my new tank

[andyt_uk]

it is a 190l (~50US gal) corner tank
clearer water now, even got a couple of fish in there now
and copying off Ken_g_w i now have a cool blue lamp - think i might need to replace one of the white ones for a brighter white as it seems a little too blue

 

[andyt_uk]

and other 'tank'

 

[CFC]

Looking good there Andy, are the plants real or plastic? If theyre real im afraid you may have fallen into the unsuitable aquarium plants trap The fern like plant on the left and the varigated grass in the middle are actually bog plants which will rot if submerged for long periods of time.

 

[andyt_uk]

Looking good there Andy, are the plants real or plastic? If theyre real im afraid you may have fallen into the unsuitable aquarium plants trap The fern like plant on the left and the varigated grass in the middle are actually bog plants which will rot if submerged for long periods of time.

those to the right and at the centre rear are real - those on left of image are silk, hanging off the pretendy log type thing.

bog plants?

buggers at lfs sold em to me, i asked for 'some stuff that will grow tall b ut not too wide' and 'something that wont grow high but will grow out'

you probably cant see but there are 2 small plants just a few cm high in right hand corner together with the big leafed thing and the green thing with lots of little leaves on it.

the variagated grass thing has already succumbed to the greedy platty nibbles

 

[CFC]

buggers at lfs sold em to me, i asked for 'some stuff that will grow tall b ut not too wide' and 'something that wont grow high but will grow out'

Probably not the lfs guys faults, they just order a retail pack of plants usually and sell what they are given, most probably dont even know they are bog plants themselves.
There are quite a few of these non aquatic plants about but a rough general rule is dont buy any that are varigated or can hold themselves stiffly upright out of water without some prior research. Your not the first to be caught out on this one (ive done it) and you wont be the last.

 

[andyt_uk]

oh bum!
(and i wish icould stop clicking report instead of reply)

any recomendations for plants - any good websites i could use to ID the 'good stuff'?

at least they are still in pots or on a planting rock so should be easy to replant if i have to

cheers

 

[Cian McLiam]

Very very nice Andy, it looks like its got great depth to the back of the tank like a hidden world!! What are you using for the background?
I like the way the gravel is in hills and hollows, I tried to keep mine something like that but cleaning and plecs rooting around always level it after a few weeks. Its hard work keeping that much gravel clean tho, the filter in the trigons are in a good place tho rather than to one side in mine.
Looking forward to some more pics when the fog clears and the new lights are in!
BTW, the photo gallery should be back in business after maintenance.

Ken

 

[Cian McLiam]

BTW some plant type links:
Planted tanks
Tropica.com has nearly all you can find in the shops.

Ken

 

[andyt_uk]

thanks ken
i didnt think the gravel was too deep, it very quickly falls back from the front, to about an inch or two over most of the base.
not planning on having anything that will dig much, so hopefully i'll be able to keep the contours in place.
the background is just a hagen background sold off the roll - i saw the one i wanted in one shop but was too expensive, went somewhere i knew was cheaper and bought the wrong one!!
its held in place on the outside with spit and good luck, though a few bubles have formed which make good mirrors from certain angles


newer pic at the top in original post

 

[MAM]

looks great! been one of the ones following the posts and waiting to see the new big tank.
here's a link that lists a couple of those plants to avoid:
http/www.sydneycichlid.com/highground.html

 

[andyt_uk]

thanks for that MAM
checked out those plant links i i think i might have one of those swords, but from looking at the tropica web site think the others are ok

 

[andyt_uk]

WOW LOADS of piccies posted over the last 24 hours
well i am going to be cheeky and bump mine up to the top now with a note to say i now have an online gallery of pics of both my tanks and my gecko (with more to come probably)
have a look here
http/andyt.fotopic.net/

 

[akhtar]

u have a coool tank coool i say :smb:

 

[andyt_uk]

thanks man
not bad for a first attempt even if i do say so myself

 

[Ginger]

Thats a beautiful tank . The round one is cool to never seen one like that before.Good luck with your new fish tank. Ginger