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I received a free ten gallon recently and am looking for ideas on aquascaping. My tanks are mostly pretty natural looking (earth tone gravels, realistic decor, live plants), this time I want something different and unique.

Intended stock is the famous [link=Baby]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/General%20Freshwater/50006.html?200412290856" style="COLOR: #202020[/link] (thought to be either a rosy barb or a neon rosy barb) and my trio of golden zebra danios. Not sure what else is going in there at this time. I might pick up a few more danios, but these three have been with me since I started my tanks a year ago...

The intended fish are all very yellow/gold in color, so I want something to make them stand out. I DO want live plants, probably focussing on crypt and/or anubias because of the low light. The tank basically has an Eclipse 1 system over it (still have to get parts for it), so not much I can do to upgrade lighting except buy an appropriately K-rated bulb. *shrugs*

I'm thinking maybe trying my hand at EcoComplete if I can find it... other than that, I want to be as frugal as possible. Some plants I was looking at are crypt becketti, maybe a wendtii... I'd love to try my hand at crypt parva if I can get it. Perhaps anubias coffeefolia. I would love to create a little bit of a lawn effect at least in part of the tank, but I'm not sure what plant would survive low light. My plant source of choice is [link=http://www.aquaticplantdepot.com/]http://www.aquaticplantdepot.com/" style="COLOR: #202020[/link] though I suppose I'm open to other sources.

I think I want dark colors to show off the light colored fish. Anyone have any ideas on how to make this tank unique, though? I want something fun!

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Came up with an idea and need advice. It's not quite as different as I was thinking, but I suppose it will work. Either EcoComplete (if funds allow) or small black gravel... a variety of foliage colors (trying for low light plants... is there any with reds/purples that would qualify? I think there's a few varieties of crypt that might work.) Then to top it all off, rocks in jewel tones against a black background.

I know I picked up some white/teal rocks for another tank, but they just didn't work out for that tank. I've got some purple rocks I could move into there, and I'm sure I could pick up a bunch more. Also, I know that a LCPS has hunks of colored glass that could be fun (of course smoothing out the edges if necessary). My favorite LFS also carries a striking zebra rock that might be an interesting addition to this tank. I also picked up a nice piece of driftwood yesterday that I need to clean and sink. If I can get my java moss to actually attach well to that, I have tons of the stuff.

What do you think? Of course, a set layout has to wait until I figure out exactly what I have to work with.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Hi!

Maybe if you have a favourite artist (painter or sculptor) you can do a theme tank emulating one of his/her work, and it can be really affordable too. If you have one in mind and like the idea, maybe i can help you with a mock up of the tank

I once did a Dali themed tank for a friend that just loved his art, and i have to say it was quite intresting and eye catching.

That's a cool idea... let me think on it for a while and let you know. I'd have to think of something that would kind of fit what I'm looking for.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

i did a tank once i thought was pretty cool i wanted it to stand out n i love precious n semi precious stones which i have collected over the years n i placed all them into a 10g with my female bettas
other then diamond ruby n emerald i had all the birthstones in there
rocks like amyerst i cant spell but its purple n crystal like u could try that many crystals come in different colours shapes n sizes alone with gnomes n a few live plants the result looks like atresure box

Yeah, I was considering that... not sure which pieces of my rock/gem collection would be tank safe, though. I've got a whole bunch of fun, colorful pieces, but I know at least SOME of them aren't safe...

Well, I WAS hoping for another way to display my rock collection!

Oh, and it's amethyst. Yeah, I have a chunk of that in my five gallon minibow, which looks nifty, because it's the purple minibow.

Last edited by Kitten at 14-Jan-2005 10:14

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Kitten,

If you are thinking about a black back with black substrate, I would look to add some bright, geen plants to lighten the interior.

H. Polysperma (watersprite) will give you a "bushy" brightness.

If you are looking at crypts, watch for c. balansae. Nice lancelot leaf for the back of the aquarium that comes off as a hammered dark green.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Hmm... I have watersprite in my twenty gallon... did great for about nine months, now it looks like crap and I'm going to tear it out.

I've found some really small black gravel that I quite like... it's not ecocomplete, but it looks nice. I can deal with fertilizers, I suppose.

I was actually looking at that crypt for my twenty gallon... would it get too tall for this tank? I believe it's 14" high.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

It may become too tall for the 10G, I have trimmed it without problems in the past.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

i was close i only missed a few letters haha
ud b amazed at how many semi precious stones r tank safe as long as they dont have a copper or sulphoric base theyll work
i have my piranha tank filled with chunks of iron pirite n red lighting so it looks like gold n jewels down at the bottom n my friends always want to grab it out cuz i do have real gold n silver down there to but then i remind them that there 6" piranhas no one has tried yet haha i think my stones n metals r safe in there haha
the iron gives piranhas AMAZING colours the red is metallic n the other colours r more vivid then rose petals