new tank questions

[mosesstevenson]

I am working on starting a 70 gallon tank. measurements are 36 inches by 24 inches by 18 inches. It is only my second tank which is a bit scary but i am planning on taking it really slow so hopefully it works out. I have a few questions to ask
1. Currently the only lock for pets are some neocaridina shrimp or maybe caridina. What would be some good tankmates?
2. How much filtration would be required for a tank like this
3. I would like to add some sort of snail. What kind of slow breeding options are available that wouldnt take over the tank like a ramshorn would do.
4. Another option for snail could be to try to get a steady population of a pest snail and keep a few assasin snails as well, but I feel like this could be hard for keep a balanced population without too much supplementation.
5. Would any crab species by Viable?
6. I would like to have a school of small fishes, what would be a good option?
7. are there any easy to grow carpeting plants that stay pretty short? ive tried dwarf hairgrass and have never had success keeping it alive.
8. Could I potentially have a plant that is above the water with roots in the water?
9. Best way to have a population of microfauna in the tank?
10. Best way to minimize amount of water changes?
thanks for any help

 

[Pinkey]

This seems like my kind of tank. I love your vision. I have low tech planted tanks with a good balance of fish to plants. I have not had to do a water change in several years. I'll answer the questions I feel qualified to answer.

2. I'll start with filtration since that seems like a foundational thing. There are plenty of rules of thumb rating filters to gallons which work for most people. There is nothing wrong with those rules. What you're doing is a lot more fine-tuned than that. While others may disagree, feel free to chime in if you do, filtration relates more to fish than gallons. If you have a couple of guppies in a 125, you don't need a bigger filter than you do if you have the same guppies in a 3 gallon. The filter cleans particulates out of the water and provides a place for bacteria to live. What gets cool when you have a two guppies in a 125g and a bunch of plants and sand is the plants will absorb all the fertilizer your guppies make and you wouldn't need a filter at all. No one keeps only two guppies in a 125g so this is hypothetical. This case proves the logic, though. The ratio of plants to fish is what makes the biggest difference in a natural tank. The more plants per fish, the less filtration and water changing you'll need. While this advice isn't as useful as a specific product recommendation, I hope it fits in with what you're trying to do.

3. I have piles of snails. They constantly agitate my sand which is great for creating a natural habitat for bacteria. They tend to grow to the limits of their food supply. The more I overfeed, the more snails I get. There will always be overfeeding because fish are messy eaters and tend to break flakes and pellets up into tiny particles too small for fish to care about. That's where your snails and shrimp come in. They're great natural cleaners.

5. I've always wanted crabs and clams but never had either. I hear clams are a pretty bad idea.

7. You'll find some plants thrive in your water/tank/light combinations and others die every time. What's easy for me may die every time for you. Val grows like a weed in my tank. I sell hundreds of stems of it several times a year just to avoid throwing it away. If you can find a short val, it might be amazing. I can't get dwarf grass to grow, either.

8. Absolutely! I have pothos that grows out of my tank into crazy impressive vines that have taken over my house. Philodendron also does really well but the leaves are bad for pets and small children so avoid those if you have plant eaters in your home. Dwarf sagittaria has worked for me in the past. I actually completely forgot about it until just now in writing to you. I've had some sort of dwarf lily on my shopping list for a while now. I'll pick one up when I see it next.

9. There are two good ways to get microfauna and at least one bad one. The bad one is going to your local lake and grabbing a bucket of silt. Lakes have fish and quite possibly healthy doses of parasites. Wild populations can work with this, your tank can't.
Good option 1: https://www.phillipsfishworks.com/
Good option 2: Set up a big tote or tub someplace in your yard where it will get some sun. Fill it with water. Dump in some leaves and other plant matter. Top it off as needed. By the end of summer, all sorts of stuff will be growing in the tub. Life will blow in. Life will end up there from the rain. I have no idea how tiny things find places to live but they do. Add water from this tote to your aquarium from time to time. The crud that will accumulate in the bottom of this tub will be safe to sparingly add to your aquarium. I'm suggesting tablespoons now and again, not cups of sludge. We're just trying to introduce tiny beasts, not pond scum.

10. I think I mostly covered this. Lots of plants per fish = less need for regular changes. I test my water regularly. I'm always looking for nitrites as the final product in the nitrogen cycle. Since I have so many plants, everything that should form nitrites gets consumed before they have a chance to accumulate. My water has only measured pristine for the last few years.

I hope this helps.

 

[mosesstevenson]

This seems like my kind of tank. I love your vision. I have low tech planted tanks with a good balance of fish to plants. I have not had to do a water change in several years. I'll answer the questions I feel qualified to answer.

2. I'll start with filtration since that seems like a foundational thing. There are plenty of rules of thumb rating filters to gallons which work for most people. There is nothing wrong with those rules. What you're doing is a lot more fine-tuned than that. While others may disagree, feel free to chime in if you do, filtration relates more to fish than gallons. If you have a couple of guppies in a 125, you don't need a bigger filter than you do if you have the same guppies in a 3 gallon. The filter cleans particulates out of the water and provides a place for bacteria to live. What gets cool when you have a two guppies in a 125g and a bunch of plants and sand is the plants will absorb all the fertilizer your guppies make and you wouldn't need a filter at all. No one keeps only two guppies in a 125g so this is hypothetical. This case proves the logic, though. The ratio of plants to fish is what makes the biggest difference in a natural tank. The more plants per fish, the less filtration and water changing you'll need. While this advice isn't as useful as a specific product recommendation, I hope it fits in with what you're trying to do.

3. I have piles of snails. They constantly agitate my sand which is great for creating a natural habitat for bacteria. They tend to grow to the limits of their food supply. The more I overfeed, the more snails I get. There will always be overfeeding because fish are messy eaters and tend to break flakes and pellets up into tiny particles too small for fish to care about. That's where your snails and shrimp come in. They're great natural cleaners.

5. I've always wanted crabs and clams but never had either. I hear clams are a pretty bad idea.

7. You'll find some plants thrive in your water/tank/light combinations and others die every time. What's easy for me may die every time for you. Val grows like a weed in my tank. I sell hundreds of stems of it several times a year just to avoid throwing it away. If you can find a short val, it might be amazing. I can't get dwarf grass to grow, either.

8. Absolutely! I have pothos that grows out of my tank into crazy impressive vines that have taken over my house. Philodendron also does really well but the leaves are bad for pets and small children so avoid those if you have plant eaters in your home. Dwarf sagittaria has worked for me in the past. I actually completely forgot about it until just now in writing to you. I've had some sort of dwarf lily on my shopping list for a while now. I'll pick one up when I see it next.

9. There are two good ways to get microfauna and at least one bad one. The bad one is going to your local lake and grabbing a bucket of silt. Lakes have fish and quite possibly healthy doses of parasites. Wild populations can work with this, your tank can't.
Good option 1: https://www.phillipsfishworks.com/
Good option 2: Set up a big tote or tub someplace in your yard where it will get some sun. Fill it with water. Dump in some leaves and other plant matter. Top it off as needed. By the end of summer, all sorts of stuff will be growing in the tub. Life will blow in. Life will end up there from the rain. I have no idea how tiny things find places to live but they do. Add water from this tote to your aquarium from time to time. The crud that will accumulate in the bottom of this tub will be safe to sparingly add to your aquarium. I'm suggesting tablespoons now and again, not cups of sludge. We're just trying to introduce tiny beasts, not pond scum.

10. I think I mostly covered this. Lots of plants per fish = less need for regular changes. I test my water regularly. I'm always looking for nitrites as the final product in the nitrogen cycle. Since I have so many plants, everything that should form nitrites gets consumed before they have a chance to accumulate. My water has only measured pristine for the last few years.

I hope this helps.

thanks so much for the reply
that makes a lot of sense for filtration. I am thinking of doing mostly a microfish tank with maybe 1 or 2 big fish, but mostly schools of tiny ones, so I shouldnt need a crazy amount of filtration

That was one of the benefits I was looking for from snails. I have heard that malaysian trumpet snails burrow into the sand which can disturb it even more. They seem like a good idea but again, I dont want them overtaking the tank too much. I was thinking maybe a few rabbit snails or trapdoor snails, as they breed pretty slowly but idk.

for crabs, I was mostly looking for purely underwater crabs, so mostly looking at thai micro crabs, pom pom crabs, or panther crabs. Ive heard panthers can be a bit aggressive, but its a pretty big tank so idk how well they would do.

I was thinking for a carpeting plant montecarlo or baby tears as it wouldnt get super long and I want something that I wouldnt really have to trim.

Yeah Ill probably just put a tote out in my yard. Seems like a fun little project in its own right

Thanks so much! ill post a picture of the tank when I finish it which probably wont be for a while

 

[Pinkey]

thanks so much for the reply
that makes a lot of sense for filtration. I am thinking of doing mostly a microfish tank with maybe 1 or 2 big fish, but mostly schools of tiny ones, so I shouldnt need a crazy amount of filtration

That was one of the benefits I was looking for from snails. I have heard that malaysian trumpet snails burrow into the sand which can disturb it even more. They seem like a good idea but again, I dont want them overtaking the tank too much. I was thinking maybe a few rabbit snails or trapdoor snails, as they breed pretty slowly but idk.

for crabs, I was mostly looking for purely underwater crabs, so mostly looking at thai micro crabs, pom pom crabs, or panther crabs. Ive heard panthers can be a bit aggressive, but its a pretty big tank so idk how well they would do.

I was thinking for a carpeting plant montecarlo or baby tears as it wouldnt get super long and I want something that I wouldnt really have to trim.

Yeah Ill probably just put a tote out in my yard. Seems like a fun little project in its own right

Thanks so much! ill post a picture of the tank when I finish it which probably wont be for a while

I'm glad it was useful. I'd suggest trying all of the plants. When you plant, get a few stems of each and plant them around the tank. Some will thrive and others will die. I've seen people put a ton of work into trying to get a plant to grow only to find that with almost no work, a very similar plant is really happy. Most aquarium inverts don't live terribly long anyway. Get what looks most interesting. You'll probably have this tank for many years with plenty of time to try out other varieties. I'm excited for you.