Your current Fish tank Setups!

utajoker · 11 May 2015 at 20:46

Looking for some ideas on what to do with a 15L tank i got free from practical fishkeeping magazine.

Its a superfish wave 15, comes with heater and filter. I used to run it as a pico tank with some basic corals in but when i moved house i shut down both of my salt water tanks.

Where i live now salt is not really an option. top floor apartment with not really any space for RO making and i don't fancy carrying water up 4 flights of stairs!

So fresh water! being 15L i don't think it will take any fish? prob just some cherry shrimp.

Any one any ideas on what i could go for? Minimum maintenance would be nice.

robfosters · 11 May 2015 at 20:55

A few plants and a collection of shrimp is about your limit with a 15l. A dark, almost black substrate looks better in a nano.

Treat it more like an aquagarden than an aquarium. Does it have filtration and lighting?

arc@css · 11 May 2015 at 21:00

Yeah, the only thing I'd be willing to add alongside plants would be shrimps.

utajoker · 11 May 2015 at 21:22

It has a filter which I think* gives about 15x turnover and led lighting (white and moon light).

I was most likley going to settle on a nice piece of wood and a few shrimp /plants
Any plant ideas for low maintenance?

ci_newman · 12 May 2015 at 02:21

The shrimps would probably love some java moss.

I've got one of these in my shrimp tank, although it's only been in there a week or so, so I can't tell you how well it'll last - http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/java-moss-shrimp-shelter-p-4280.html

Delvis · 12 May 2015 at 07:45

Shrimp tank? Never even contemplated the idea

Delvis · 12 May 2015 at 18:27

Lil update

Spook187 · 12 May 2015 at 19:27

rah^ said:
Looking good Spook - those new Redsea tanks are nice!

Thanks, have you got any pics of your tank without trawling through this thread to look for it

rah^ · 12 May 2015 at 20:09

Spook187 said:
Thanks, have you got any pics of your tank without trawling through this thread to look for it

Sure do pal - I'll get some more recent ones once the flatworm exit has been dosed and stuff returned to it!

This is not to long after we'd moved house (approx 1 month!) before deciding the tank needed to match the kitchen!

Spook187 · 12 May 2015 at 20:44

Very nice Rah

anything I don't mind · 12 May 2015 at 22:35

I was looking in to getting a fish tank recently, I have never had one before. Could anyone confirm if it is correct that basically the water would have to be manually dealt with every week or two to prevent problems with traditional filter systems and even including algae reducing plants. To me I thought that it would only be worth getting fish if i could setup an overflow and dripper system with constant water flow. The problem with that is having to tap in to the water supply which is not always easy. Can anyone confirm if the effort requires is every week or two having to clean out the water?

andy_mk3 · 12 May 2015 at 22:45

Depends on the size of tank and other things really. I have a ~120L tank with an in-tank filter with tropical fish. It requires very minimal maintenance, I'd say it gets a full clean out once every 6 months, and just a quick clean of the glass every few weeks. It pretty much looks after itself though.

I cleaned it out last week actually, takes a good few hours but makes a huge difference!

King4aDay · 12 May 2015 at 23:01

Well the monti seems to be stabilising... the white patches got slightly larger for a while but are now much less noticeable. Unfortunately it also seems to have stopped fluorescing so I guess it's bleached a bit? Nitrates are still around 10 but the phosphate is creeping down to approx 0.2-0.3.

In better news my boxer crab has recently moulted and is now much bigger and has retained his nems

I also bought a rather excellent feather duster for £8 attached to a 'dead' piece of coral... looks like some life there yet! ID?

arc@css · 13 May 2015 at 00:02

andy_mk3 said:
Depends on the size of tank and other things really. I have a ~120L tank with an in-tank filter with tropical fish. It requires very minimal maintenance, I'd say it gets a full clean out once every 6 months, and just a quick clean of the glass every few weeks. It pretty much looks after itself though.

I cleaned it out last week actually, takes a good few hours but makes a huge difference!

Is that a pictus catfish or columbian shark catfish in your photo?

arc@css · 13 May 2015 at 00:05

anything I don't mind said:
I was looking in to getting a fish tank recently, I have never had one before. Could anyone confirm if it is correct that basically the water would have to be manually dealt with every week or two to prevent problems with traditional filter systems and even including algae reducing plants. To me I thought that it would only be worth getting fish if i could setup an overflow and dripper system with constant water flow. The problem with that is having to tap in to the water supply which is not always easy. Can anyone confirm if the effort requires is every week or two having to clean out the water?

The best answer I can give, I'm afraid, is that it 'depends' on many factors; number & type of inhabitants / feeding / filtration, etc.

andy_mk3 · 13 May 2015 at 11:53

arc@css said:
Is that a pictus catfish or columbian shark catfish in your photo?

Pim pictus catfish, I have two of them

ci_newman · 13 May 2015 at 12:37

anything I don't mind said:
I was looking in to getting a fish tank recently, I have never had one before. Could anyone confirm if it is correct that basically the water would have to be manually dealt with every week or two to prevent problems with traditional filter systems and even including algae reducing plants. To me I thought that it would only be worth getting fish if i could setup an overflow and dripper system with constant water flow. The problem with that is having to tap in to the water supply which is not always easy. Can anyone confirm if the effort requires is every week or two having to clean out the water?

It all depends on what size of tank you had in mind.

A small 30L tank with a couple of small fish, yes you could probably get away with just regular water changes. A massive 300L tank would require far more regular maintenance as you'll have a large number of fish, you'd need live plants, CO2 etc

King4aDay · 13 May 2015 at 12:41

ci_newman said:
It all depends on what size of tank you had in mind.

A small 30L tank with a couple of small fish, yes you could probably get away with just regular water changes. A massive 300L tank would require far more regular maintenance as you'll have a large number of fish, you'd need live plants, CO2 etc

Not really. I have a 600l tank and occasional water changes are the sum total of the maintenance involved. And hacking the plants back every few months I suppose.

ci_newman · 13 May 2015 at 12:44

King4aDay said:
Not really. I have a 600l tank and occasional water changes are the sum total of the maintenance involved. And hacking the plants back every few months I suppose.

Sure, a well established tank tanks minimal maintenance but I bet it took a lot of work to get it to that stage

new tank owners are constantly fighting battles with getting tank balances right (i.e. algae, overfeeding, infestations) as it's such a huge learning curve

King4aDay · 13 May 2015 at 12:46

ci_newman said:
Sure, a well established tank tanks minimal maintenance but I bet it took a lot of work to get it to that stage new tank owners are constantly fighting battles with getting tank balances right (i.e. algae, overfeeding, infestations) as it's such a huge learning curve

Not really (again

). Just don't go crazy with the lighting, stock nice and slowly and don't neglect the water changes. 99% of people who run into problems probably ignore one of those 3.