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I just wanted some opinions on my tank about the placement of the plants and decoration in my tank.

http://img82.exs.cx/img82/8678/myfishtank8zt.jpg

There's three sword tails(two of which are visible), six phantom tetras(three of which are visible in the center), and two ottos(which unfortunately aren't visible).
Sorry about the poor quality of the photo, I was using a polaroid instant camera.

Well, if it were mine, I'd change the gravel first. I'd either do play sand from Home Depot, or some natural colored gravel. Then I'd get some different rocks. Are those really blue and white swirls?

Other than that, I can't really see enough of the tank to tell how it could be changed..... but I'm not that good with aquascaping anyways.

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They shade the glow of it with their mossy-misty costumes,
They wear masks of silk, porcelain, brass, and silver,
So as not to mislead with their own, ordinary faces.

Yep, blue and white swirls. And as far as the gravel goes, I wanted to change it, but my family for some reason or another really love the gravel. I'd upload more pics, but I'm out of film now

Kingyo

Toss out those ugly blue/white rocks, They are just completly out of place. Also replace the subbase with a natural colour fine & medium river gravel.

Plus several various sized natural rocks which have interesting shapes, some driftwood would also help. At the moment the tank has no flow in that I mean varing heights to form a even curve across the tank.

I will PM you some Aquscape sites for you and your family can see how to set up a tank.

Keith

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Thanks for all of the resources. It'll be helpful. And no need to feel sorry, I always welcome constructive criticism. I'll redo my tank as soon as I have some time on my hands. Also, do you think that adding any more fish to my tank will be a bad idea?

EDIT: The colored gravel has actually grown on me. Does it really take away from the tank? I always thought that it added a nice contrast. But you are definately right about the blue and white rock.

Last edited by Kingyo at 03-Apr-2005 03:23

Kingyo

I am possiblly one of many who prefer the natural look, yet there are many who prefer the multi coloured look.
To be honest I dont think I have ever seen a multi coloured tank that actually appeals to me. Aquscape is a total look not actualy just one part of the total design.

As far as adding more fish I would be more concerned in getting the tank aquacaped and settled down first. If you do/can get more fish first it means disrupting more fish while all the work is done.

I will PM you my E/m

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?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

I have to agree with the above and say the colored stuff has got to go. Some nice natural looking gravel and then a nice piece of driftwood would make a world of difference and this would accents the plants more.

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

How would an all-white gravel bed look like? A sort of translucent, pearly white?

The thing about white gravel is it shows dirt really well. I'd basically go with what kieth said. Natural river gravel. Then place your tall plants at the back and small plats at the front. easy peasy. If you wanted to do something special you could create a wall through the middle with some rocks. The at the back side of the wall add gravell do it is level with the top of the rocks. SO you've got kind of a raised level. Then put your tall plants back there and make a little water garden. Then at the front of the rocks you could have a thin layer of play sand. Cories love sand so you could get a little shoal and they could have a 'sand pit' ]

I'm never happy with the way my tank looks. Always adding to it. It's best to aquascape before you get the fish. If you want to see what the raised levels look like check out my post in the photo booth. I made two little raised portions for my taller plants. looks cool i think.

Last edited by Fish_Can_Fly at 03-Apr-2005 16:54

Also, try a black background, it works wonders on natural look tanks.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

How would an all-white gravel bed look like?

Light color substrates are generally not a good idea. No only does dirt show up against them very clearly but they also so signs of algae easily and can confuse the fish. Fish use light as Up and dark as Down.

I second a plain background, either dark or light blue. While most people say black I'm of the opinion that they really only look good on higher lit tanks and it looks to me like you've got a standard light strip on the tank.

As for the design of the tank. If you're going to go along with everyone and go for a "natural" tank then yes change the gravel to something dark and remove the light rocks.

However you could leave them so long as it was worked into some sort of theme . The way you have everything currently is somewhat symetrical. I'd suggest laying out the tank to form a hill with open swimming area on the sides and front. Or replant the taller plants to one side and have swimming space to the side with the scape building to the other side.

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