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Too many tanks.. What would you do?

3K views 39 replies 24 participants last post by  FishStix 
#1 ·
Here my problem... :help:

I have a 180 high tech

40b gallon

20 gallon QT

The tanks are taking a lot of my time up and with a 3 year old already, and another one on the way, something got to give.

I want to keep the 180, should I keep the 20 gallon QT and do away with the 40b, or keep the 40b and put a divider in it still gives me room for QT, but also room for anything else, fry, extra plants so on.

What do you guys think.
 
#2 ·
Fill your display tank up, store the qt until needed again, drop the 40B.

Personally I recommend a local club, group or even an interested in the hobby friend to give the tank to, that way you know someone will enjoy it, and you get to feel good.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Three tanks and that's too much?
I can pretty much guarantee I am much older than you. I have a 5 year old. When he was born I had about 10 tanks running. The amount of tanks running has steadily increased over the last 5 years to 37 and it's still rising. I still have time for my son, work etc and still maintain all the tanks. And am still going forward with a breeding project or four.
If your tanks are too much simplify them. Keep them all running but make them low(ish) tech. And man up.
 
#5 ·
+1 haha

Three tanks and that's too much?
I can pretty much guarantee I am much older than you. I have a 5 year old. When he was born I had about 10 tanks running. The amount of tanks running has steadily increased over the last 5 years to 37 and it's still rising. I still have time for my son, work etc and still maintain all the tanks. And am still going forward wit a breeding project or four.
If your tanks are too much simplify them. Keep them all running but make them low(ish) tech. And man up.
 
#13 ·
All of the above. I'm headed to college next year, so I'm already having to decrease the number and complexity of some of my tanks to make it easier on my mom, dad, and sister to take care of.

Keep the 180, since it seems to be already running. The larger volume will help with stability later on. However, do try to find ways to decrease the complexity to make it easier on you. Try to slowly decrease the complexity (slowly decrease lighting, fertilization and CO2 diffusion or something similar) to make everything simpler.

Store the 40b. It doesn't seem that you need it as much as you do the 20.

Keep the 20 in stasis. Run it like you would a normal QT, since that's what you're doing. Leftover fry or plant cuttings can simply occupy that if needed, and it's small. If you aren't finished stocking, then why not just divide the 20 if you absolutely have to?

Good luck!
 
#14 ·
Definitely keep the 180. My larger tank is so much easier to manage.

Put the 20 and 40b in storage. When the kids get older you'll find yourself having more time. Infants and toddlers can be exhausting. Especially if your kid is one of the lucky 10% that are strong willed and challenging. It's great when they get old enough to be reasoned with. I swear I lost some hearing pinning my second child to his bed in multiple "time outs". Still have ringing in my ears 3 years later. He is still very demanding for attention.

Also look for ways to decrease the amount of effort needed. I've found that pill containers full of ferts and food are great when you are busy. It helps you know how hungry your fish and plants are when you miss a few days. They also only take a few minutes to prep. Something you can do while changing the water.

Do any little thing to make it easier while being severely sleep deprived. Memory is the first thing to go when your lacking in sleep.
 
#16 ·
:tongue:Hey fishstix,

If your over it then do like you said, store them until you have more time.

Sometimes I think I could definitely go with less tanks I have 8, 5 are high tech. I also have 3 parrots. But I also have no children.

All these little creatures can be a lot of work. But I really do enjoy them.
Wouldn't hurt to take a break if that's the way your feeling.

I think it really comes down to how much does your wife, child and yourself enjoy the hobby.

I wouldn't let GraphicGr8s bother you the guy has 37 tanks 3 tanks to him is like having a goldfish bowl. To each his own.


Oh, and man up.:hihi::hihi:
 
#18 ·
If I lived where you live I'd buy the 180 or 40b just as they are. I live in southern Louisiana and I also go to Houston, Tx. every 28 days for chemo. The best fish store there is The Fish Gallery. But back to you, can your spouse help you with the tanks, that way you don't have to give up any of you tanks.
 
#20 ·
That's a tough one man... I'd leave the 180 running for a couple weeks after starting the new schedule. If you finding yourself cringing at the thought of tank maintenance when you get home Friday?? May be best to hang it up until the time is there.. you'll begin to resent the tank and that could have lasting effects on a hobby you seem to enjoy at the moment.
We just had a rough winter and I was getting my butt whooped at work.. the tanks almost became a burden, i got a taste of that resentment for a little bit.. not a good feeling..
 
#21 ·
I would go low tech on the 180 and sell/give away the 40b and keep the last one for QT. Low tech is a lot of fun for me.

If you are really finding it hard to make time, I'd go low tech on the 40 and sell the 180. It isn't as showy or big, but you can have just as much fun with a small tank. I rather enjoy my 30G in the living room. It is right next to my spot on the couch and I can watch the fish and enjoy the plants swaying in the current.
 
#22 ·
Going low tech seems like the quickest and easiest way to reduce the maintenance time on your tanks. I have three low tech tanks and they only need maintenance on average for about an hour total once a week.

Whether or not you decide to reduce the number of tanks you could also look into streamlining the process of water changes if you haven't already with a trash can on wheels with a pump in it or a Python that you add extended hoses to. I'm still using a bucket brigade but adding a $7.00 pump to the process cut the time of water changes by 2/3. There are also automated feeders as well as computerized systems for dosing, topping off, and keeping track of water quality that allow you to check on your tanks remotely.
 
#23 ·
Well, I'm 58. The last of my three is in his junior year of college playing baseball a 3+ hour drive away from home. I drive an hour and a half to work each way. And I have 24 tanks and climbing as well. On a good day I have a few hours at home.

Life circumstances are anything BUT the same all over so none of the above is there to do anything more than let you know you're not alone.

Measuring how much you enjoy it is the first step and simplification is the key to make it happen. I can honestly say that I've invested as much time and resources in keeping everything easy to manage as I have in the tanks themselves. Everything from timers to plumbing to pumps to move water to and from the tanks all make it as painless as it can be.

In the mix I also have a 180G heavily planted, heavily stocked maintenance dream. No CO2, just T5's, lights on timers, lots of nerites, and two canisters. I change 40G every Staurday morning, and the whole process takes 45 minutes. I could even knock that time down more if I plumbed the water lines differently. But while the tank drains and refills I'm buzzing around the den doing other stuff. I can even watch TV in the meantime. This tank is BY FAR the least work of all the others and someone would have to restrain me before I give it up.

So take some time to think it over and just measure where you are in terms of how much you even enjoy it. Then invest time in simplifying it all.

I don't travel at all anymore. But when I was 100% in SW and was travelling with my son for BB, I would lean on my wife to just do simple things every so often on the weekends. To me, it was unthinkable that someone couldn't figure out how to shut off a ball valve, but one episode taught me that too much tech can marry you to the tank. When I came back to FW, the driving force was simplification.

Rest assured, I shut it all down for a couple of years too. The job at the time was insane. When people came to work in the morning and they commented you were wearing the same thing the day before sums it all up. Taking the kids to the office on Sunday was an experience.

Lots of us have been there and chose our own path.

Take the time to find your own enlightened path.
 
#24 ·
I'd low tech the 180 . With the eventual 2 little kids and being on the road , high tech is working against you ( actually your wife) .Definitely wouldn't sell it off unless I had to , with 2 little kids it'll be tough to scrape up the cash for another for some time . Keep one of the other two set up . Put the empty in storage , or pass it on .If you need a quarantine tank pick up a buck a gallon 10 . It's small enough to set up/break down fast and doesn't take up much space when it isn't getting used .
 
#25 ·
Thank you all for the advise, I really don't want to get rid of the 180. I have spent so much on it, and know I won't get those costs back, and like someone said, with living out of town during the week money is tight. My wife has no problem helping out with the tanks, or tank, but with being on her own most of the week with the kids, she already said the last thing she going to have time to deal with is the tanks.

So here what I am thinking..
Take down the 40b, leave the 20 L in place, but keep it empty, and leave a set of sponge filters in the sump, I will have extras in case I need to put 20 L in use.

So how do I even start to make the tank low tech? I assume I need to shutdown the CO2 and somehow reduce the light for starters.

As far as the plants go none are really what I would consider high tech plants, so I think the impact won't be that big of deal on them.

Do I need to reduce ferts as well?

Again thank you everyone.
 
#27 ·
Basic equation for plants:
Water + CO2 + light + fertilizer -> plant growth.

Throw any of these out of whack, and you're bound to come into some disagreement, most likely through algae. Slowly start reducing all of them at the same time. You don't want too much fertilizer in the water, because that will just let algae go everywhere...
 
#28 ·
I designed my 125g while I was commonly traveling for work. There where times I was gone for most of 3 months with only 1 or 2 weeks at home.

My wife never does more than dump in pre-measured ferts and food.

List out your setup and maintenance process so can give you some ideas of how to make it lowtech or lower maintenance at least.

With my current setup I can spend as little as 2hrs per month taking care of it if I don't have time.

The 125 survived beautifully. The 10 and 15 gallon tanks in the garage went to the toilet when I was traveling.
 
#29 ·
I agree with everyone that suggests keeping the 180. With Petco doing its $1 per gallon sale on 40's and 20's so often, it may not be worth it to keep the other two in storage. Sell them, buy some baby duds and "dad up"! :hihi:
 
#30 ·
Shut down the tanks and when you get a new job make sure it's at the local aquarium. All kidding aside, dads need their own time each week to do their thing just as much as mom's do. If you are spending two hours a week on your tanks then you are doing pretty good. You could be doing a lot worse like going to the bar or something. Like someone posted, if this is your passion, then your wife should support this. There are a lot of ways to automate your systems and make life easier. In a couple of years your situation is going to change again. Who knows if your tanks will be a part of what you want to do or not. By the sounds of things, right now you feel a bit selfish over this. We all need to be a little selfish to keep our sanity. Besides, my 2 little ones love the tanks. My 2 year old wants to feed the fish every night, and my ten year old has learned so much that he's about ready to start teaching some marine biology it seems like. He is about to start on a high tech build on his own and he's going to learn even more. It all boils down to one question. Do you want this to be the one thing for you or not?
 
#31 ·
We always had a ten gallon and then a 30 gallon tank running when I was a kid. I had a 10 gallon for a few years in my early 20s. After a 10-year break, I got back into the hobby and discovered how complicated it had become. A lot of new equipment, a lot of new tricks. A lot of new trends.

After a year, I've realized a few things: I don't like hi-tech or high-maintenance tanks, having more than two tanks at a time, highly specialized/sensitive fish, breeding or culturing live food. That's just me.

What I have found is that it can be very easy to keep a successful tank up and running without sucking all of your time, money and joy in the hobby. Low-light plants, lights on a timer, over filtration, hardy fish, low fish load. I had to stop buying into what everyone else was doing, and enjoy what worked for me. Part of simplifying things for me was finding more joy in the fish and setup that I had instead of longing for a new/different type of fish or setup.

There's been some great advice given, so I won't repeat it. Just wanted to say that I bet you'll miss having a tank if they were all gone (I did), so find a way to make one work for you if you can/want.

Good luck!
 
#33 ·
Lots of opinions here, all vaild in their own way. But in terms of a direction or solution, I think NotCousteau and Freemananana frame a pretty good way to go.

We all come to crossroads in life that in some way make you step back a bit and say I can or can't maintain a tank/s. There's no universal answer, but I think you've got enough hereto at least help you make an informed choice.

Enjoy the kids. They are incomprehensibly precious, and they "define us" as human beings.....................and I hope you decide to keep the 180G running!
 
#36 ·
Uhhhh......24 at the moment, and I'll be over the 30 mark and 1300 gallons by the end of the summer.

I spend less time maintaining one of those tanks in a month than most people spend feeding one cat for one day.

Insanity combined with the realization that investing in making this stuff easy to do can change one's perception of insanity.
 
#37 ·
Good for you man. I wish I was blessed with more time and money to own more tanks. Im very limited of what I can do in a small two bedroom apartment. To be honest I'm jealous that you have the room to house all 37 tanks.
I'm sure by the end of this year you will have enough tanks to open up your own business. I bet it's a lot of fun if you ever go on vacation. Lol
Tank on!
 
#38 ·
Good for you man. I wish I was blessed with more time and money to own more tanks. Im very limited of what I can do in a small two bedroom apartment. To be honest I'm jealous that you have the room to house all 37 tanks.
I'm sure by the end of this year you will have enough tanks to open up your own business. I bet it's a lot of fun if you ever go on vacation. Lol
Tank on!
That is the scary part. I had my neighbor feed the fish in Sept when I was away for 10 days. I had less tanks running also. This year? IDK.

Let's get this thread back on track for the OP. If you want to discuss my tanks look for my fish house journal. I will tell you all you want to know there.
 
#39 ·
Basically, I would say keep them all. Since you love fish tanks and fish, your love will rub off on your kids, and who knows, these fish tanks could be in your sons or daughters rooms teaching valuable lessons about responsibility, and beauty, and biology.

So, put them in the attic or basement.

Next, I would keep one as a quarenteen tank. The 40. How big do your fish get? A 12 inch pleco with ick would like the 40B.

I'm not a horder persay, but if it is in good condition and you have the space, I would keep it. The toddlers will become 12 years old one day and will beg you for a guppy tank all their own. Fish tank keeping has so many good lessobs about economics, biology, research, etc.
 
#40 ·
Thank you everyone for your help. Things really have changed in a few days. Found out that my job going to be cut at the end of the year. So it a good chance I won't have money again to get these tanks all back up and running if I get rid of them. So at this point it sounds like even though I will be back at home all the time in 9 months, I should make the 180 low tech, and to be honest I am happy with that, from what everyone says it will be a lot less work.

So I need to figure out what plants to get ordered this week.
 
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