How to setup planted community fish tank at a low budget?

How to setup a planted community fish tank at a low budget?

Community aquariums are more eye gazing because they have different species of fish having different shapes & colors. Different types of fish love to mix up & swim together. Community aquariums usually stock many fish so their nature could be different. It is hard to keep different species of fish together because they could show aggression especially in small community aquariums or when they are stressed. Fish can also form their own territories, & potentially stop other fish from entering their territory. Community tanks have many benefits, & several drawbacks too that I have discussed in this article.

Keeping heaps of plants and hiding places will protect your fish from aggressive species. When fish & fries sense danger, they hide. If you have plenty of plants in the aquarium as well as structures and other decorations, then fish will have places to hide from predators. Lack of hiding spots will stress your fish. Fish form territories in the aquarium, & they need plants & structures for making their territory. They guard their territories and avoid others from entering them. Hence, fish that are not aggressive can still be hostile towards other fish because many peaceful fish are territorial. If your community aquarium is large, and has fish that prefer to swim in the bottom, middle and higher level, then it will be safe. Aquarists usually keep aggressive fish in the community tanks with no problems because they prefer to live in different zones such as top, mid & bottom level.

How to setup a planted community fish tank at a low budget?

Different species of fish can be kept together in community fish tanks that have different shapes, tail & fin types, & colors. Community aquariums are livelier, & more colorful than normal aquariums. Different species of fish mix up & swim together that look appealing. Community aquariums usually have peaceful fish that do not hurt each other. Aquarists usually keep structures, rocks, decorations, artificial & live plants in community aquariums that reduce aggression in fish. Bottom dwelling fish in the community aquarium eat the leftover food stuck in the substrate & decorations before they release toxic chemicals. Aquarists often keep many different types of aquatic plants in the community tank, & set them up in the background, mid-ground & foreground of the aquarium. Fish play with decorations in the community aquariums. There are varying types of fish that play with their favorite ornaments. Bottom dwelling fish hide in the caves & love digging the substrate. Aquarists keep different types of fish in the community tanks. Some of them are active swimmers while others hide & usually come out in the dark, so their aquariums are livelier throughout the day & night. Aquarists also keep algae eater fish in their community aquariums that scrape off the algae from plants & tank decorations.

 

Problems in setting up a Community Fish Tank:

Check out main problems associated with the setup of a community fish tank:

• Territorial fish form their own territories in community aquariums so they could be aggressive towards their own kind & other species of fish.
• Different species of fish need their own water parameters such as PH, Temperature & Water Hardness so choosing right tank mates could be difficult.
• Large fish tend to eat small ones. Fin nippers could nip the large flowing fins of certain fish so learning about the behaviour of every species that you want to keep in a community tank could be time consuming.
• Fish creates too much waste in the aquarium due to their large numbers so they need a single large or multiple small filters.
• Fast flowing water from the filter or powerheads could affect some fish including the small ones.
• Fish could breed & give birth to babies in the community tanks so fries are prone to many predators. It is advisable to keep many plants, decorations & other structures that offer lots of hiding spots to the stressed fish & fries.
• When food is served, active fish eat all of them before passive fish have the chance to spot food. Some fish like to swim in the bottom levels of the aquarium so it is hard to feed them in the community aquarium because they rarely come up for eating. It is advisable to feed them pellets or food that sink to the bottom.
• Some fish swim quickly & could stress others. It is hard to find fish of the same nature.
• Some fish prefer bright tank lights while others are happy in the darkness. Also, live plants have varying needs for artificial lights.