Fluval Vicenza 180

[Tetra-Chris]

Hi all,

It's been a while since I've been on a fish forum of any description, came across FishForums, had a browse and enjoyed what I've found.

Thought my first post would be a picture of my current setup. It's a work in progress at the moment so would welcome any comments, positive or constructive to help me improve the look.

As the title says, it's a Fluval Vicenza 180 and here are a couple of quick pics, the middle needs more plants and i was thinking maybe some vallis might look nice in there but not quite decided yet...

Thanks for your time and any replies,

Chris

 

[mata]

Nice, very natural looking. I also love the wood, the 'sticky up-y bit' in particular

 

[Scrotius]

i like this layout, good use of height
when the plants flesh out it will look spectacular!

 

[ZoddyZod]

very nice. I agreed that some vallis would look nice at the back and add some height.

What's the spotted yellow and black fish in the center of the 2nd photo?

 

[Tetra-Chris]

thanks for the feedback - really appreciate it and nice to know i am on the right track with this one. Decided to go for a natural looking tank on this one and not sure how much more planted i should go...

What's the spotted yellow and black fish in the center of the 2nd photo?

Its a Ctenopoma acutirostre (leopard bush fish, climbing perch or leopard ctenopoma) - absolutely beautiful fish, but can only be kept in a tank with large tank mates (well any fish that doesnt fit into it's sizable mouth, he's even quite partial to shrimp!)

 

[ZoddyZod]

Its a Ctenopoma acutirostre (leopard bush fish, climbing perch or leopard ctenopoma) - absolutely beautiful fish, but can only be kept in a tank with large tank mates (well any fish that doesnt fit into it's sizable mouth, he's even quite partial to shrimp!)

just looked that up.....beautiful fish. I'd never heard of it before. Got any good close-ups of yours?

 

[Tetra-Chris]

didnt have any so i took a snap or 2 this evenining when i got in from work. As he was being shy i took a picture of my clown loach

And then he decided to venture out after tempting him with a bit of food, he is definitely an amazing fish to own, apologies for the quality i wasnt taking too much time over it:

 

[Jamepsss]

Looking really good Chris. Those bits of wood look superb and also loving your Congo's.

I think you've got a couple of plants in there that aren't aquatic (front left & back right). Thought I'd better point this out before they rot and pollute your tank. I made the same mistake myself as have countless others. (Apologies if they're plastic or silk, they look pretty real).

I would fill some of the spaces with easy growing plants like Amazon Swords and Vallis and stick a plain black background on. Then it would look stunning.

 

[Tetra-Chris]

Looking really good Chris. Those bits of wood look superb and also loving your Congo's.

I think you've got a couple of plants in there that aren't aquatic (front left & back right). Thought I'd better point this out before they rot and pollute your tank. I made the same mistake myself as have countless others. (Apologies if they're plastic or silk, they look pretty real).

I would fill some of the spaces with easy growing plants like Amazon Swords and Vallis and stick a plain black background on. Then it would look stunning.

Thanks for the comments, I'm not a big fan of backgrounds so really caught in 2 minds as to how to proceed. I had a plain black backgroung on my old Rio which i thought looked good, but i was hoping to go 100% natural this time - oh what to do!

Thanks for the heads up re the plants - front left i had my suspicions about but i decided to give it a go, that can come out tonight, i'll replace it with some dwarf crypts i think...

Back right, i liked the look of, couldnt find it anywhere on the internet when i was in the fish ship so sook a punt. i left it in the leaded bunches for swift removal just incase! I have been keeping my eye on it and on close inspection, it looks to be rooting so not sure at the moment... Do non-aquatics root submerged?

Do you think needle leaf java fern would grow enough at the back in conjunction with the vallis? I have 2 amazon swords that one of my friends killed off in their tank that i am trying to nurse back to life at the moment...

 

[Jamepsss]

Looking really good Chris. Those bits of wood look superb and also loving your Congo's.

I think you've got a couple of plants in there that aren't aquatic (front left & back right). Thought I'd better point this out before they rot and pollute your tank. I made the same mistake myself as have countless others. (Apologies if they're plastic or silk, they look pretty real).

I would fill some of the spaces with easy growing plants like Amazon Swords and Vallis and stick a plain black background on. Then it would look stunning.

Thanks for the comments, I'm not a big fan of backgrounds so really caught in 2 minds as to how to proceed. I had a plain black backgroung on my old Rio which i thought looked good, but i was hoping to go 100% natural this time - oh what to do!

Thanks for the heads up re the plants - front left i had my suspicions about but i decided to give it a go, that can come out tonight, i'll replace it with some dwarf crypts i think...

Back right, i liked the look of, couldnt find it anywhere on the internet when i was in the fish ship so sook a punt. i left it in the leaded bunches for swift removal just incase! I have been keeping my eye on it and on close inspection, it looks to be rooting so not sure at the moment... Do non-aquatics root submerged?

Do you think needle leaf java fern would grow enough at the back in conjunction with the vallis? I have 2 amazon swords that one of my friends killed off in their tank that i am trying to nurse back to life at the moment...

I'm also not a fan of backgrounds. Plain black is all I use and it makes the fish stand out reallly well.

I may be wrong about the back right plant, I'd wait for someone else to confirm. I just saw the two-tone colour and assumed it was another to avoid.

I've just taken a load of vallis out of my tank actually and binned it. It got TOO big and the ends started going brown. My java fern grows a lot slower. WIth Amazon swords you can strip away any damaged leaves and replant which should encourage new growth.

 

[fluffycabbage]

Oh lovely tank! Love that natural look, not overplanted like many.

ive got the same plant as your back right, someone told me the name of it earlier, and said it will only 3-4 weeks before starting to rot its in a pot outside at the moment - im in two minds about replanting as just watching!

 

[Tetra-Chris]

quick update, all non aquatic/potentially non aquatic plants have now vacated the fish tank!! Looks like a trip to the LFS in the morning for me, any old excuse, but I feel a plant spending spree coming on!

I'll post some pictures once I've updated. Thanks for all the comments and shared experiences so far.

On a side note, is there a good place to find the identity of one of the fish in my tank? Third picture down, on the stone in the middle bottom of the picture. It is a small 5cm sucker, I bought 2 as an oddball fish from my LFS and love them to pieces as they have a lot of character, I just don't know much about them (very unlike me) and want to read up on them...

Cheers

 

[Mark Z.]

I love your tank! It looks great and I also love the Congos and that Leaf Fish is cool!

I'm not a fan of backgrounds, either. My aquarium came with a mirror-coated back and I think it is the best "background." It really gives the feeling of depth...and it makes it look like you have more fish!

Mark

 

[ZoddyZod]

And then he decided to venture out after tempting him with a bit of food, he is definitely an amazing fish to own, apologies for the quality i wasnt taking too much time over it:

very nice fish. Good to see something quite unique on here. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Tetra-Chris]

small update today... need to let the tank 'grow' now, should be nice when it all bushes out a bit, the vallis works really well at the back