Low Maintenance Reef Plan (Freshwater Planted Mindset)

[Teebo]

I have been in the freshwater planted tank hobby for several years now, I have really enjoyed it and tried all types of aquascapes from wild jungle to Japanese style Iwagumi. The last year or two I have been researching everything I need to know to start a marine tank which is making me loose interest in my freshwater tanks. Right now I have a 2 gallon riparium and a 16 gallon Iwagumi, the 2G seems to be just as much if not more maintenance than the 16G! 

 

My thinking is that a well planned out small reef tank would be less maintenance than freshwater. I have never really been a big fish person so I have no worries of dealing with a large bio-load, I was always into the plants and the fish just complimented the scenery...inverts interest me though. The problem with both tanks is I have to manually dose Excel daily because I choose to not complicate them with CO2. With the Iwagumi I have to constantly trim the carpet of dwarf baby tears, and then net it all from the surface, then tiny pieces randomly come loose throughout the week so that stands out to me with it being rimless and I find myself with a cup of water and a tooth brush collecting the tiny pieces. The small tank needs trimming just as much since its smaller and also has a carpet, plus tiny vines and needs constant nit-picking. I think number one problem here is the trimming and cleanup of what you trim off. The only thing I have going for me is the shrimp keep the plants clean and snails keep my glass clear enough for me to not have to ever clean my glass. 

With a reef tank there is no constant trimming, fragging is done less often than maintenance-trimming in freshwater aquascapes. The only thing is I am going to be heavily drawn to trying to aquascape with macro-algae and base my live stock around that (non macro eaters) so hopefully macros will not require as much trimming. I will attempt to maintain my glass with snails the way I have been in freshwater, the trick is you need to feed them, if you have enough snails to keep the glass clean they will constantly be hungry without supplemental food imo.

 

I do not mind using dosing pumps and an ATO, and doing water changes will be minimal since I will be for sure using macro-algae along with emerging marine plants. I may even try using my macro-algae in 1 or 2 corners of the tank with spot lights on staggered timers, so the coral is lit during the day and the macros are lit as night...keeping photosynthesis and pH stable. I know people do this with refugiums but I want to use an AIO without a sump to keep it simple.

 

With this low maintenance theme I have to keep the salt creep in mind when choosing a tank, I really love rimless tanks so I think my only option is to get an etched tank where the rim is not fully transparent. I have seen them on the internet before mostly used with wave makers though. I was at my LFS here in Tampa FL when I saw the Cobalt C-Vue lineup of tanks which got me thinking about ditching my freshwater tanks and finally getting into a marine setup. I was between their 18 gallon and the 40 gallon...not that I really want a 40 gallon tank but the panoramic dimensions of it are attractive to me, plus the room for red mangrove roots since I have amazing access to a legal mangrove selection (calm down people lol).

 

Suggestions? 

[WV Reefer]

21 minutes ago, Teebo said:

I have been in the freshwater planted tank hobby for several years now, I have really enjoyed it and tried all types of aquascapes from wild jungle to Japanese style Iwagumi. The last year or two I have been researching everything I need to know to start a marine tank which is making me loose interest in my freshwater tanks. Right now I have a 2 gallon riparium and a 16 gallon Iwagumi, the 2G seems to be just as much if not more maintenance than the 16G! 

 

My thinking is that a well planned out small reef tank would be less maintenance than freshwater. I have never really been a big fish person so I have no worries of dealing with a large bio-load, I was always into the plants and the fish just complimented the scenery...inverts interest me though. The problem with both tanks is I have to manually dose Excel daily because I choose to not complicate them with CO2. With the Iwagumi I have to constantly trim the carpet of dwarf baby tears, and then net it all from the surface, then tiny pieces randomly come loose throughout the week so that stands out to me with it being rimless and I find myself with a cup of water and a tooth brush collecting the tiny pieces. The small tank needs trimming just as much since its smaller and also has a carpet, plus tiny vines and needs constant nit-picking. I think number one problem here is the trimming and cleanup of what you trim off. The only thing I have going for me is the shrimp keep the plants clean and snails keep my glass clear enough for me to not have to ever clean my glass. 

With a reef tank there is no constant trimming, fragging is done less often than maintenance-trimming in freshwater aquascapes. The only thing is I am going to be heavily drawn to trying to aquascape with macro-algae and base my live stock around that (non macro eaters) so hopefully macros will not require as much trimming. I will attempt to maintain my glass with snails the way I have been in freshwater, the trick is you need to feed them, if you have enough snails to keep the glass clean they will constantly be hungry without supplemental food imo.

 

I do not mind using dosing pumps and an ATO, and doing water changes will be minimal since I will be for sure using macro-algae along with emerging marine plants. I may even try using my macro-algae in 1 or 2 corners of the tank with spot lights on staggered timers, so the coral is lit during the day and the macros are lit as night...keeping photosynthesis and pH stable. I know people do this with refugiums but I want to use an AIO without a sump to keep it simple.

 

With this low maintenance theme I have to keep the salt creep in mind when choosing a tank, I really love rimless tanks so I think my only option is to get an etched tank where the rim is not fully transparent. I have seen them on the internet before mostly used with wave makers though. I was at my LFS here in Tampa FL when I saw the Cobalt C-Vue lineup of tanks which got me thinking about ditching my freshwater tanks and finally getting into a marine setup. I was between their 18 gallon and the 40 gallon...not that I really want a 40 gallon tank but the panoramic dimensions of it are attractive to me, plus the room for red mangrove roots since I have amazing access to a legal mangrove selection (calm down people lol).

 

Suggestions? 

 

Go for it!

 

My reefs have light, flow and heat...... that’s it. 

 

You can go as big or as small as you want. 🙂

[LeoB]

Sounds like an awesome plan! Would love to see pics of your freshwater setups too

[FISHnChix]

1 hour ago, WV Reefer said:

 

Go for it!

 

My reefs have light, flow and heat...... that’s it. 

 

You can go as big or as small as you want. 🙂

Lol as i was reading this i was thinking a reef tank with less maintenance than a planted fw tank..🤔🤔🤔 I wouldn't think so but what do I  know I have never ran a planted tank. I would think either style tank can be more or less maintenance depending on what you want to do.. I saw your post .didn't you have a nice fw planted tank and you like to run your reefs "dirty" 😎 which do you think is more maintenance heavy...

 

Oh and to the OP. Definitely try and do it, the salty side is fun 😋. Start a journal they are fun to look back on.. happy reefing!!!

[WV Reefer]

12 minutes ago, Weikel said:

Lol as i was reading this i was thinking a reef tank with less maintenance than a planted fw tank..🤔🤔🤔 I wouldn't think so but what do I  know I have never ran a planted tank. I would think either style tank can be more or less maintenance depending on what you want to do.. I saw your post .didn't you have a nice fw planted tank and you like to run your reefs "dirty" 😎 which do you think is more maintenance heavy...

 

Oh and to the OP. Definitely try and do it, the salty side is fun 😋. Start a journal they are fun to look back on.. happy reefing!!!

The last FW tank I had was a planted tank with automatic CO2 injection. It was so pretty but I hated it. Dirty reefs are more fun. 🙃

[A Little Blue]

Planted tanks are more PITA than reef tank imho. 

Go ahead and do it the way you think it will make it fun and successful. There are 100 ways to skin the cat.