andy305mia
Member
Hello, I was thinking how often I read people say "bigger is better" and "more forgiving". I'm no expert by far, but I've been keeping fish for a while now and have to disagree with that statement. From personal experience, bigger is harder to maintain period. Larger water changes, more glass to wipe down, bigger filters. I had a 55 and a 29 setup at the same time, both heavily stocked and my 29 was my throwdown tank and it was a lot easier to maintain than my 55. Water would evaporate and I would top it off, I rarely did large water changes. I rinsed my HOB filters once a month with fish tank water and wiped the tank down and that was it. I never lost a single fish for years, and I even have a fancy goldfish in it with several other fish. My 55 on the other hand, I did water changes once a week which I had a good system which was easy. Wiping the tank down was a pain with the tops installed and well I had 2 Ehiem canisters that I cleaned every 3-4 months that weren't too bad. I would say if you have the same exact fish in both tanks the larger tank would stay cleaner longer, but that's obvious. Bigger tank has the advantage of keeping bigger fish, more fish, but still needs water changes and maintenance. I could go maybe 2 weeks before my 55 would begin to slip. I would like to cancel the notion that bigger is better and easier to maintain. It subjective. I thought it would be interesting to see what others have to say from experience. Thanks