Thanks so much @AilyNC and @Russjw it is great to get thoughts from people who have both!!
I need to start a journal for my tank but in the absence of that one more question to get your thoughts since I've already gone there
the placement of the 125gal will be a fun challenge for me, because it will go against an "architectural wall" that the house came with. Said wall is not solid, but instead has 5 rectangular window type holes cut into it so you can see from one room to the other (70s design? Who knows lol), and the tank will be in front of two of these: one stout wide one that will show mostly the substrate and about 20cm x 40cm of viewing area from the bottom of the tank, and one tall one that will show the full height of the tank x50cm (numbers are gross estimates). Thus, I'll be actually attaching a tank background to the wall portion that is solid, and that will cover ~1/3 of the tank, maybe a bit more. It will be an interesting aqascape challenge to provide shelter and security to the fish while also allowing for double-sided viewing!! In light of all that, I originally picked black for the substrate since the stand and tank rims are black, but I see my husband's point in a lighter sand looking more natural and where the walls are a cream color either way you have something that will match in the room.
We were looking at sands the other day at the hardware store, and something that is sold here as "tube sand" (aka sand bags for water retention or weighing stuff down) seemed to have an interesting color and consistency of various grades of sand and even some gravel pieces mixed together. From reading up on it, that type of utility sand is usually produced locally due to shipping costs, and I think from a mineral perspective the local sand consistency is very compatible with aquarium uses. I'm wondering if going for that type of a mix of particulate matter all the way from fine silica (which will get washed out) to some gravel particles will look "good" or "awful" in the setting of the tank that I described. What are your thoughts? Thanks!
I need to start a journal for my tank but in the absence of that one more question to get your thoughts since I've already gone there
the placement of the 125gal will be a fun challenge for me, because it will go against an "architectural wall" that the house came with. Said wall is not solid, but instead has 5 rectangular window type holes cut into it so you can see from one room to the other (70s design? Who knows lol), and the tank will be in front of two of these: one stout wide one that will show mostly the substrate and about 20cm x 40cm of viewing area from the bottom of the tank, and one tall one that will show the full height of the tank x50cm (numbers are gross estimates). Thus, I'll be actually attaching a tank background to the wall portion that is solid, and that will cover ~1/3 of the tank, maybe a bit more. It will be an interesting aqascape challenge to provide shelter and security to the fish while also allowing for double-sided viewing!! In light of all that, I originally picked black for the substrate since the stand and tank rims are black, but I see my husband's point in a lighter sand looking more natural and where the walls are a cream color either way you have something that will match in the room.We were looking at sands the other day at the hardware store, and something that is sold here as "tube sand" (aka sand bags for water retention or weighing stuff down) seemed to have an interesting color and consistency of various grades of sand and even some gravel pieces mixed together. From reading up on it, that type of utility sand is usually produced locally due to shipping costs, and I think from a mineral perspective the local sand consistency is very compatible with aquarium uses. I'm wondering if going for that type of a mix of particulate matter all the way from fine silica (which will get washed out) to some gravel particles will look "good" or "awful" in the setting of the tank that I described. What are your thoughts? Thanks!
