Teach Me Something Please!

[PrairieSunflower]

Here is one of my tanks... it needs... something but I just have no idea what to do to it. I've not exactly attempted to aquascape it. I like the gravel and the bacopa and the java moss. Java fern is ok. There are a few other plants in there too. The shipwreck is there because it came in an ebay job lot and I thought, why not? Otherwise... I just bought some plants and stuck them in there.

Here is a picture of my tank... what could I do to make it look nice but still have easy plants? I don't use CO2 but I do have good lighting.

I am not attached to the ship, but my fish do enjoying swimming through it and peeking out.... so if I did get something else I'd like it to have those features.

 

[brian1]

I think it looks nice, but I like sand and a beach area either middle or at one end with perhaps some bog wood, and your plants thick at one end and just placed here and there at the other......if it makes sense.lol

 

[tribalbrit]

Get rid of the ship.
Buy some nice bits of bogwood, and some natural rocks or slate.
Try and imagine how a river looks below the water line and go for it.

Fluval edge



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And my other tank



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[Davo86]

as said it needs wood, I think a couple of nice tall pieces mixed in with the current decor (including the ship) could be all it needs

 

[BerryAttack]

hmmm i'm the type of person that loves to have a background.. haha i know someone will be like NO if you want a background you must build it! >
but then again my biggest tank is a 40 gallon and the stuff i looked at "build it yourself backgrounds" in the tanks.. and i don't want that haha
i would say put a nice background, some bog wood.. that help control some of the nitrates so bonus

and i would just let the plants go nuts.. let them grow and grow.. then the longer type of plants you can put in a current area and then they'll twist and look really cool... and for the ship i would kinda do something like it's lost.. plants take over it and then you see it in the background. then you'll have an open area so it's not overwhelming.

but then again up to you

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I used to have sand but it was a pain to clean, was doing it 1-2 times per day! Then had a disease that killed all my fish and decided to do away with the sand at that time.

I will try and move my plants around more evenly at the next water change (which is about 3 days from now since I just did one this morning). A lot of my bacopa is sprouting roots from the stem right now so I may also trim it so I can grow more of them with time to make it look more uniform.

Funny thing is, I am giving away some bog wood today to a freecycler that I've never used... but its not a great shape... like the one in the picture in an above post!

I guess I need to get myself to Maidenhead aquatics again at some point and see what sort of focal point stuff they might have!

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I'll have to bookmark my thread here and come back and update in another month or so.

I have been thinking about what everyone else has said and come up with half a plan....

I am going to trim all my bacopa shorter since it has a lot of roots so I can plants the cuttings and in time they will then grow up thicker. I am planning to plant more heavily on either end and thinner as it gets to the middle. I was cruising around ebay and found the absolute perfect piece of bog wood so I ordered it! The bog wood will make a bit of an arch and I plan to anchor some java moss on it so it will start growing there as well. Then I will move my rocks around to where ever they look best. And, of course removing the shipwreck.

I'm hoping in about a month the plants will have shot back up and filled the space better.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

UPDATE


I hope I have made a good first step towards a better looking tank. I reeeeeally love the piece of bogwood I have added (which I have had to weigh down with some rocks!)

I have trimmed my plants where they were sprouting roots so I can plant them more evenly.... so, my plants don't look so evenly planted yet but hopefully once they start growing and catch up in height with the others it will look better.

I have anchored java moss and java fern to my bogwood, most of it you can't see yet but that needs to grow as well. My java moss is anchored to the front while the java fern is at the back, so currently mostly hidden by my bogwood.

So, I hope that is a decent first step to improving my tank. I am planning to give it about a month to grow and even out before deciding if I need to add more plants or move the ones I have.

Ooops... need to edit to actually ADD the picture! HAHA

 

[deric79k]

UPDATE


I hope I have made a good first step towards a better looking tank. I reeeeeally love the piece of bogwood I have added (which I have had to weigh down with some rocks!)

I have trimmed my plants where they were sprouting roots so I can plant them more evenly.... so, my plants don't look so evenly planted yet but hopefully once they start growing and catch up in height with the others it will look better.

I have anchored java moss and java fern to my bogwood, most of it you can't see yet but that needs to grow as well. My java moss is anchored to the front while the java fern is at the back, so currently mostly hidden by my bogwood.

So, I hope that is a decent first step to improving my tank. I am planning to give it about a month to grow and even out before deciding if I need to add more plants or move the ones I have.

Ooops... need to edit to actually ADD the picture! HAHA

why u need add the heater into ur tank?what is the tank temp?

 

[PrairieSunflower]

why u need add the heater into ur tank?what is the tank temp?

I keep my tank at 25c, without a heater my tank temp hangs around 20c which is too cold for my fish.

 

[MrsM]

looking good, im also wanting to go from fake ships and red and purple plants to a more real look, love the wood!! im gonna chuck my boat out and get wood!

 

[Aqua Marine]

Personally the biggest thing I would change is the plant stock. There is very little variety and lack of colour. The greens seem to merge into one, you need some reds, or bright greens to break up the visual colour spectrum and give the tank a more unique feel!

 

[lindaf92485]

I need help with my tank as well. I don't exactly like it and all the plants are fake... i've tried live plants before and they did not survive... not sure what i did to kill them or if the fish ate them. I think they ate them to death though. I'd like to make it a bit more natural looking but i like the blue/green rock. any suggestions? Also i need advice on trying to get rid of the algae. It is the hard dried can barely scrub it off with an algae pad kind of stuff. i have an algae eater but he is small and can't do a 30 gal of stuck on algae.
 

 

 

[lindaf92485]

UPDATE!!! my tank needs to be FRY friendly i just found out a few hours ago. gonna run to the pet store i got her from and get greenery and a box just in case i can catch her in time.