10 Gal Redo

[puffin3]

I've made a cock-up of things. You can tell by my pic of my 10 gal tank.
Too many big rocks. The air hose is showing too much. The heater distracts. The filter looks horrible. The plants aren't positioned right even IF they are the right plants. I hate the black gravel.
The whole thing is botched!
I want a clean, light beautiful look instead of the 'clunk' it is now.
Please help!
I'm open to any suggestions. I'm ready to spend money and time and I won't be upset by anyones critical opinion----just the opposite.
There you have it.
To know what types of fish I have just check out some of my latest posts.
Thankyou all in advance for any suggestions.
Maybe between us I can end up with the "dream tank" I have been wishing for but didn't have the artistic/practical background to make happen.

 

[piratedninja]

wow that looks like its a pain in the you know what to do a gravel vac

maybe you can get rid of the black gravel and some of the rocks
then stack some of the rocks in a corner and fill the rest with sand and in the back have the plants
that way the fish have plenty of room to hide and so will their fry

also, put an airstone on that hose and try to turn down the power of the pump so your tank isnt filled with bubbles, but still creates plenty of surface area for the water to take in
maybe you can put one of those long air rods in the back instead of the stone
you might also want to add a light to the tank because aquatic plants need lots of light
you can also use the plant to kinda hide the filter intake, and use the rocks to hide the heater its all up to you


edit-
put the heater near the filter intake so it as distracting, and it will help heat the water much faster because the filter will take in the warm water and push it back out all over the tank
i have my heater right beside the filter intake and notice the temperature changes almost instantly throughout the whole tank when i adjust the heater

 

[martyn21uk]

If you don't mind critical feedback can I say not to ask people to trawl through your previous posts to find out your stocking. Either list or give us a link to go to that post. I for one am not going to 'look' for you because you can't be bothered to type it out again.

As for your tank I have a 13 gallon and have a 12" air stone that runs along the back. It gives a nice curtain effect of bubbles up through my plants and decor. Just make sure your pump is strong enough to power it. I agree with the suggestion to remove the rocks and keep a few in one corner with the substrate either to sand or small natural coloured gravel.

 

[fish-r-fancy]

I would suggest that you get rid of all of the black gravel and most of the large rocks only keep like 3. Use pool filter sand as a substrate, looks very nice and is very cheap. Take around 3 of your large rocks and put them in a circle and plant the biggest plant in the middle of the "rock garden". Place the "rock garden" in the back left corner of the tank hiding both the heater and airline. Get a bubble bar and use it as an airstone so that you will have a stream of bubbles along the back wall of your tank. Get a black background, it will kind of camoflouge the filter so that it wont be so noticable and will also set off your fish and plants. I would get a piece of driftwood and try to attach your other plants to it and place that in front of the filter. Then I would get like a cave-thing or something to go in the middle of the tank. Thats what I would do. Good luck!

 

[gilaesther]

I would suggest that you get rid of all of the black gravel and most of the large rocks only keep like 3. Use pool filter sand as a substrate, looks very nice and is very cheap. Take around 3 of your large rocks and put them in a circle and plant the biggest plant in the middle of the "rock garden". Place the "rock garden" in the back left corner of the tank hiding both the heater and airline. Get a bubble bar and use it as an airstone so that you will have a stream of bubbles along the back wall of your tank. Get a black background, it will kind of camoflouge the filter so that it wont be so noticable and will also set off your fish and plants. I would get a piece of driftwood and try to attach your other plants to it and place that in front of the filter. Then I would get like a cave-thing or something to go in the middle of the tank. Thats what I would do. Good luck!

What color is pool filter sand?

I LOVE the idea of a black background! I never thought of that to camoflauge the filter and heater!

 

[fish-r-fancy]

pool filter sand is white and it also comes in a light brown and a dark brown. It is also very cheap, like $12 for a 50 pound bag, and you woulden't even need that much.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

call me crazy but i love the loads of big rocks thing, i just think it needs time to mature and more plants.

IMO the plants are too sparse and because of that they don't blend in at all, making the tank look disjointed and just not quite right. Get some more vallis (long tall grassy type one) and spread it out along the back wall which will disguise the heater and filter etc

then get some more of the other two plants and put them together but spaced out around a few of the big rocks if that makes sense

 

[anje]

I would suggest that you get rid of all of the black gravel and most of the large rocks only keep like 3. Use pool filter sand as a substrate, looks very nice and is very cheap. Take around 3 of your large rocks and put them in a circle and plant the biggest plant in the middle of the "rock garden". Place the "rock garden" in the back left corner of the tank hiding both the heater and airline. Get a bubble bar and use it as an airstone so that you will have a stream of bubbles along the back wall of your tank. Get a black background, it will kind of camoflouge the filter so that it wont be so noticable and will also set off your fish and plants. I would get a piece of driftwood and try to attach your other plants to it and place that in front of the filter. Then I would get like a cave-thing or something to go in the middle of the tank. Thats what I would do. Good luck!

What color is pool filter sand?

I LOVE the idea of a black background! I never thought of that to camoflauge the filter and heater!

So did I until I put in my black phantoms and realized theirr fins disappear in front of it. All I can see is six pale little tetrabellies zipping about unless I look real close...

Works great for the filter and heater though, can't see those either

 

[puffin3]

Thankyou for your help anyone.
There are/were two energy saving lights on in the top cover. I had already taped a piece of black paper behind the tank.
My wife likes the black gravel so it had to stay. I did change the layout of the tank pretty well along the lines of all your advice. I think the tank looks MUCH better now.
Martyn- I apologise for not including the types of fish in my thread.
Thanks again for all the help.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

looks really cute now, good job

 

[martyn21uk]

No worries mate, looks much much better!!

 

[mark.w.jones]

Some other advice. Please resize your photos to 640 x 480 pixels so we don't have to wait 10 years to look at the photos

 

[Christine1014]

Looking much better; it's a nice serene, minimalist look, which I love. I'm also fond of the black gravel, as my 10 gallon planted tank also has black substrate. The only little thing I'd question is what type of light you've got - how many watts? I can't remember the name of that tall grassy-like plant, but I saw something very similar when I was shopping the other day and the one I saw was for bright light only.

 

[martyn21uk]

Some other advice. Please resize your photos to 640 x 480 pixels so we don't have to wait 10 years to look at the photos

I thought it was just my connection speed!! I was all ready to complain to my provider!!

 

[aaronc]

Looks much better well done.

I think the contrast between the rocks and the gravel is weak. I think it could be improved by using sand. Which your corys (I think I saw one) would love. They are great fun to watch when they go hunting in the sand

Just a thought

EDIT - Just noticed that you have to keep the gravel... doh lol