180 Gallon: Aquascaping Nightmare!

[MyraAlam]

Hello everyone!


I'm currently working on setting up my 180 gallon freshwater peaceful community. However, I am so ridiculously hopeless at aquascaping that it's nearly laughable. (I'd hire someone to aquascape for me if I could!) I've always kept smaller tanks and have used fake plants, so am a complete novice in the field of live plants. Since this is my dream tank, I think I should stick to fake plants rather than delve into the world of live ones and ruin everything with my lack of knowledge? (What do you guys think?) But how exactly should I aquascape my tank? The dimensions are 6' x 2' x 2'. The stock list includes the following:


21 Zebra danio
20 Harlequin Rasbora
15 Diamond Tetra
10 Swordtails
6 Boesemani Rainbowfish
5 Red Line Torpedo Barbs
5 Pearl Gouramis
8 Clown Loach
10 Sterba's Corydoras Catfish
10 Kuhli Loach
4 Keyhole Cichlids
4 Blue Rams
30 Cardinal Tetra


Hiding places, heavily planted areas, free open swimming space, not to mention an overall attractive appearance- this tank needs to have it all! (Or at least...it needs to try! ) How do you think I should go about it? Where on earth do I start?

Thanks!

 

[Murphee]

I am no expert with plants but that setup which you're planning sounds fantastic, good luck with it and dont forget to post up pics.

 

[MyraAlam]

I am no expert with plants but that setup which you're planning sounds fantastic, good luck with it and dont forget to post up pics.

Thanks a lot! It's been my dream tank for eons- if only I knew how to make it look not-so-pathetic...

 

[lljdma06]

This is a large tank. I'd honestly start with lower light levels, between .5 and 1WPG, closer to 1WPG, and plant with low-light plants. Larger tanks do not require the same lighting levels as a smaller tank. Once you get to above 75g, you can get away with less light than you would normally use. I just think, especially since it is your first, you should keep things very simple. Go for low-light, hardy plants, which include the following. I'm not saying you couldn't do more, but initial cost for such a large system is going to be quite high.

anubias
cryptocorynes
Egeria
some hygrophila species
some swords including Echinodorus tenellus (foreground)
Marsilea hirsuta

How deep is the tank?

 

[thefubar]

i thought about this when i was dreaming over a monster like a 6' tank.

I thought of two different methods.

Either start in the ish-middle 3' for the tank and (not dead centre else it would be difficult to develop) and create a focal point for the tank. Be it a rock stack/plant root etc. Then plant that and at least that would give the tank a feel. Then develop the areas to the left and right by either continuing:

an inclining gradient of plants (i.e. low to the left through to high to the right)
an open water 1/3 with the glass edges planted up
a cocoon/semi circular continuous jungle feel.

I preferred this approach because it didn't mean a huge initial outlay on plants and features etc. You may not have these concerns.


...Or


you could plant large areas of fewer varieties. Like a big focal Amazon Sword and then distribute smaller growing foreground plants in amongst the caves. This would give you plenty of open water. You'd probably want a background for this, either a plain colour or maybe a home made cave system using guttering etc (not sure how "hands-on" you want to be)

This would show off the fish a lot more and reduce the plant care req. A heavily planted 6' would be pretty labour intensive i think. I think the lower-light slower growth idea from llj would be more attractive for a larger tank.

Pick the plants carefully because i found my clowns were happily snacking out on what i put in! and yes they do still eat java ferns.

There are a couple of ideas, if you don't like them ... at least it rules something out - which i find just as useful as ruling something in . If you catch my drift!

 

[youngfisher]

Wouldnt the khuli loachs dig your plants up?

 

[Amunet]

Wouldnt the khuli loachs dig your plants up?

They stay pretty small. They may uproot stem plants.. ones that don't have roots, but they shouldn't be any trouble with most plants.

 

[MyraAlam]

This is a large tank. I'd honestly start with lower light levels, between .5 and 1WPG, closer to 1WPG, and plant with low-light plants. Larger tanks do not require the same lighting levels as a smaller tank. Once you get to above 75g, you can get away with less light than you would normally use. I just think, especially since it is your first, you should keep things very simple. Go for low-light, hardy plants, which include the following. I'm not saying you couldn't do more, but initial cost for such a large system is going to be quite high.

anubias
cryptocorynes
Egeria
some hygrophila species
some swords including Echinodorus tenellus (foreground)
Marsilea hirsuta

How deep is the tank?

Thank you! And yes, the tank is huge (at least, compared to the other tanks I've had). It is 2 feet deep. I think I'm going to be going with silk plants rather than real ones after all, I know nothing about real plants! I think it would end up being a disaster! I can find silk varieties of all the plants you've named, right? High initial costs indeed.

 

[MyraAlam]

i thought about this when i was dreaming over a monster like a 6' tank.

I thought of two different methods.

Either start in the ish-middle 3' for the tank and (not dead centre else it would be difficult to develop) and create a focal point for the tank. Be it a rock stack/plant root etc. Then plant that and at least that would give the tank a feel. Then develop the areas to the left and right by either continuing:

an inclining gradient of plants (i.e. low to the left through to high to the right)
an open water 1/3 with the glass edges planted up
a cocoon/semi circular continuous jungle feel.

I preferred this approach because it didn't mean a huge initial outlay on plants and features etc. You may not have these concerns.


...Or


you could plant large areas of fewer varieties. Like a big focal Amazon Sword and then distribute smaller growing foreground plants in amongst the caves. This would give you plenty of open water. You'd probably want a background for this, either a plain colour or maybe a home made cave system using guttering etc (not sure how "hands-on" you want to be)

This would show off the fish a lot more and reduce the plant care req. A heavily planted 6' would be pretty labour intensive i think. I think the lower-light slower growth idea from llj would be more attractive for a larger tank.

Pick the plants carefully because i found my clowns were happily snacking out on what i put in! and yes they do still eat java ferns.

There are a couple of ideas, if you don't like them ... at least it rules something out - which i find just as useful as ruling something in . If you catch my drift!

I love the latter idea! A big focal Amazon Sword and smaller growing foreground plants. Yes, I'd like a lot of open swimming space, my fish are my real passion, the plants...not so much. And you're right, a heavily planted 180 gallon would be tons of work! I'd imagine it'd be enough work as it is what with the stock list and the size! Thanks a lot!

Wouldnt the khuli loachs dig your plants up?

They stay pretty small. They may uproot stem plants.. ones that don't have roots, but they shouldn't be any trouble with most plants.

Yep, I've heard they stay pretty small. Is it true I might never see them in a tank this size even though I'll keep 10?

 

[g3o]

Yep, I've heard they stay pretty small. Is it true I might never see them in a tank this size even though I'll keep 10?

If they have dark places to hide you probably wont see them until lights out, maybe at feeding time for a little snack though..