Roll on 2021...

[Peter]

Well, my desire to reimmerse myself in to the wonderful world of fish keeping has definately intensified.

So, once Xmas and the rest of this horrid year is over, I plan to start next year with a "new" (read *2nd hand*) tank. Absolute minimum will be 180-220ltr as this will be the an "only" tank this time around.

Previously I had 5 on the go, a variety of sizes, but became a chore rather than an a pleasure to maintain. This time I want to appreciate and relax with it more, rather than constant cleaning, water changes etc etc.

I have a spot where anything from a 3ft to a 6ft can go now so opens me up to many options for stocking. Always fancied a pair of Oscars and a decent sized Plec but bar the wood decor wouldn't be there. I do love a planted tank and the "hunt" to find my friends. Or maybe a Malawi type set up?

So got me thinking, what are your most favourite options? Either what you have now or what you really hanker for? Be interested to see what everyone likes.

[Andys temperate tank]

Sounds like your going well beyond 200L Peter mate.

I like well planted, south american themed tanks most of all.

[Suse]

It's fantastic to hear you are getting back in I am the same - whenever I've had more than one tank, I find it becomes a chore to maintain. I always end up going back to just the one.

I would go for the maximum size you can fit ie 6 foot, if you can find a suitable tank at a suitable price!

Like Andy, I am a South American themed tank person. I am moving away from general planted tanks to a more naturalistic set up. My goal is a proper biotope. Not there yet... I like large groups of little fish and seeing the community behaviour rather than watching a big fish swim up and down (no offence to big fish or their fans).

[Stephen]

I love my themed tank.
All the researching and finding those fish at a LFS. I will travel to collect fish if they are at the right price and quantity.
Once I travelled around 90 miles (180 miles round trip) to collect a certain fish species.
I have even had "fish by post" on a few occasions.
The current theme mainly came from a LFS 62 miles away (124 mile round trip) and I made 3 trips to that LFS.
On one occasion I travelled to the above LFS, collected fish, and then travelled on to Stratford-upon-Avon to collect a pleco (about 155 miles round trip).
All good fun.

[fr499y]

I’ve kept so many different types of fish over the years and always finding myself wanting to setup a basic, dim lit biotope of some kind. A couple of years from that as it will be the tank when we move!

[plankton]

You should be able to keep a pair of oscars in a 6' tank.

[VikingMummy2015]

definitely good idea to go for 1 big tank. I don't mind doing the big tank and the betta tank, but I'm struggling now I have the QT tank to do as well. And on an off day then I'd much rather just stick to the big tank because I can just stick the pump in and out.
I love the look of my properly planted tank, but the green spot algae bothers me on and off. I don't like the look of it, but I also can't retain the information on how to fix it (brain fog).
I do love the look of oscars but I get too emotionally attached to fish once I can recognise and name them. So as much as I love Ghost, I probably won't go for another betta again just because it's too tough losing them. So I'm all for community tanks.
I don't know anything about cichlid tanks because it would take too much manipulating my water to make it work. It would fit the bill for your low maintenance in terms of just lots of rocks/caves and maybe the odd bit of wood/epiphyte plants. But you'd have to mix the water with salts each time.

Dream tank for me: Bigger than my current one. One end a jungle, sweeping around to a rocky type bay at the other end. Loads of one cory species (i love the look of zebra plecs but again, too attached), then probably two schools of tetras. It would be relaxing to watch and relatively straightforward to maintain.

[Martinspuddle]

150 gallon Amazon blackwater ...never going to happen though.

[Wishafish]

Dream tank for me: Bigger than my current one. One end a jungle, sweeping around to a rocky type bay at the other end.

That sounds amazing!

[Si4geckos]

The thing with a big tank is water changes takes a while regardless of the method. My 574L tank takes about an hour to drain and fill back up (using a hose). This gives me about 35-40 mins of waiting for water to syphon out. Which means I can do 4 buckets out and in on my second tank while the big one drains out. So in temrs of maintenance, 2 tanks is almost as easy as one (takes the same time). Just saying...

I've got a planted community big tank and smaller tank (180L) for zebra plecs and cardinal tetras. (and the shrimp tank upstairs, but that takes about 5 mins a week to do a bucket out and in as a water change.

I do enjoy the length of the big tank as the fish do seem to swim full length. I do think if getting a bigger tank, you should opt for larger types of fish. Congo tetras, as opposed to cardinals or rainbow fish, rather than dwarf rainbows perhaps. Don't have to be oscar sized, but I went for all tiny fish at first and then rethought about how I'm not using the tank to the full potential.