fishrule101

Whats the hardest kind of FW tank to keep?? I know for SW its reef and expensive, but whats the FW version of a reef? Is it discus? I read they need high water temps. and very stable parameters.

pinkfloydpuffer

Umm... I dunno...
Maybe a high-light planted? Or brackish?
I dunno, just throwing stuff out there, lol.
Or do you mean hardest kind of freshwater fish to keep...?

Annadvn

A 1 gallon, as you can't heat, filter it or maintain water parameters easily.

As for type of fresh water fish i don't know.

Anna

joshthefisherman

probably discus or brackish any type of exotics such as elephant noses

angelfish220

In case you didnt notice he said FW which is fresh water not brackish

I dont know the hardest, but definately the most impressive is a hightec planted with discus or angels or maybe both if big enough.

fishrule101

I mean FW tank. Like cichilds, discus, or Amazon just to name a few. Fish that need to be kept in a species only tank. Its kinda depends on fish so i guess both: what kind of fish and tank. For example a bare bottom tank or high planted tank.

Slug

Lies lies all lies! Discus are like goldfish.

I'd say a heavily planted tank.

Coryd55

There are A LOT of fish that are hard to keep.

Many of the cichlids not very well known in the hobby can be hard to keep and need perfect parameters.

As well as many other species that aren't cichlids. Takes some patience and time to find them.

Don't keep something just because its hard though. Look for something you like. Then try it out. If you don't like it, sell it, and try something else.

pinkfloydpuffer

I don't know what the hardest ever would be to keep... but the hardest one I'd keep is an Amazon (aka South American) puffer tank. They like black water, it's probably be heavily planted with lots of hiding spaces, and their teeth grow so fast that even with snails daily you'll still have to manually clip them yourself (which is NOT fun)

Peterpiper

Ok, Im a SW person but my brother Tim has keeped FW tanks for 35 years, any way, Tim has always said that a heavy planted and mod stocked tank is hard. (Harder than SW he say's). This is true in the fact that if your going all the way and you want really healthy plants, you need CO2 and fertilizers etc.
But my take on "hardest" is the lack of knowledge of what is required to set up and maintain a type of tank. Without reseach and asking questions, keeping any tank will be hard work.
Remember that for every problem there is a reason, and prevention is better than cure

soldieroffortune1974

The hardest I have kept is my purple spotted gudgeon (Morgunda Adspersa),heavily planted aquarium. It's a species specific aquarium,and needs a lot of attention. Definitely not recommended for "amateurs"

Matt

Discus are the hardest IMO. They need lods of plants that are growing and veyr stable water parameters also they are very expensive here in Australia.

If u were talking about brackish aswell then maybe brackish

From Matt

pepetj

I totally agree that limited knowledge is what makes any tank harder. Keeping a tank with a wild caught and little known about species must be the hardest thing to do.

I guess too many factors weight differently as for individual cases, including our personalities. High tech is not necessarily what makes a tank harder to keep, it may indeed make it easier, just more expensive in energy and overhaul costs. Our attitude to do maintenance, another. I enjoy every bit of it, but I understand not everyone does.

My CO2 injected tanks are DIY models and that's harder to keep than pressurized.

Two major variables that can complicate or make things easier are the quality of our source water and the room environment ones such as temperature, humidity, exposure to sun light. I tamper with water parameters for my soft/acidic tanks (South American Cichlids, Bettas, Rasboras) but otherwise these water qualities are perfect for Rainbowfish and in the lower but safe range for some hard/alkaline fishes (African Cichlids). Since atmospheric humidity is somewhat elevated, I have little problems due to water evaporation. I have limited sun light exposure which makes algae problems a minor thing.

Discus may seem difficult to keep, but the more I read about it I keep finding otherwise. Rainbowfish seem easy ones, well, maybe for everyone else but me.

I am moving into Discus in a couple of months (understocked, well stablished soft/acidic tank, UV unit to aid in proper REDOX potential), their temperature requirements are not a concern for me: I live in the Caribbean, keeping a 30C (86F) tank is a piece of cake, you don't need to be picky about heaters, any one will do because room temp is most of the year-round really close to target temp. I use heater in one tank only, that's where I am raising a school of juveniles Silver Dollars. Tank temp there is steady at 28C (82.5F) with a 75W unit.

I keep Oscars, Severums, and Convicts in a moderately planted tank which is lo-light lo-tech. Not possible with all Oscars. Trial and error and accepting they are actively involved in aquascaping has been my key. Since Apple snails are not allowed to make gardening -they are eaten- a UV Sterilizer keeps algae problems away. Replacing a UV lamp twice a year is not what I would call hard; cleaning filter intakes on the other hand is sometimes an every-other day duty for me since plants' debries clogged them easily.

Rainbowfish tank, on the other hand: Out of 13 Glossolepis incisus (Red Salmon/Irian Red Rainbowfish) I have brought home, only three survive. I use a chiller to run that tank steady at 24-25C (75-77F) but also keep an eye on Dissolved Oxygen levels. Melanotaenia lacustris (Lake Kutubu/Turquoise Rainbowfish are also sensitive to temperature -although I only lost one out of 13 (two died due to an accident and I replaced them so I won't count them here), while Melanotaenia boesemani (Boesemani Rainbowfish) seem to tolerate higher temps.

I agree that smaller tanks are more difficult to keep than bigger ones, same goes for taller tanks.

I have my share of tiny tanks (0.26gal, 1gal, 5gal). The 1 liter tank is my brine/shrimp factory, the 1gal is just a multi-use item -baths, egg hatching, in-tank hospital room- and the 5 gal is mostly a hospital/quarantine but also like a spare room.

Sidenote: Studying fish profiles, reading others' experiences, aiming at extra-Filtration and avoiding overfeeding have been the most valuable things I have done to keep my tanks easy to keep.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

Fish Addict

Maybe heavily planted Oscar tank! You'd have to keep replanting to make up for what they shred...

Shawnie

in some of our dreams maybe!!!!!!

Red1313

A female betta sorority?
Probably one of the most often tank set-ups that end in tears and pain.

PepsiGirl71

Are you serious or joking about the Discus being like goldfish? If that is true then I'm getting them for my 90 gallon aquarium! I think you are joking though, right

Angela_96

I am going with Discus, they are high maintenence fish. They need freq waterchanges, perfect water conditions.

African cichilds are hard to keep due to aggressiveness, but after putting up w/ mandy different species of them and breeding them and having my first nano reef I can say their is no comparison. The cichilds are low maintence compared imo, unless you count stressing over a tank when they are in their skirmishes...

Slug

About 80% serious. I just don't find them hard at all. As long as you put some time and effort into your tank (not even that much) you can keep discus. All they require is some TLC, but any good fishkeeper gives that to all of their tanks on a daily basis.

Matt, its a very very common misconception that discus need plants and cover to live and thrive. This is entirely not true and most are born/raised in bare tanks. I will agree with you that stability is a key, though thats with any tank and that they are very expensive down under.

Matt

Dont get too excited. Discus are hard fish and nowere even close to goldfish. Goldfish are like flies they live through anything. Discus' require lots of plants and great water parameters. They are not to be attempted by the amatuer aquarist.

-Matt

Slug

outlaw

What about FW stingrays?