Back after a Loooooong time away from fishkeeping.

[xxBarneyxx]

So after a really long time away from fishing keeping and this forum we have decided to get back into it.

Nothing special or fancy (we just do not have the space) just a little 50L Low tech planted community tank. I have done a lot with both freshwater and marine in the past but never done a low tech version of a planted tank before so will be something a little different. I had a dig around in my storage box of "fish bits" and actually had enough aquasoil left over from old high tech tanks. We got a cheapo LED light off amazon and I have enough filters sitting around to filter this tank 1000 times over. Just waiting for a bit of cash now to pick up some plants then the joy of fishless cycling and algae blooms for a month or so while we get it up and running.

Going to have a poke about on facebook as well and see if there is anyone local willing to donate some filter media and plant cuttings to maybe speed things up a bit.

Going to be strange to have a comparatively easy tank compared to what I have done in the past but I'm actually really excited for it. Just going to have to remind myself that there is only space for 1 small tank.....

 

[Circus]

Welcome to the Forum!

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Welcome back to the forum!

You still have that 100g reef up and running?

 

[I Like Rare Fish]

Nice! Welcome back

 

[itiwhetu]

Welcome, looking forward to following your journey.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Welcome and I look forwards to seeing and hearing about your new tank, even though low tech is simple enough but there’s a lot to enjoy from having a low tech tank.

At least saves the headaches and pulling out your hair of figuring when things are going wrong with high tech set ups (which they often too in my experience!) which can be difficult to figure out exactly what’s wrong.

Hope you can resist the MTS…….

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Welcome to the madhouse.......ah yes....that "only room for a small one"....yep....been there, done that and now have 5 "small ones" and thinking about a 6th "if that chest of drawers could maybe move just a little tiny bit to the right"

One small aquarium and that MTS itch starts to happen...guaranteed

 

[ClownLurch]

Welcome.
Silent cycling is the way.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Silent cycling is the way.

Why?

Not being obtuse or anything, just curious as to why you advocate silent cycling compared to the Fishless cycling method?

 

[xxBarneyxx]

You still have that 100g reef up and running?

Unfortunately not. We had to move house a few times and in the end it was just too much. I do really miss it though but space, money and energy are in too short supply at the moment for going back down that route. I will be lurking the marine sections though to live vicariously through everyone else

Welcome.
Silent cycling is the way.

I have run mature planted tanks with quite heavy fishloads and no filtration. It had better water quality then a lot of tanks I run with lower loads and expensive filtration. However I don't feel comfortable with doing a silent cycle. Yes in terms of Ammonia & Nitrite removal it may well work, if you have all the planted side of things spot on. However a mature/stable tank is about more than just the nitrogen cycle in my opinion.

If I had a LOT of established plants to hand at the start and knew exactly what I was doing I might consider it. I'm working off 15 year old knowledge though and a bunch of plants coming from ebay which may or may not be of decent quality so think I will just stick with the standard fishless cycle for now as there is less chance of me screwing something up .

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Why?

Not being obtuse or anything, just curious as to why you advocate silent cycling compared to the Fishless cycling method?

Oooh! Ooooh! Me! Me!

My favourite method of setting up a tank and does away with all that faffing about with artificially-added ammonia, with specific timings and such guff...and it never, ever puts a fish under stress, for the sake of impatience...if done properly. I found the standard fishless cycling more like an extended chemistry lesson than actual fishkeeping and aquarium building. At the end of it, you then and fish and plants together? Then plants die and you end up re-arranging, with more stressful disruption to the fish.

I can see the attraction of other methods, if your finished tank is going to be plant-free, but for those of us who appreciate the natural qualities of real plants in the tank, the sooner you start the plants growing, the better.
It also means you can mess around positioning to your heart's content, without stressing fish and, if you're unlucky with plants, you can plant a load, see what survives, remove those that don't and buy some more of those that survived...simples!

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Unfortunately not. We had to move house a few times and in the end it was just too much. I do really miss it though but space, money and energy are in too short supply at the moment for going back down that route. I will be lurking the marine sections though to live vicariously through everyone else

I completely understand!

This is mine if you’re interested: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/29g-saltwater-nano-tank.471210/#post-4043346

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Welcome back to the forum and the hobby!

If you can manage to create a stunning marine tank like the one in your siggy, then you'll have no problems with a low tech nano! I love my low tech 60 Litres. Not as breathtaking as a gorgeously pristine aquascaped hi-tech, but a lot less money and stress, and with a natural beauty of their own

This might be a problem though;

Welcome to the madhouse.......ah yes....that "only room for a small one"....yep....been there, done that and now have 5 "small ones" and thinking about a 6th "if that chest of drawers could maybe move just a little tiny bit to the right"

One small aquarium and that MTS itch starts to happen...guaranteed

In the same boat! Only planned for one 60 L, got another then another, ended up with four running tanks and spares. Finally shifted stock around and dismantled one tank, but getting the yen to set up another. It's a real sickness!

Hope to be able to follow your journey as you set up and get it going, always good to have new members too!

 

[Slaphppy7]

Welcome back to fishkeeping.

 

[BLK]

Welcome! I’ve recently joined this forum too. Happy Fishkeeping!