# Low maintenance betta tank advice.



## Mokom (Jul 28, 2016)

Hey guys,

A couple of years ago me, my dad, and my sister decided to get an aquarium for our living room to brighten it up a bit. It is a 270 litre (71-ish gallon) curved fish tank. 

In its prime we had 4 Discuss, 4 Angels, 6 tetras and a catfish. However maintence was fairly high, a water change took about an hour, while elegant, the curved design was clumbersome. After I got a job, the time i had for maintaing the tank pretty much went to zero. 
(The tank in its prime)
http://i.imgur.com/W5CcaFO.jpg



Anyway, today the aquarium is in a sorry state, most of the fish were sold or died, and the light bulb is broken. I plan on redoing the tank by setting it up to be as low maintenace as possible. Using a small amount of bettas (6 females I heared is reccomended). I also wish for a single Ghost shrimp if possible.

I'm looking for as much advice and tips as possible on this setup, thanks. :smile2:


----------



## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

> Using a small amount of bettas (6 females I heared is reccomended). I also wish for a single Ghost shrimp if possible.


Get lots of low maintenance plants Annubias Blue Stricta Water Sprite Crypts, The only thing I do in my tanks is change water, I do not vacuum the substrate, I do not use fertilizer or CO2, All I do is feed the fish and change 50% of the water once a week, Is your tank cycled.

If you want 6 females this is the minimum amount of plants you need.


----------



## Mokom (Jul 28, 2016)

Currently it's pretty much an empty tank. I will need to refill it first with well water. Regarding the water change, I didn't have time to change 25% of the water monthly, 50% weekly is just impossible for me. I belive I can
leave the tank for a month or 2 by keeping the fish count low in a big tank (overfilter and under stock). Also whle I do wish for live plants. I don't have to nowlage or time to maintain them properly.


----------



## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

Fish need regular water changes to stay healthy , If you cant spare 15 minutes a week to change water and 10 minutes every few months to trim the plants fish keeping is not for you.


----------



## Mokom (Jul 28, 2016)

it used to take me an hour to change 70 litres of water. If there is a way to speed up the process I tell me.


----------



## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Wonderful tank, my best friend has the same for her fancy goldfish!

Have you heard of the Python Water changers? This is a small one: https://www.amazon.com/25-Foot-Python-Aquarium-Maintenance/dp/B000255NXC
They can be a bit expensive but so worth it if you don't have much time at all! It hooks up to your sink (some sinks are incompatible unfortunately) and siphons the water out directly to the sink and then fills the same way from the tap! You can put your water conditioner in the tank before filling and treat the whole tank so the fish aren't hurt. There are knock off brands of this hose as well that you can find, I know Aqueon has one as well. But that's one way of doing a change.

It is important to change the water at least weekly 10-20% roughly depending on your stock level. Even if you get live plants, those will take care of the ammonia and nitrate, but if you don't do water changes then the hardness in your tank increases and increases. Too much GH (general hardness) can cause dead in certain fish such as Corydoras and Tetras as they are softwater fish. And then of course, your mulm and detritus also increases without a good cleaning. So cleaning is necessary unfortunately but that's part of fish keeping. With only 6 female Betta's, you could get away with 10-15% cleaning instead which should be shorter time, but it's still necessary.

I would actually skip the Betta's, sorority's generally do not last very long and especially if there are not enough plants in the tank. You'd have to reach the level that Nick's plants are at before adding female Betta. They are aggressive and they are territorial, the issue is is that their territories are at the top of the tank and without cover up there, it will become a blood bath eventually or they will all succumb to diseases which is the main cause of death in sororities. Instead, go with a big group of Tetra's or something. A huge school of Cardinal tetra's look amazing in such a large tank! If you're set on the girls, then fine, just make sure you get floating plants and tall plants to help break up sight lines and territories.


----------



## mingking (Mar 7, 2016)

Maybe you can start with just a planted tank and no fish until you have the time to do weekly water changes. But then you would have to dose ferts more frequently and in bigger amounts. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## NiceCrocs (May 14, 2016)

Short answer; every size and stockage of tank NEEDS at least weekly maintence.

the only kind of pet that doesn't is a pet rock.


----------



## fernielou (May 19, 2015)

lilnaugrim mentioned the python...I noticed my petsmart store has started clearancing the gravel vacuum that is normally $60 for $15. I almost got it. 

I would not get ONE ghost shrimp. They feel better in groups, they're very cheap, and their bioload is low any way. 


water changes are a drag. carrying and sloshing water sucks. I don't know if it's possible, but one time I had my tank close enough I could run the vacuum to a toilet or sink and then I only had to worry about carrying the fresh water to the tank and not sloshing the poopy water.


----------



## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I personally disagree that ALL tanks need weekly maintenance. If you are truly interested in a very low maintenance tank, check out the 'Walstad Method'. I believe once the tank is established, there's no need for frequent water changes.

However, I do think that not every species of fish will be suitable for this style of tank, and not every plant will thrive. So you would have to do some reading to figure out what will work best.


----------

