My Tank Pictures

[tlef316]

hey guys, I just came over here looking for some ideas for my tank, but i figured I'd post some pics. This was my first tank ever, so I'll admit it was pretty bad in the beginning. It's getting better though and I think it will look great once I start planting next week.

This one's from the first night, right after i filled it

This one is a few weeks later (with some more awful looking fake plants....

fast forward a few months.....

I recently had a bit of an ammonia issue. I tried plants without proper lighting and my horwort exploded and started decaying all over the tank. I lost a cardinal tetra, a blue Ram, my red tail black shark and most of my corys. A very sad lesson. I've ordered a good lighting system and will be dosing with ferts this time....

Here's the tank after i pulled most of the low light plants i tried. (i just haphazardly threw the fake ones back in there for some cover.

close up of the right side.....

left side....

one of my 4 clown loaches..

my ram that died....

my shoal of cardinals(tough to get a good picture)

Since these pictures were taken, I've switched to a black background. It looks way better. I'm gonna take some pictures tonight when it gets dark in the room. Anyways, my plans for the tank are as follows....

1) Find a huge piece of drift wood that reaches the top and looks like a tree
2) mix in some light colored stones with the sand to make it look more like a river bed
3) ditch all the fake plants
4) plant it
5) re-stock the tank. currently, I'm down to 2 peppered corys, 1 panda (their buddies died in the incident) 4 clown loaches, 9 cardinal tetras, 10 rummy nosed tetras, 10 golden danios and 1 male blue ram.

More, hopefully better looking, pictures coming soon.

 

[pinkdolphin_113]

nice tank just a tip though, fake plants tend to gather alot of algae where as real plants eliminate it.

does look lovely though. what you got in it?

 

[tlef316]

nice tank just a tip though, fake plants tend to gather alot of algae where as real plants eliminate it.

does look lovely though. what you got in it?

I was having some issues posting the pictures, so i just posted that one as a test. The rest of the post explains what's going on with the tank. Looks totally different now (far fewer fake looking plants and soon to be none at all)

I only did fake plants in the beginning because i wasn't sure what i could keep alive.(even though i did a ton of research) I hated the fake plants and have mostly phased them out. Up until this recent episode, my fish had been healthy and flourishing. I think we're back on track now.

 

[pinkdolphin_113]

im loving the rock formation on the right! those clown loaches hiden inside it looks great.

a few more blue rams would looks lovely, or have you looked into severums? or maybe even discus if ya have the money. if not, angels are gorgeous fish

i think a pictus catfish would really appreciate the space on the bottom too.

 

[tlef316]

yeah, I love that rock formation. It's gonna limit where i can plant and place my big tree-like drift wood, but i love it, and so do the clowns (and my shark before he died)

I will certainly be getting some more rams (I'm going to replace the German that died, but I don't think I'm gonna have a 2nd pair. I think I'd rather get a different type of dwarf cichlid instead)

I'm also gonna replenish my cory stock. I may get 4 peppers and then 6 of something else (I don't think I'm gonna get more pandas as they didn't do well. The lone survivor hangs with the peppers though, so he/she should be ok)

I've looked into a school of rainbows once i plant. I've read mixed reports on how they'll do with tetras. If they don't work out, I'm gonna get marble hatchets.

I'm also going to get another Red Tail black shark. I'll get a very small one again so that the clowns can sort of teach him his place. Hopefully i can avoid another ammonia spike like the one that killed Tyson.

No discus for me. don't have that kind of disposable income just yet. I've looked at angels, but i don't think i trust them with all the tetras i have.

 

[pinkdolphin_113]

small angels would be fine with adult cardinals btw.

your plans sound good too

 

[tlef316]

small angels would be fine with adult cardinals btw.

your plans sound good too

appreciate the input. I think I'd rather have the red-tailed shark and rainbow fish than the angels (even if they wouldn't eat the tetras) I'm not a big angel fan. They are nice though.

1 step at the time though. I was planning on planting on saturday, but thatpetplace still hasnt shipped my lights (which i ordered on sunday) so thats probably delayed a week.

 

[paul_219]

Nice pics. Looking gr8.

 

[phistar]

awesome tank

 

[5teady_2012]

Very good looking tank

 

[tlef316]

Some pictures of my new, lightly planted tank with new T5 lighting system.......

I know a few of the Mexican oak leaves have holes in them, but I'll watch them closely.


Still a very slight ammonia/Ph issue, so no new fish yet.

 

[Larissa]

You have some very nice pieces of wood in there and I am loving the real plants.

 

[nukeonekitty]

Looking great! Nice job! Love the tank.

 

[dzsigmond217]

Love the new look! Like others I really like the rock grouping you have on the right side. I've just started my first tropical fish tank and spent a fortune on silk plants. I would love real plants but I think I'll tackle keeping the fish alive and happy for now. Like you I could always upgrade in the future!
I have a super large piece of drift wood in my tank that reaches the top and I love it. It's like the center piece of the tank. Everyone that comes over comments on it. Can't wait to see yours!

 

[tlef316]

Love the new look! Like others I really like the rock grouping you have on the right side. I've just started my first tropical fish tank and spent a fortune on silk plants. I would love real plants but I think I'll tackle keeping the fish alive and happy for now. Like you I could always upgrade in the future!
I have a super large piece of drift wood in my tank that reaches the top and I love it. It's like the center piece of the tank. Everyone that comes over comments on it. Can't wait to see yours!

I'm not sure that massive piece of drift wood is gonna happen. I've already got a lot of wood in the tank and it's driving down the Ph. I don't think it will be necessary if i hav a bunch of plants that reach near the top.

I'll be on the lookout for one though. we'll see what happens.