Are larger tanks easier to care for?
- Thread starter Pandamania
- Start date
I had a filter turning my 20 gallon salt about 12x an hour. I can honestly say it was still the most difficult tank I've ever kept. Filtration is one thing. Salinity is another. Very hard to keep that stable in a small tank. By contrast my 180 salt was one of the easiest I've kept.
I think the gap narrows a bit when keeping freshwater, but I still find larger tanks are more stable and changes happen more gradually.
I think the gap narrows a bit when keeping freshwater, but I still find larger tanks are more stable and changes happen more gradually.
With small tanks, you need more care. But they can be stable. Again, any error one may make on a smaller tank is amplified.
Alwayswantedadragon;5080978; said:
Of course they are--if you are talking about same stocking. If the stocking is the same, the nitrate concentration will be less in the larger tank. The same amount of nitrates will be produced in either the large or small tank...it will just be diluted more in the larger tank. Of course, most people start adding more fish when they get a bigger tank, so this wouldn't be true then.
I spend way more time chaning the water etc on my large tanks than small ones... sure, its much easier to keep small tanks stable but larger tanks have a lot more work involved.
Good old loaded question! From a maintenance aspect I say smaller is easier. Would you rather gravel vac 2 square feet or 12? Same with cleaning glass and changing water. Smaller filters take less time to clean. Larger tanks are much more resistant to parameters change and owner error. So if your keeping something delicate the larger volume will help keep parameters from fluctuating making your life easier. However when that big tank gets out of whack it can require a lot of work and water to get it back. Ive gone through $75 worth of salt and 200g of RO/DI water in a week to fix my mistake a couple times. Over coming the small tanks stability issue is an easy remedy and only about $40, auto top off unit. Personally I consider the 2 ATO that I own worth more than there weight in gold, just need 6 more. Wanna take easy to the next level? Get some better gear. Continuous water change setup, dosing pumps, aquarium controllers. Making life easier is what tech is for. How do you think these guys keep 300g pristine hard coral reefs? Technology! I think the freshwater side of the hobby is behind in the aquarium hobby tech. Ph probe tied to a controller and dosing pump to add peat water as needed sound good to anyone? Granted that most freshwater fish will thrive so long as you actually do your water changes rather than say you do. Lets face it the biggest problem is that 50% of fish keeper lie about how often and how large of a water change they do. Take a nitrate kit with you on your next purchase from a hobbyist and watch them squirm when you say you want to test their water before you pay. Thanks for lettiing me rant.
Joe
Joe
pacu mom;5081586; said:
+1
Couldn't agree more. Of course like you mentioned most people stock up so it doesn't work out that way... well that and fish grow
My 135G can go a couple of weeks without a water change, where as the exact same fish in a 40G required 3 a week
