Lazy_Loach Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 Hi All, I am looking to put together a new tank (from scratch) and am looking for something low maintenance...weekly water changes and occasional trimming plants and fishing out a corpse now and then are about the limit...I'm looking for something you set up and then pretty much don't need to touch. Granted I probably won't get there, but that's not going to stop me trying. If you want to know what I have now you can see my little intro blurb thing here - http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=52596. Now for scope (stuff we know): 1. The new tank will be around 400L (to be built), providing a block of water measuring roughly 1.4m long, 0.5m wide and 0.6m deep. 2. The new tank will have a Fluval FX-5 filter (already have a brand new one on the way) 3. It will be freshwater...as far as I can tell while utterly awesome to look at salt water doesn't have any potential to be "low maintenance" 4. Pretty much everything else is up for discussion! The first question then is - What kind of fish? Should I create another community tank, or should I create a Cichlid tank? If I do community then it is pretty straightforward, if I do Cichlids then how much do I need to worry about hardness, pH, and midnight massacres? Certainly Cichlids are interesting fish, particularly if they breed, and their colours can be amazing...though I've already noticed that only the dominant fish *really* shine....the rest just tend to be a bit more dull coloured... Once we've sorted the kind of critters we think would be best we can talk about the fish themselves (which flavours are yummy), stocking rates, planted vs non-planted, tips on filter configuration, pros and cons of CO2 injection (if applicable - not much point for plastic plants), the best way to architect the tank to hide all the pipes and tubes, and no doubt various hare-brained schemes for keeping the effort factor low...it could well become an interesting thread! So lets start there - Will it be a) Community, b) Cichlid, or c)Something else? Which option provides the best outright "minimum maintenance solution" and is there any option which is a little more work but that would result in a better overall outcome? Looking forward to the responses! The Lazy Loach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 African tanks tend to just have rocks and an air stone or 3 and maybe a little gravel. I can't think of anything more basic than that. With an fx5 you won't have underfiltration issues so a weekly water change should sort out any other issues that come up. Africans are definitely colourful but not necessarily for everyone - I'm more of a south american man but I may be swayed one day. Otherwise a planted tank planted with stem plants only in shallow gravel/sand should suffice for low maintenance. You might have to attack the plants once a month or 2 with a chain saw/hedge trimmer but other than that weekly water changes would be all that's required. Then you could have anything that doesn't destroy plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfishybuisness Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 Hi and welcome, low maintenace all depends on the fish and plants, i would go for a community planted tank with sword plants, tiger lotus and maybe some val and crypts, as for fish there is 4 basic types need for low maintenace , algae eaters (bristlenose,whiptail,siamese algae eaters) then clean up crew (cories ,loaches) then the main fish (angels, gouramis, anything that is a centre place fish ) then last of all the sub -main fish ( usual choosen from the main fish, for example i had discus so i have rams and rummery nose as mine ) ok is that enough 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 Just go for the 'zen' look. Bare bottom tank. One niiiiice piece of driftwood in the middle. Either a school of small fish (neons maybe?) or one big fish which has personality (an oscar perhaps? I don't know what your dimensions are so I won't recommend anything bigger for now lol). If your filter current is positioned correctly, most or all of the poo and leftover food should be sucked up by the intake. All you need to do is a water change (without vacuuming!) every week and some filter maintenance every month or so and you'll be sorted. I personally feel that anything with plants in it is "high maintenance" because you have to add ferts and you have to trim, which makes it messy, etc. (But that's just me.) This is something I googled, kinda what I meant with the driftwood look: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 If you want low maintenance and good colour/bang for your buck get africans you can create an awesome display very easily (and most fish will colour up well if you stock it correctly just do some google image searches or look on you-tube). Maintenance wise on a tank that size when it is fully established and cycled etc even with 50odd adult africans in it I have pushed water changes out to 30% with water straight out of the hose every 3 weeks.. But always try and do them weekly, filter clean every 6-12 months and scrap some algae off the front occasionally as required, doesn't get much easier than that. Regarding the PH and hardness and stuff, just chuck the right substrate/rocks in and it will sort it out for you, they are very hardy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 filter clean every 6-12 months After about a month my triple layer fine filter wool gets so gunked up it takes me 4-5 bucket loads of old tank water to get it "clean".. I can't imagine if I'd left it for a year! :nilly: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 If you really want low maintenance - do a fully planted tank. My thread here, and I can guarantee that if you do everything right from the start it will be the easiest tank in the world to maintain. http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=45578 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 After about a month my triple layer fine filter wool gets so gunked up it takes me 4-5 bucket loads of old tank water to get it "clean".. I can't imagine if I'd left it for a year! :nilly: FX5 has quite coarse sponges so it can easily go 6-12 months without a clean When you have 10+ canisters running it pays to have them as low maintenance as possible the gunk is good.. I usually leave my ones with filter wool around the same length of time and still have good flow when I do clean them out.. Yeah a planted tank would be a good option, but it is always the issue of getting it balanced and ferts and lighting and CO2 and then pruning the plants and worrying about algae and stuff if it goes bad.. Really depends what you like I guess I should try a planted tank sometime but suspect it would just turn green on me.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 I should try a planted tank sometime but suspect it would just turn green on me.. Agree.. I just stick with what I'm good at lol. No point screwing up the entire tank, I reckon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 Agree.. I just stick with what I'm good at lol. No point screwing up the entire tank, I reckon! Well, I've got a big green tank at the moment and I'm hoping to prove that by adding ferts instead of hoping for the best green algae is a thing of the past. It's definitely NOT low maintenance though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshlikesfish Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 Could always try goldfish :nilly: Lots of driftwood, some rocks, and some easy to grow plants like ambulia and java fern may be an idea? Makes for a simple and easy to maintain community. Also keep the stocking low if you want it to be really easy. I wouldn't suggest a heavily planted tank. If it goes wrong, it really goes wrong Thats just my experience though. Africans as mentioned before are another option. They can be rather colorful and active. I personally prefer dwarf cichlids but everybody has their thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreams Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 This is something I googled, kinda what I meant with the driftwood look: That is a beautiful tank! though I'd rearrange the driftwood and probably put in some peat to saturate the water brown...then you would have a low maintenance bio type (btw, are those real altum angels? wish we had those in nz!) I'm gonna agree that planted tanks utilising Co2 and bright lights are not low maintenance tanks. But a planted tank with low light levels and slow growing plants (java fern, moss, crypts etc.) can be low maintenance Otherwise, you can't really beat African tanks for their colour and fish that go around trying to beat each other up all day! :thup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 That is a beautiful tank! though I'd rearrange the driftwood and probably put in some peat to saturate the water brown...then you would have a low maintenance bio type (btw, are those real altum angels? wish we had those in nz!) I'm gonna agree that planted tanks utilising Co2 and bright lights are not low maintenance tanks. But a planted tank with low light levels and slow growing plants (java fern, moss, crypts etc.) can be low maintenance Otherwise, you can't really beat African tanks for their colour and fish that go around trying to beat each other up all day! :thup: Just a note that if you want to go for a simple tank interior, try to use a sump so that you can hide all your heaters/ thermometer/ pumps etc. Just one pipe out and one hose in.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshlikesfish Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 Just one pipe out and one hose in.. You can even hide the overflow like with David R's big tank :nilly: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazy_Loach Posted May 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 Great feedback everyone thanks! Haven't had as much time as I would have liked so that I could post lots of replies...but then the lack of time is *why* I'm looking for low maintenance! The_Obstacle - I like Africans - the behaviour is much more interesting than simple schooling fish...but they can be a bit messy looking at the few I have in my smaller tank. So if I go down that path (and it is likely that I will) I will need to find a way to keep the mess low either by preventing settling of rubbish to the bottom or finding something that will clean up after them without getting slaughtered. myfishybuisness - Good plan to have a mix of fish so that all the tasks are taken care of...I kind of have this in my community tank already and it seems to work well. If I went down an African path what would the equivalent set up be then? Ally07 - Very cool tank, but too much Zen for me I think. I was thinking about the minimalist approach and while it could be cool for a smaller tank (like one of those new Fluval Chi tanks) I think it could be a wee bit austere for a 400L tank... but still cool - I haven't seen many tanks that aren't massively hardscaped or planted like a jungle so it was nice to see the other end of the scale... As for sump, I thought about that but since I've got an FX-5 on the way I'm kind of committed to 'no sump'. Where is "David R's tank" that you refer to? ryanjury - A short post, but it definitely pushed me towards the Africans. What have you got in your tank? What kind of hardscaping? phoenix44 - Awesome tank, but I think such a heavily planted tank won't work that well for me seeing as how I am already struggling with the plants I have and the rotten black algae that grows all over them. Apparently a symptom on low nutrients (have loads of nitrate obviously) but maybe not enough of the rest. What else do I add? Excel is keeping it from getting worse but the plants do not thrive... Also I hear that Africans are like sheep...so heavily planted my not be that cool. However, I loved your tank and despite contemplating having a tank with no plants all...or cough...just plastics ones that I can bleach...I think I will stick with plants after all....so if I need something hardy and vigorous...and great at mopping up nitrates what would your suggestions be? joshlikesfish - I go some ambulia from the petshop some months ago and all it did was break off and float around for a while before it pretty much died off or got eaten. To be fair as I wrote to phoenix44 it could be that I need to feed my plants... My African tank came with java fern stuck to this cool hunk of wood...but it isn't that happy either...lots of it has broken off over the months...it isn't dying, but it isn't exactly growing like topsy either... So, it has been a week and here we are with the state of play: 1. Looks like it will be Africans 2. Light-medium planting to keep it interesting So other than what fish and plants the next question is - tank landscaping? I've got some stick on backgrounds on my two tanks but they keep peeling off (even when stuck on with Vaseline)...so I've looked around and basically there are the following options: 1. More of the same 2. Nothing (see through tank) 3. Paint the back of the tank (e.g. black) 4. DIY 3D Background (e.g. polystyrene + epoxy resin) 5. Commercial 3D background I'm not sold on (1) as this is already driving me nuts, nor am I keen on (2) as that is why I got a stick on background to begin with. Painting the tank back is easy, relatively cheap, and low maintenance...but not necessarily 'attractive'.... Options 4 and 5 are the same though (4) is a lot of work while (5) is a lot of money. I don't know how durable such a solution would be - polystyrene just wants to float and there is ongoing concern in relation to the durability of such backgrounds...apparently if your tank has a resident pleco or similar the background can get seriously damaged when they decide to have a good suck on it.... Suggestions? Once the background is decided this leads on to the rest of the interior.... Thanks all for the help so far! LL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted May 17, 2011 Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 http://www.designsbynature.net for all your background needs (they ship to NZ) if you just want to buy one that looks awesome up front. Also - there's a way to make a set of pipes for in/just under the gravel that blows water upwards on different angles which should keep the mess floating above the substrate until it gets sucked into the filter inlet. I'll see if I can find some examples and get back to you... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted May 17, 2011 Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 any africans will be an easy care tank if you have plenty of filtration. my 2.0m tang tank only takes 30 mins out of my week for maintenance & i have plants to. i feed in the morning & night & do a 30% water change once a week. Once a month to 6 weeks I clean out the filters as I feed heavily which takes around 30 mins & all is well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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