I think I am burnt out on the "planted tank" game

[Brianne3826]

Hey, all. I've been into fishkeeping, aquariums, and planted tanks for a long time now. I've had a 33 long setup for 5 years now. I set up a 55 gallon awhile back, and it was pretty exciting. Unfortunately, my flooring has issues and the tank was unlevel, causing a leak. So, the 55 is no more.

I am kind of burnt out on the whole "planted tank," scenario. I'd like to do a naturalistic type tank, with some plants possibly, but I'm a bit over the endless re-scaping, trimming, and and all that.

I am thinking about purchasing a 40 long. It would be a bit of a change compared to my 33 long that I've had for 5 years now, a little bit more water volume and a bit more height. What do you guys do when you are burnt out on the hobby or specific aspects of it?

About two years ago, my 33 long was heavily planted and looked awesome. That said, I don't really feel like putting the time and effort to get back to that. I'm almost tempted to get my son involved, and let him pick out things for the tank.

 

[BlackOsprey]

If you don't want to deal with plants, why not try out a hillstream style tank? Those can look excellent and very naturalistic with minimal planting, and they can support certain species that need lots of flat grazing surfaces and strong water flow. It would work really well with a long-style tank too!

 

[TClare]

At the moment I have three tanks with minimal plants, and three with a lot of plants. Think of a habitat you want to replicate, depending on your chosen fish type.Then you can use either wood, rocks or both alone with twigs and leaf litter, to create a very natural look.
My biggest (has plant-eating cichlids)

Guianacara tank - modelled on their natural habitat (not great photo)


The latest I set up for the Bujurquina, tank is about 47 gallons (180l),again I tried to replicate their habitat - this photo taken just after I set it up hence the cloudy water...

 

[A201]

For those of us that don't have a green thumb, we stack rocks.

 

[bucketaquatics]

For those of us that don't have a green thumb, we stack rocks.

I do have some plants in this one but, I second the rock stacking.
Ignore the bba on the back glass, that's gone, just don't have an updated pic right now.

 

[Fishfur]

I do have some plants in this one but, I second the rock stacking. View attachment 914683
Ignore the bba on the back glass, that's gone, just don't have an updated pic right now.

Very nice indeed.

 

[bgarthe]

Or, you could use fake plants. I, too, got tired of the plants thing and went to faux plants. No more trimming, fertilizer, pests, or lighting issues. But…..finding realistic looking ones did take time.

 

[kallililly1973]

Great looking tanks. I think I mentioned in a different thread you did. How about a shell dweller tank?

 

[3Fishnight]

You could always just add a pothos or other house plant on the top. That way you still get some benefits of plants but not with all the hastle of sticking your hands in the water and trimming. Then carry on stacking rocks and wood.

 

[Brianne3826]

Great looking tanks. I think I mentioned in a different thread you did. How about a shell dweller tank?

Not interested in a shell dweller tank.

Or, you could use fake plants. I, too, got tired of the plants thing and went to faux plants. No more trimming, fertilizer, pests, or lighting issues. But…..finding realistic looking ones did take time.
View attachment 914690View attachment 914691
View attachment 914692

Yeah... I considered this. The problem is, IMO, they still look fake.

If you don't want to deal with plants, why not try out a hillstream style tank? Those can look excellent and very naturalistic with minimal planting, and they can support certain species that need lots of flat grazing surfaces and strong water flow. It would work really well with a long-style tank too!

I might go this route. A kind of "river style," tank with minimal plants, and various kind of rocks and pebbles? Sounds pretty natural.

 

[ruud]

It is the use of technology that can make a planted tank a strain.

Try a planted tank without hardscape, fertilizer, trimming, heater, with a group of small-sized fish, and one or two desk lights to enjoy the scenery. Only feed the fish and top off with tap water.

Preferably a rimless tank, so you can witness life at water surface level after a few seasons.

 

[Sewerrat]

If you want a heavily planted tank feel without the work could always just do guppy grass (if you have smaller fish) maintenance us as simple as pulling some out. Other option that's easy would be a few larger varieties of anubis only gives you the planted tank feel without the work.

 

[TClare]

To be honest I find my planted tanks much less work than the unplanted ones. As I don't use bright lights or CO2 trimming is infrequent, I tend to let them get fairly overgrown, except for the floating plants, which are easy to scoop out. I hardly ever add fertilizer these days. I very rarely have to clean the front glass and never try to clean or disturb the substrate.

The unplanted tanks get far more algae on the front glass which needs cleaning at least every week, and collect a lot more waste (fish waste and broken down leaf litter, wood etc.) on the substrate that the cichlids stir up as they dig, so I do try to remove some each week. Unless I do a major trimming session on the biggest planted tank, it takes me considerably longer to do the maintenance on the unplanted tanks.

 

[Brianne3826]

Meh. Honestly, the easiest planted tank IMO would probably be just using whatever substrate you desire, with various pieces of driftwood and Java fern attached.
Place in tank, and that's it.

 

[RayClem]

There are many ways to plan a tank. I have been keeping fish for nearly 65 years. While I currently have planted tanks, many of my tanks over the years have used artificial plants. While live plants do offer some advantages for water quality, they can also take as much or more time and money as the fish.

There are a wide variety of artificial plants currently available. I prefer the ones that attempt to replicate natural plants, but some prefer neon colors, etc.

Artificial plants do deteriorate over the years, so do not expect them to last forever.

 

[Brianne3826]

There are many ways to plan a tank. I have been keeping fish for nearly 65 years. While I currently have planted tanks, many of my tanks over the years have used artificial plants. While live plants do offer some advantages for water quality, they can also take as much or more time and money as the fish.

There are a wide variety of artificial plants currently available. I prefer the ones that attempt to replicate natural plants, but some prefer neon colors, etc.

Artificial plants do deteriorate over the years, so do not expect them to last forever.

Yeah, one thing I don't care for about live plants... Is the ridiculous amount of debris that seems to come off of them. I could set up a new tank, with absolutely no fish or inhabitants, and a week later my substrate will be filthy due to the amount of debris coming from the plants.

Instead of a full on planted tank, I am thinking about picking up a new tank, and completely starting over. Probably a 40 gallon, and letting my son be involved with the process, let him pick out the gravel, some decorations. I may end up having a rainbow gravel. Lol.
I will probably do a bit of plants, mixed with decorations. He would probably enjoy that.

Honestly, I used to have more time in life to muck about with plants and aquascaping and all that. But now, I just don't. And any time I honestly have, I'd much rather spend it relaxing and doing nothing, rather than mucking about with plants. Lol.

 

[86 ssinit]

Seems you’ve had enough. I wouldn’t get your son involved. Remember any pet is yours. You’ve got to take care of it. Not the kid. If you get some involvement from your son that’s a plus. But if he sees your non interest he may just get bored. How old is your son? I started with fish at 10-12yrs old. Was interested. Nobody else in my house was. Been keeping fish ever since. Both my sons wanted tanks. Neither has anymore. For 20 yrs. I also kept lizards for awhile. My older boy has picked them up. And is keeping a very small lizard. Baby steps. His kids do enjoy it and accept it as a family member.
Lot of work with a fish tank.

 

[BlackOsprey]

If you're that burnt out, you'd probably do well with downsizing to a 10-20g and keeping things simple. I've heard shell dwellers do well in 20g and don't need live plants anyways.

 

[Mudminnow]

I'm not sure I've ever truly burnt out...but I've grown tired of having too many tanks a few times. I find I'm happier with fewer tanks. So, I agree with BlackOsprey, sizing down may be a good solution.

A lot of blackwater type habitats (sand, lots of sticks, and maybe even some leaf litter) don't have much (if any) plants. These can be made to look very natural. Furthermore, most of the tiny fishes available in the hobby come from these sorts of habitats. There's plenty of options here, but maybe a small tank with something like wild type bettas and boraras might be up your alley.

Getting your son involved might be a good idea too. I did this with my daughter, and we enjoyed setting up a tank that's still running to this day. I let her scape the tank and pick the fishes (with some guidance as to which fishes would or would not go together).

 

[RayClem]

Seems you’ve had enough. I wouldn’t get your son involved. Remember any pet is yours. You’ve got to take care of it. Not the kid. If you get some involvement from your son that’s a plus. But if he sees your non interest he may just get bored. How old is your son? I started with fish at 10-12yrs old. Was interested. Nobody else in my house was. Been keeping fish ever since. Both my sons wanted tanks. Neither has anymore. For 20 yrs. I also kept lizards for awhile. My older boy has picked them up. And is keeping a very small lizard. Baby steps. His kids do enjoy it and accept it as a family member.
Lot of work with a fish tank.

Every kid is different. I started in the hobby when I was 10 years old. The only thing my parents did was take me to pet stores that were too far away to bicycle. I went on my own to pet stores that were less than 10 miles away. Over the years, I had fish, turtles, mice, etc. I always cared for them without assistant from adults.

When I was in college, my grandmother fed the fish and I took care of maintenance when I came home on weekends.

Now, more than six decades later, I am still in the hobby, but admittedly, things are winding down as I am starting to approach my USE BY date.

 

[86 ssinit]

I’m right there with you. I’ve still got 7 tanks but as of now I’m not getting anymore fish. Things have changed a lot in this hobby. I’m finding the quality of fish just isn’t what it was.
As for kids. Not many interested in the hobby. By me 2 more shops just closed. Kids used to be the hobby. Seems the interest just isn’t there now. What I’m saying about kids is just that you can’t expect them to hold interest once they start. You as the adult have to want the pets being brought in. Be happy if the kids do get into it and be happy if they just help out. But be prepared for them to get bored with it and you picking it back up. Thing is they are still animals and need to be cared for. You can only hope the kids will enjoy it with your supervision.
Thats a general statement! Not towards anyone.

 

[Brianne3826]

When involving my kid, I don't expect him to care for the tank, nor does he have the ability to. He is only six. But it might get him into the hobby a bit and appreciate it.

 

[A201]

Yeah, the Mom & Pop stores can't really compete with Petsmart and Petco. Online vendors also contribute to the privately owned LFS's demise.

I think when we were kids there weren't that many distractions. No video games or two hundred different TV channels to watch.
We had more time to concentrate on hobbies, sports and other extra curricular activities.

There is hope. My Granddaughter loves her goldfish tank. Lol.

 

[Brianne3826]

The thing is, if you want specialty type stuff, like a special order tank or kind of fish.. Basically, as far as I can tell, only Mom & Pop type stores can do this.
Petsmart and Petco don't special order tanks. I don't know about species of fish, but I am fairly certain they basically only stock what's given to them for availability.
Awhile back, I had some Lemon tetras and my son LOVED them.