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hey guys...

Iam kinda new to the whole aquaruim experience and all, well i've been doing it for 6 months...but anyways. I was wondering if you had any ideas on how to better my 10 gallon tank. Right now I have about 7 plastic plants in there but its kinda whimpy and very plain. What should i do to make it look realistic and very interesting? I have looked at this kind of stuff at my lps, and its well... very costly...but iam going to buy something anyways so....it would be very nice if some of you could name some products or driftwood or something....it would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

Last edited by Peter17 at 24-Jan-2005 17:31

20 GALLON LONG CURRENTLY EMPTY ~~~~ 10 GALLON W/ STRIPPED CONVICT

hey peter,
firstly get rid of the plastic plants, secondly some live plants.. it would be best to go with somthing more hardy such as Anubias, java fern, java moss, vals.. these do not require much light or ferterlizer.. but will need to be trimmed every now and then and make sure u give them a rinse and check for baby snails.. thirdly some driftwood would be ideal as it gives the tank a more live feeling..( well to me it does ) get anything that will fit and look good in your tank.. dont forget to give it a nice scrub and soak the wood in some water for a few hrs .. to get rid or the yellow colour it gives out when placed in water..

what kind of fish do you have in there??

hope this helps

r0b3y

Last edited by r0b3y at 24-Jan-2005 18:02

Hi Peter,

It all depends on how you want your tank to end up looking, if you are going for artificial plants, you can do a great aquascape, it's just a matter of selecting the right kind and size. I personally recommend silk artificial plants, they look better and are not so expensive, in fact some are even cheaper that plastic, and they are also much easier to keep in position. There are several brands, so you can take a look around and decide what you want depending on your taste.

You can look for inspiration in many places, but if you want to make it look like a planted tank I recommend you to see the results of the [link=AGA Aquascaping Contest]http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2004.cgi?&Scale=3&op=showpage&name=view-showcase" style="COLOR: #FFCC00[/link] there you can find some inspirations over shape and color, and then just go get the plants you need.

The use of rock or driftwood will make it much more natural looking.

Good Luck

Hi,
Once you make the decision to add live plants to the tank,
I suggest you go to the Planted Aquaria section of this
forum and read the top thread with the stick pin in it.
The information will help you make informed decisions.

Driftwood and/or rocks can help set up the "look" of an
outstanding aquarium. Look at the various sites that
have aquascaping contests and check out the tanks that
are the same size as yours.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I just want to point out, that you don't have to use live plants to get a wonderful aquascape, most of us here like live plants, but it isn't a must, to get great tips in this section, let us know how it goes

One link below provides pics to my 20 long as it evolved. It started with 100% fake, cloth plants. I transitioned it over time to all live and no fake. I don't have many pics of the full tank as it is now, but if you look closely you can see the possibilities of fake plants. I think it is a nice way to start, if you are not ready or willing to get into live plants yet.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/di_kor/album?.dir=5c30&amp;.src=ph&amp;store=&amp;prodid=&amp;.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

Really, only the first two pics will show you how an all fake plant tank can look. I like cloth plants because they are more natural looking (as natural as you can get with fake ). In particular, I like the Sea Garden brand.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=9120&amp;N=2004+113152
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One thing that I found I liked about the cloth plant set up (versus live) is that I could take all the fake plants out on a Saturday, toss them in 3 gallons of water with about 1/4 cup of bleach for several hours, and kill all the unwanted algae . I would then rinse many times with an overdose of dechlorinator, then let them airdry a few hours or overnight before putting back in. I often did only half the tank so the fish would have some place to hide.

Another plus to the fake plant setup is that it allowed me to "play" with my tank. For the longest time, I played in that 20 long almost every Saturday rearranging plants until things were just right. The fish loved it because they thought they fell into another world.

I enjoyed the slow transition to live plants. I started with Java Fern and Anubias Nana - slow, low light growers that did not mind my substrate. They were easily purchased locally. That gave me the plant bug. Different algaes became a problem when I added the hornwort, which had hair and beard algae on it (very fine, hard to see strands).

I'm ready for all live now and enjoy it, but the fake had its time and place for me :88)
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Best advice I read that helped me the first time is to put taller plants to the back and/or to the rear corners. Put medium plants in the middle and short plants to the front. Don't try to center everything, rather look for shape in the front as to how you want the total plant view to sculpt itself in appearance. Do you want a "V" shape where tall plants are at the ends and dip down near the center? Or, a gradual slope from one end of the tank to another. There are ways to draw lines in your head as to how the plants should lay. Experimentation is half the fun and that is where fake plants come in - they don't mind all the movement

Last edited by Cory_Di at 24-Jan-2005 22:28

Last edited by Cory_Di at 24-Jan-2005 22:30

Lovely pics, the tank is beautiful.

Personally, Peter17, I think you should take out your plastic plants and add some live plants and river rocks. A lushly planted aquarium is a really beautiful sight.