NO unless you have like 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000…ext. snails or sucker fish

Cindi, I’m sorry that some people have to immediately jump to the negative when you had a perfectly innocent question (as it seems to me), and I don’t think it’s a bad question to ask, ESPECIALLY if you recall seeing something about it on tv. Don’t pay attention to the negativity of people, it’s not worth it. I myself personally had never heard of a self-keeping fish tank so I did some quick research online, and lo and behold, YOU ARE CORRECT!!

NOW, TO THOSE WHO THINK THEY KNOW IT ALL: What she may have seen and/or is talking about is this:

EcoSphere is a self-sustaining ecosystem, you never have to feed the life within. Simply provide your EcoSphere with a source of indirect natural or artificial light and enjoy this aesthetic blend of art and science, beauty and balance.

Because the living resources within the EcoSphere utilize their resources without overpopulating or contaminating their environment, the EcoSphere requires no cleaning and only minimal care.

SO SHE IS RIGHT, SHE HAS SEEN SOMETHING OF THE SORT. Here is the link for more information:

Cindi, make sure you research anything you are interested in thoroughly. If this turns out to not be what you were looking for, well heck, you’ve learned something new, so have I. Maybe many of you on here have.

EDIT 8/30: Response to SOUP NAZI: I simply made a statment of MY opinion about people being rude with their answers to an innocent question, and gave her the info that she was asking about. I did not specifically mention names, just I felt some answers were not necessary and rude. She didn’t ask for ignorance, she asked a question, and I gave her a perfectly good answer without sarcasm. All she wanted to know is if there was such a thing and some people tore her down. I NEVER stated that is WAS or WAS NOT a wonderful idea to have one (nor did she ask if it was, she just asked if there WAS such a thing), I just stated what she might have seen, so lay off….you are out of line. You say I am insulting people? I think not. Look at your answer to her again and then your statement to me, and then tell me who is insulting whom. I answered her question, you belittled her. The end.

with all the mean answers i hope you can make it to mine before you just decide everyone on yahoo answers is a jerk. it is possible to have fish in a tank that YOU dont have to clean however it will have to be cleaned but you can buy a laser cleaner for your fish tank that will clean it every couple hours or days or whatever you set it to but they are very expensive that is probabky what they used on homemakeover because they have a huge almost unbreakeable budget for that show but i do love that show its neat what they do to alot of those houses but thats the only thing you can do to not have to clean your tank but plants do help keep it clean because plants compete for the sunlight and nutrients that algae wants too so when the plants survive the algae doesnt and that helps cut down on the algae to cut down on the amount you have to clean and befroe people attack me and call me lazy and stupid i have an oscar tank that i gravel vaccum every three days and completely scrub down every three weeks so dont attack me my fish live very good lives but i would get a laser vleaner if i could because oscar fish are very messy and hard to keep clean after but i hope you have good luck weather or not you decide to get fish. but if youve never had fish befroe people will tell you to start off with a gold fish or something for unexperienced owners but i got my oscar fish and my tang (the tang is a saltwater fish that is supposed to be very hard to take care of) without any other experience and they have all lived happy long lives thank you have a great day

Actually, it is very possible to have what you are looking for. It is a “natural” tank. Look up Diana Walstad on google, and I guarantee that you will find everything you are looking for. This method uses low light, soil from your garden, and tons of plants for a self sustaning tank. It did one for my betta fish, which wasn’t too expensive. Never have to clean or change water! Well, once or twice a year is good!
All you need is 1) tons of plants 2) a 1 gallon or two gallon tank. 3) some garden soil and gravel 4) a fish.
Give this method a try!

Actually, it IS possible. But very experienced, knowledgeable fishkeepers have to work really hard to get the system balanced enough to actually pull it off. If there were an easy, 1-2-3 way to do it, most of us would be doing it! (I added a link in my sources section to a discussion about it on the Aquahobby Forums.)

For the vast majority of us, the honest answer is No, you can’t do it, and if you don’t want to do water changes, don’t get fish.

If you know how to take care of your pets, how come cleaning a tank is in convinient. You might not have to clean a tank but you’ll have to take 20 minutes of your day changing water.

If you want something, a 2.5 gallon completer set up should be perfect and it woudn’t do much of a problem for your fish if you don’t clean it. A betta fish might be the right fish for you!

Here is a link for a tank example that would be great for a single betta fish or two of them with a divider.

No, sorry you have to clean the tank even with filters. Maybe you can look on line or go to a pet store and get info on which fish are stronger and can go the longest without cleaning the tank. Take a look at those fish, see if you like them and then go on to decide if those fish will meet your needs.

While you are always going to have to clean the tank…you can buy some sucker fishes to help clean off any algae that might develop on the sides. While this will never eliminate the need to clean your tank, it will help some.

no. even a tank with a filter and pump needs to be cleaned on a regular basis. if you want a fish though, i have a beta fish that is very low maintenance, but his bowl does need to be cleaned every now and then. think about it fish poop where they live…if there isn’t anything there to suck it out, or someone to clean it then they have to live in it.

no. all fish tanks need maintenance (water changes, filter cartridge changes, etc.)

and on some tanks depeding on what you keep you will have daily maintnece sorry for my typeing i just got my eyes dialated.