Low maintenance setup suggestions

[Raka]

Duckweed will be your best friend.

I personally have hated the roots dangleing down from the surface but have found that will a good surface current that the roots only grow about a .5 in compaired to the 2-3 in standard.

You cant kill it as far as Im aware. even have it growing in 1.005 - 1.008 brackish, not thriving but definitely multiplying. Usually Java ferms just die very slowly over 6 to 8 months between the salt and puffer bites.

I have a nice top layer on my 55 and it keeps a 12+in sailfin, 2 clowns, and 4 bristle nose at 0ppm indefinitely as far as I can tell. Have held 0ppms (tested at multiple sources) for 14 days straight under heavy daily feedings. My fiancee has a water changeless 10gal nano setup with about 60 fish that hasnt shown nitrate in a year.

An airstone behind the "waterfall" on my HOB keep the duckweed on the surface and out of the water column.

HOWEVER, its called aquarium herpes for a reason, so be aware if you add it to a tank it will likely always have it and it spreads very easily to other tanks.

 

[characinkid]

Ive done this before and reduced stock levels and redundant filtration where my friends. I basically had at least 2 types of filtration on each tank such as air driven sponge and HOB(incase one stopped/broke while I was away) and low stocking to reduce bioload and aggression. Its NOT easy selling/giving away your favorite fish, but you will be happy when you come home and the ones you have are happy/healthy!

 

[Backfromthedead]

Duckweed will be your best friend.

I personally have hated the roots dangleing down from the surface but have found that will a good surface current that the roots only grow about a .5 in compaired to the 2-3 in standard.

You cant kill it as far as Im aware. even have it growing in 1.005 - 1.008 brackish, not thriving but definitely multiplying. Usually Java ferms just die very slowly over 6 to 8 months between the salt and puffer bites.

I have a nice top layer on my 55 and it keeps a 12+in sailfin, 2 clowns, and 4 bristle nose at 0ppm indefinitely as far as I can tell. Have held 0ppms (tested at multiple sources) for 14 days straight under heavy daily feedings. My fiancee has a water changeless 10gal nano setup with about 60 fish that hasnt shown nitrate in a year.

An airstone behind the "waterfall" on my HOB keep the duckweed on the surface and out of the water column.

HOWEVER, its called aquarium herpes for a reason, so be aware if you add it to a tank it will likely always have it and it spreads very easily to other tanks.

I have read about duckweed and wouldnt mind it. Thats where i got the idea about the dwarf water lettuce. I had heard it was a larger version of duckweed that sucked up even more nitrate.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Ive done this before and reduced stock levels and redundant filtration where my friends. I basically had at least 2 types of filtration on each tank such as air driven sponge and HOB(incase one stopped/broke while I was away) and low stocking to reduce bioload and aggression. Its NOT easy selling/giving away your favorite fish, but you will be happy when you come home and the ones you have are happy/healthy!

I hear ya. I know im pretty heavily stocked but im not of the opinion that i need to rehome to make it work. I'll be checking parameters regularly and if its getting out of hand I'll consider it for sure.

 

[ReApEr666]

setup autodrips... and never look back... i havent done a w/c in over 6 yrs... i clean filters maybe 1-2 times a year. Lowest matinence u could have. Filtration becomes less of an issue also. Ive run autodrips on tanks with sponge filters, canisters, hob’s and of course sumps.

 

[ryang85]

I have my tanks pretty much self operating so I can leave for 2 or 3 weeks without being serviced. And they are both overstocked african cichlid tanks.
I built a nitrate reactor( I have a thread going about it right now in the filter section) and it handles nitrates so your high bio load will be fine. Get an auto doser for that and youl be able to last weeks without water changes. If not I've had good luck with clamping swiss cheese plant in a plastic pot on the side of the tank with a desk light to keep down nitrates. I also have auto feeders I got cheep from Amazon which work great for long trips. Make sure to adjust them perfect since they are finicky. Then all my lighting is on smart plugs which are cheaper and better than timers and I can control the timers from my phone.

I put a lot of time into my fish to keep the tanks pristine and do improvements but in reality I could spend 20 minutes weekly doing water changes and topping off the auto feeders and doser and the fish would be just as healthy.

A wifi camera would make me feel better about equipment failure since that is the only thing that worrys me.

 

[Raka]

I have read about duckweed and wouldnt mind it. Thats where i got the idea about the dwarf water lettuce. I had heard it was a larger version of duckweed that sucked up even more nitrate.

Nitrate consumption is usually tied to growth rates so the faster growing the better, Ie pothos in high light setups.

 

[Backfromthedead]

I have my tanks pretty much self operating so I can leave for 2 or 3 weeks without being serviced. And they are both overstocked african cichlid tanks.
I built a nitrate reactor( I have a thread going about it right now in the filter section) and it handles nitrates so your high bio load will be fine. Get an auto doser for that and youl be able to last weeks without water changes. If not I've had good luck with clamping swiss cheese plant in a plastic pot on the side of the tank with a desk light to keep down nitrates. I also have auto feeders I got cheep from Amazon which work great for long trips. Make sure to adjust them perfect since they are finicky. Then all my lighting is on smart plugs which are cheaper and better than timers and I can control the timers from my phone.

I put a lot of time into my fish to keep the tanks pristine and do improvements but in reality I could spend 20 minutes weekly doing water changes and topping off the auto feeders and doser and the fish would be just as healthy.

A wifi camera would make me feel better about equipment failure since that is the only thing that worrys me.

The pot idea is really great. I might have to try that with some window planters i have and pothos.

 

[Rocksor]

If the pothos is in the aquarium and not in a sump, the sevs will gladly eat its roots and any leaves in the water. Not to worry, it's not poisonous to them and possibly not to any herbivorous fish. I know folks that think pothos is poisonous to fish because it's poisonous to cats/dogs.

 

[ryang85]

If the pothos is in the aquarium and not in a sump, the sevs will gladly eat its roots and any leaves in the water. Not to worry, it's not poisonous to them and possibly not to any herbivorous fish. I know folks that think pothos is poisonous to fish because it's poisonous to cats/dogs.

if its left in the pots the roots dont hang out where the fish cant get them.