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Im in the process of aquascaping my tank, and I would like some input. The tank is 30" across and 30" deep. I would like something that will cover up the filter intake tube and the heater, etc. I have live plants that my friend gave me, but I dont know what they are called. Im kind of going for a natural looking tank, I have brown/white gravel already in. I plan on stocking the tank with angel fish, neon tetras, a gourami, a plecostomus I already have, and maybe some others. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

If you want to identify the plants you will have to give us a photo of them.
Angels and Neon tetras just do not go together unless you want the Angel to snack on them.

If the tank is 30ins deep you would be better going with low light plants.

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Keith



Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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Yeah, I just read about the neons last night. Would cardinal tetras be a better choice? Basically I am wanting colorful schooling fish. Any ideas on what to put in the tank to add some concealment for the filter intake and the heater? Something tall enough that would hide it for the most part would be nice. If possible, I would like to stay away from buying expensive driftwood. I might just have to give in and buy some though.

as far as the stocking I'd suggest that you either get small fish or large. would you rather have larger fish or smaller?
I personally would rather have a large school of like 20 neon or cardinal tetras and maybe some other smaller schooling fish. The smaller fish will make the tank look bigger and etc.

As far as plants I suggest you get some larger growing ones that are not as high light or demand. Vals and Amazon swords can grow well in lower light conditions but grow extremely well in high light as well (a plus if you ever decide to upgrade your system).

your tank is pretty tall so you will probably need vals or some very high growing plants. I suggest you research plants at plantgeek.net so you can get a better idea of plants and their placement.

I hope this helps,
-Bradon



\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

A big school of Cardinal Tetras would look spectacular plus they are a stronger fish than the plain Neons.

If you decide to have then it will mean no Angel.
A backing of tall dark green plants plus the back being painted a flat black would also make them stand out more.

A warning with Val you will have to be careful if you are using some of the Seachem liquid ferts it just melts them. There is info at Plant Geek about this in the Seachem Topic.


Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith


Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
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If you decide to keep Angels, you can have tetras. You will just have to keep an eye on them. I would go with a larger tetra just in case. My Angels have gotten along very well with my neons, with one exception. I had one BAD boy that progressively went after everyone in the tank. He killed one neon before I could separate him. I eventually sold him back to the LFS.

As far as concealment, you can use plants. As Brandeeno wrote, Amazon swords would do great. They have nice wide leaves and they get tall. If you can construct a mound of caves/rockwork that could work too. You would have to make sure it's stable and won't fall over. You can buy artificial caves at any petstore. They also have stone work with holes/caves chipped in them. If you construct your own cave, buy aquarium safe silicone. Let it cure at least 24-48 hours before you place it in your tank water.

TTFN --->Ta-Ta-For-Now
Kelly ;o}

I'm thinking about getting lots of small fish, that sounds better in my opinion. As far as lighting goes, I just bought a new light. I believe it is a Coralife T5 high output. Later today I am going to the local fish store to see what they have in stock as far as decorations go.

iHunt, My suggestion is get natural decorations and not the epoxy or plastic ones because IMO the natural ones help for a natural looking scape, plus they last longer because the paint on the plastic or epoxy ones wears off in no time at all, 6 months to a year and their flaking of paint.

as far as your lighting do you know the wattage output? because the light might be great, but you need to know watts per gallon too estimate what plants will work.

sounds like you are well on your way to a beautiful tank!
and yes a bunch of smaller fish is a stunning display!

-Brandon

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

It's really not so much light that limits plants; HC can be kept as a low light plant. More often than not, it's lighting spread and CO2 levels that will determine which plants you can or cannot keep. Better spread usually ends up meaning increased quantities of lighting, which ends up meaning a higher level of CO2 to create a nonlimiting saturation. Some plants simply demand more CO2 as well, due to the environment in which they evolved vs. the conditions in which we keep them. You'll find plenty of "high light" plants kept in low light conditions if you spend some time exploring the plant end of the hobby. The real trick of it all is figuring out just what parts of your tank meet about 50mmol PAR, and which ones go below it.

From my personal experience, I've had no issue with L. repens, H. zosterifolia, R. rotundifolia, H. difformis and most of the other common plants in <1wpg conditions with no CO2 (not even DIY) and yet balanced ferts with an established substrate to go with it. The emphasis here is on the ferts.

Now if you want to get into hiding your hardware, there's a few options besides just trying to cover it up. You can go in-line with the heater for a start.

For intake and outtake tubes, you could drill the tank if you're up to it. Failing that, or in combination with drilling, you can use loc-line or other modular hose and running things in under the substrate. This method offers great flow distribution for the sake of plants.

The final option would be glass intake/outputs. They look nice, but for their price I'd turn to loc-line. Still, some people like it to go along side things like a drop checker in a rimless ADA tank just to show off their hardware as much as everything else in their tank. It can look very nice, but there's usually a high price tag to go with all of that.

Vals don't melt with all seachem ferts. It's just the glutaraldehyde in excel that does them in; the rest are fine. Some species of moss and shrimp are also a bit on the sensitive side.

-Philosophos