colonies are overloaded by the concentration of waste in the water.

some of the most successful reef systems have sumps that are 1/2 or more of the display tank volume and I'm willing to bet that if you kept all the same filtration but just removed the extra water volume, those tanks wouldn't be enjoying the water quality that they do.

 

[emeraldking]

I mean by "crash" that a total inbalance "can" occur wether that's by a overlarge bio-load, temperature or something else. There are plural causes to consider in order to let a tank crash. Smaller tanks are in general a bit more sensitive to changes...

I have several sizes of tanks overhere. I do have to admit that my smaller tanks are still doing okay. But yes, also I have had more relevant problems in the past with the smaller ones in comparison to the larger ones.

At this point all my tanks are in good balance.