How old is your aquarium?

Eben · 01-20-2013, 11:19 AM

How old is your tank, or how long was it until you did your last major re scape or substrate change. Also, what's the longest a dirted tank has lasted?

auban · 01-20-2013, 11:42 AM

my sand tank has not had a substrate change in over four years. the longest i have had a dirt tank last was 6 years, without dosing of any kind. the dirt was chicken manure, aragonite, a little clay, and old carbon. it was capped with sand. at startup, it was an algae nightmare for a month or two. after i got that under control with plants and an odd photoperiod, i had no complaints with it.

currently i have a cow manure, clay, and aragonite tank. no algae complaints so far, as long as i keep CO2 on it. its been the same substrate for about ten months, but had to be torn down and set up again because i moved four months ago.

WestHaven · 01-20-2013, 05:47 PM

I have some plant-supporting gravel (forget the brand name) which has been up and running for about 9 months.

Fishbowling · 01-20-2013, 06:22 PM

My 1.5gal (single blue dwarf gourami) and 2.5gal (betta) have been running since August or September 2011; I just changed the 2.5 over from gravel (clown puke, I didn't know any better at the time

) to sand two weeks ago. Still have the original gravel (a nice dark green, actually looks pretty good in it) in the 1.5, and the two green crypts I planted in it and the betta tank this past August (got a 4-pack at petsmart out of curiosity after lurking here a while) have easily quadrupled in size with no ferts or any dedicated light setups.

I know they probably should have bigger tanks, but for now both fish are happy and healthy, probably at times despite my amateurish tank-keeping skills. I would say it's beginner's luck, but after almost a year and a half I'm starting to think I'm doing things mostly right.

**Aquatic Delight** · 01-20-2013, 07:01 PM

my oldest will be a year in the middle of feb or so. you can visit the link my sig to see how it has changed. its wild difference from when i first started.

i was rescaping about every other week at first. now i just do a minor change here and there to adjust the tank based upon what is in it now. as it stands i am trying to create as much open space on the substrate as i can because i have a lot of bottom dwellers.

Paxx · 01-20-2013, 08:57 PM

55 gallon standard.
80 - 100 lbs Eco Complete.
4 years, minor 'scape changes.
EI twice a week with plant tabs every 3 months.
30% RO/DI water change weekly.

Steve001 · 01-21-2013, 02:31 AM

Over 20 years old. One of the seams sprung a leak. broke it down for repair, but did not remove the gravel. siphoned out the accumulated detritus let it dry an will stick back into the gravel. Replanted using the same plants. I've lost track as to how old some plants are.

wendyjo · 01-21-2013, 02:55 AM

My tank is about 5 years old with no major changes and very little plant maintenance.

01-20-2013, 11:19 AM	#1
Eben Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Australia Posts: 83	How old is your aquarium? How old is your tank, or how long was it until you did your last major re scape or substrate change. Also, what's the longest a dirted tank has lasted?

01-20-2013, 05:47 PM	#3
WestHaven Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: West Haven, CT Posts: 327	I have some plant-supporting gravel (forget the brand name) which has been up and running for about 9 months. __________________ 29 Gallon Tank ------------------------------------------------------ Amazon swords, Wisteria, Anubias, Crypts, Moss balls, Argentine swords, 15 neon tetras, 3 Emerald Green cory cats, 8 Schwartzi cory cats, 3 Dwarf Gouramis, 1 Apple snail, 5+ Assassin snails, numerous other snails

01-20-2013, 07:01 PM	#5
Aquatic Delight H is for Hillstream (View User Tanks) PTrader: (6/100%) Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: San Antonio TX Posts: 1,285	my oldest will be a year in the middle of feb or so. you can visit the link my sig to see how it has changed. its wild difference from when i first started. i was rescaping about every other week at first. now i just do a minor change here and there to adjust the tank based upon what is in it now. as it stands i am trying to create as much open space on the substrate as i can because i have a lot of bottom dwellers. __________________ __________________________________ Will ________________________________ my 29g story To See all of my photos Click ME!

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01-20-2013, 11:42 AM	#2
auban Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (4/100%) Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Monterey, CA Posts: 424	my sand tank has not had a substrate change in over four years. the longest i have had a dirt tank last was 6 years, without dosing of any kind. the dirt was chicken manure, aragonite, a little clay, and old carbon. it was capped with sand. at startup, it was an algae nightmare for a month or two. after i got that under control with plants and an odd photoperiod, i had no complaints with it. currently i have a cow manure, clay, and aragonite tank. no algae complaints so far, as long as i keep CO2 on it. its been the same substrate for about ten months, but had to be torn down and set up again because i moved four months ago.

01-20-2013, 06:22 PM	#4
Fishbowling Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Cartersville GA Posts: 42	My 1.5gal (single blue dwarf gourami) and 2.5gal (betta) have been running since August or September 2011; I just changed the 2.5 over from gravel (clown puke, I didn't know any better at the time ) to sand two weeks ago. Still have the original gravel (a nice dark green, actually looks pretty good in it) in the 1.5, and the two green crypts I planted in it and the betta tank this past August (got a 4-pack at petsmart out of curiosity after lurking here a while) have easily quadrupled in size with no ferts or any dedicated light setups. I know they probably should have bigger tanks, but for now both fish are happy and healthy, probably at times despite my amateurish tank-keeping skills. I would say it's beginner's luck, but after almost a year and a half I'm starting to think I'm doing things mostly right.

01-20-2013, 08:57 PM	#6
Paxx Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: 10000K Posts: 65	55 gallon standard. 80 - 100 lbs Eco Complete. 4 years, minor 'scape changes. EI twice a week with plant tabs every 3 months. 30% RO/DI water change weekly.

01-21-2013, 02:31 AM	#7
Steve001 Wannabe Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Baltimore Maryland Posts: 1,028	Over 20 years old. One of the seams sprung a leak. broke it down for repair, but did not remove the gravel. siphoned out the accumulated detritus let it dry an will stick back into the gravel. Replanted using the same plants. I've lost track as to how old some plants are.

01-21-2013, 02:55 AM	#8
wendyjo Planted Tank Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (7/100%) Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: DC area Posts: 2,811	My tank is about 5 years old with no major changes and very little plant maintenance.