No maintenance aquarium?

stresstres Regular
edited October 2010 in Life
I've got a tone of shit lying around, possibly close to enough to set up a functioning aquarium, and when my python outgrows the 3ft tank it currently occupies, I'll have yet another tank with nothing in it.

I've kept fish in the past, although they have been higher maintenance tropical breeds which were nothing but a pain in the ass and should I set my shit up again, I never want to have to fuck around with changing water. I don't give a fuck if the fish are caught from a creek or $xxxx breeds, provided all I have to do is regularly feed and deal with the filter system or something. A friend of mine has a fairly large tank in his room and the shit be nasty, he's never cleaned it, yet his fish far outlived mine.

tl:dr/ Is there anyway I could throw some shit together, mix some species and spend next to nothing and create a self-cleansing aquarium system?

Comments

  • edited September 2010
    There was a badass fish tank in the science department at my old school. Shit was green and brown, looked nasty as fuck.

    The fish had also been alive for YEARS, and the tank was basically never cleaned. I have no idea how to pull this off, but I think that once you've got the tank running for ages, it becomes more... "natural" like a pond IRL. Maybe the fish just become more accustomed to it.
  • stresstres Regular
    edited September 2010
    trx100 wrote: »
    There was a badass fish tank in the science department at my old school. Shit was green and brown, looked nasty as fuck.

    I found this extra funny because the science department at my old highschool was the last to see funding and the school was the oldest in the region so there were certainly a few of those around... nasty nasty tanks breading all sorts of shit.

    It may actually be worth visiting my friend and taking a photo of his shit, the kid is clever as all hell who grows all sorts of shit in his room.. i think one of the fish he actually stole from our highschool's marine-studies program. Kids into all sorts of drugs and doses the fish on shit and they still power on. Got wild turtles in his room, vicious ones.. he had a pretty big liserd in a box one time I was over..
  • MarijuanasaurusMarijuanasaurus Regular
    edited September 2010
    trx100 wrote: »
    There was a badass fish tank in the science department at my old school. Shit was green and brown, looked nasty as fuck.

    The fish had also been alive for YEARS, and the tank was basically never cleaned. I have no idea how to pull this off, but I think that once you've got the tank running for ages, it becomes more... "natural" like a pond IRL. Maybe the fish just become more accustomed to it.

    Algae eaters such as a plecostomus, and other hardy fish like zebra danios. guppys, mollys, and swordtails.
  • edited September 2010
    Are they all freshwater fish?
  • MarijuanasaurusMarijuanasaurus Regular
    edited September 2010
    Yessir. I had a 10 gallon aquarium with a few zebra danios in it, and I never fed them, cleaned the water, and I even let evaporation slowly drain the tank until it was completely empty. The fish survived all the way up until it was nearly a quarter full, then the filter couldnt cycle the water so it died.

    As long as you constantly replace the water, those fish could survive anything.
  • edited September 2010
    Wow, that's fucking awesome. I know what I'm getting for my tank next :D
  • EbolaEbola Acolyte
    edited September 2010
    It is impossible to have an aquarium that requires absolutly NO maintance.
    Each time you feed the fish, you add nutrients to the water that will over time get poisnous to the inhabitants.
    The easiest way to get the toxins out of the water is by changing part of it. The second easiest is adding a chemical to the filter system absorbing toxins (and requiring change and regeneration after some time). The third (and most natural) is to have thriving and growing plants. They will absorb/use some of the nutrints and you can later trim and remove plants as they grow out of hand. Any other method trying avoid maintaining your tank is just a slow way of poisoning your stock.

    Also the glass will get dirty from aglee also requiring cleaning and waste will accumulate in the gravel. If you don´t want to put any time into it besides feeding, I recommend you a different hobby...

    P.S. NEVER changing water is like NEVER opening your window and airing out your room.
  • edited September 2010
    I do a partial water change with my tank every week or so, keeps it clean and good. I also have a real plant in there too (none of that fake shit)
  • stresstres Regular
    edited September 2010
    i don't think i will follow through with the idea. i'm actually glad i posted this because i never really considered the complexity behind recreating eco-systems (lol). i'm not the sort of person to knowingly put an animal into a neglectful situation, i'll stick to my herp..

    thx doods
  • edited September 2010
    Try keeping a plant instead. It's much easier to look after :D
  • Professor ElmProfessor Elm Regular
    edited September 2010
    trx100 wrote: »
    Try keeping a plant instead. It's much easier to look after :D

    Im not too sure about that, I kept some plants once and they dieded :(
  • edited September 2010
    Im not too sure about that, I kept some plants once and they dieded :(

    What sort of plants were you keeping?

    I own a Spider Plant and its easy as hell to take care of. Water once a week, prune the dead leaves, and give it sunlight. That's it :D
  • stresstres Regular
    edited September 2010
    trx100 wrote: »
    I own a Spider Plant

    sounds pic-worthy! :thumbsup:
  • edited September 2010
  • stresstres Regular
    edited September 2010
    that is pretty cool, i actually wouldn't mind getting a few although they will surely be psychoactive. In fact I do have some spare time and Anal Probe Deluxe (2010) has some excellent guides. Cacti have interested me ever since i read doors of perception.
  • edited September 2010
    Get yourself some psychoactive Cacti then bro :D My friend had some of that once, he mushed it up and drank the whole thing and tripped balls for hours. It was awesome :D
  • stresstres Regular
    edited September 2010
    fuck yea, when was the last time a fish made you trip balls?
    psychedelic%20fish.jpg
  • Styles pStyles p Semo-Regulars
    edited October 2010
    i kept a plant once and it dieded LOL. plants are so easy to take care of. daily light, and a tad of water, and fertilize once a month. most peoples problems are over watering just water till all the soil is moist every couple of days.
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