All Plants No Fish?

[penguinpimp1990]

just wondering if anyone here has a tank solely dedicated to plants, with no fish. I think it would be kinda cool to see a massive messy forest of plants, colors, and decor everywhere.

 

[phoenixfire]

i have not but it sounds like a pretty cool idea...it would be very fun to arrange these plants...could make some awesome aquascape...and not have to worry about fish messing it up...i give it a thumbs up...i have a spare ten gallon maybe i will try it?

 

[mitchie]

Most of the expert tanks are more of planted tanks with fish rather than fish tank with plants. If you want just plants, plant a garden

 

[Discomafia]

i have not but it sounds like a pretty cool idea...it would be very fun to arrange these plants...could make some awesome aquascape...and not have to worry about fish messing it up...

Interesting thread.

The good thing about it is that you wouldn't have to worry about messing fish up either...

This could happen from unstable/unhealthy parameters, high CO2 levels, less surface agitation, stress when re-arranging plants/hardscape... But if you ask me, I'm sure many people have done so in the past, having a planted tank with no fish I mean. It means you have more room to cause errors/mistakes, so the fish don't have to suffer.

Also, there is a difference between someone who is planning to hold off the fish in the tank until it and the plants mature, or the attempted aquascape is completed, and then add the fish, OR simply not keep fish ever because it only "complicates" things.

Not sure if that contributed to the thread, but its something I just thought about.

 

[The-Wolf]

an all plant tank with no fish is known as a Dutch Aquarium
try doing a search for that on th net.
personally I can't see th point, may just as well go buy a yucca

 

[Discomafia]

I didn't know that Dutch style aquariums don't have fish... I'm pretty sure I've seen Dutch style aquascapes with fish... To the best of my knowledge, plants are the primary focus in Dutch style aquariums. Great care taken to conceal all equipment, and fish (schoals of tetra or whatever) are present just to complete the aquascape.

 

[George Farmer]

Non-fish planted tanks are possible, indeed some enthusiasts run these with great results. There was at least one non-fish entry in last year’s AGA contest. Obviously they’re not to everyone’s taste, most of us entered the planted tank hobby through the fishkeeping aspect first and to have a tank with no fish may appear a little odd.

There are some definite advantages though. Virtually no waste products, thus minimal algae risk (algae’s biggest trigger is ammonia/ammonium). No real filtration required, just some circulation to allow efficient transportation of nutrients. More emphasis on fert dosing is necessary, particularly due to the lack of nitrogen/phosphorous that is normally produced via fish food and waste but these can be easily dosed via KNO3 and KH2PO4. There's no limit on CO2 levels either, ensuring fast growth and limiting algae even furthur.

Dutch style tanks normally have fish, normally just one or two species. The oldest running aquascaping contest, Holland’s NBAT, is judged not only on plant health and composition but also on the health of the fish. The judges actually visit the tank owner’s homes, eliminating any cheating via photo alteration as well as getting a real perspective of one’s hard work.

 

[karlp]

As George says, this should theoretically be easier to get good results.

No fish means no waste and much less problems with algae

It also means no filter required, just something to move the water

You can run as much carbon dioxide as you like within the tollerances of the plants, although to be honest, if you don't have the problems with alae, I don't see the point in running high CO2, it makes for higher growth, but high maintenance. Providing you match it to the lighting it'll be OK.

However... have you thought of running an unusual fish species tank instead ? I've kept killifish a couple of times and in a single pair, they are beautiful interesting fish and make a great focal point for a planted tank. They like soft acid water, so take to carbon dioxide well and because you're only keeping a single pair, they put very little bio-load on the tank, until they breed of course but then they never breed to guppy proportions.

Try a single pair of Aphyosemion Australe or Gardneri.

 

[Mikaila31]

I just added fish to my first planted tank . It's been sitting for 4 weeks with just plants in it and the first question people ask when they looked at it was "where are the fish?". Most people think that if you have a fish tank you have fish in it. So IMO it makes more sense to keep fish and plants instead of just plants.

 

[bennett]

just keep a pleco in a planted tank. it would have a very similar affect

 

[frazoo]

my friend had a growing tank with only 2 guppy fry that he moved out as soon as you could easily see them mut now he has given up that idea. i personaly think it looked terribly but he did not take very good care of it so it looked bad. if you took care of it i bet it would be very nice thing