Honest opinions wanted......

[Gulp]

I finally got around to adding some drift wood to the tank, and while I was at it, I rearranged the rocks. I added more slate, and moved the granite all over to the right side, vs. mixing it as it was before. I also expanded the cave on the left to give Hoover more room to move around inside it.

Unfortunately, my wife thinks it looks too "stuctured" and "man-made"..... I created good caves for the cat and he REALLY likes the cave on the left. There is plenty of room in it for him to hide from Gulp......but again, Kim thinks it looks like I made him a house and it's "not natural". I want to hear what other's think before I get in there and start moving things around again.


Here is a before picture to reference:
http://webpages.charter.net/dustlee/Aquarium/Tank%20pics/kim-looking-at-aquarium3.jpg

-----------------------------------
After tonight's attempt:
http://www.roadrashed.com/Aquarium%20pics/January%208/PICT0007a.jpg

(blurry.....crappy camera...)
http://www.roadrashed.com/Aquarium%20pics/January%208/PICT0003a.jpg

http://www.roadrashed.com/Aquarium%20pics/January%208/PICT0004a.jpg

http://www.roadrashed.com/Aquarium%20pics/January%208/PICT0005a.jpg

http://www.roadrashed.com/Aquarium%20pics/January%208/PICT0006a.jpg

A close up of Hoover in his favorite cave:
http://www.roadrashed.com/Aquarium%20pics/January%208/PICT0008a.jpg

Another Hoover shot:
http://www.roadrashed.com/Aquarium%20pics/January%208/PICT0009a.jpg


Honestly, does it look like crap? If so, do you have any suggestions as to make it look more "natural"? Should I remove something, add something, move something? Don't hold back. :D

Thanks in advance.

[LMOUTHBASS]

hey man always enjoy your posts! gulps looking good glad to hear the cat is ok! ok honest opinion - the cave looks structed a little bit but,,,,,, I LIKE IT!!! with rocks like that anytime you build a cave it's prob gonna look man made - i mean how woul it not? the only other solution i can think of it to buy more rocks n sort of pile them up till you make them "form" some sort of cave - but to do this i think you will have to get a lot of rocks and gradually pile them over the course of the tank making the landscape look natural - ex - see the part of your tank that is just substrate? lay some flat rocks there and bigger pebbles then progressivley keep moving rocks towards the cave so you get a piling effect look - i dunno it's hard for me to explain what i have in mind - sorry -
keep us posted with pics!!!

[bennylax3]

I think it looks good. I do have to admitt the the cave on right, for some reason just makes me think of the flintstones but thats probablt cause i already heard the comment about it looking like it was man made

[lee914]

honestly, it looks more structered than the old version but Hoover looks happy! If it were me, i would add some more rocks or better yet a tall piece of driftwood to balance out the space above, just my $.02 Hi Kim!:p

[PumaWard]

You might want to try having the ends of the driftwood sticking up a little more. Somemore large pieces of driftwood would also give it a more natural look. Other than that, I think it looks pretty good.

[NatakuTseng]

I think it looks good, but I'd add more, like Puma said, more larger peices of driftwood that come up more to the middle or upper regions of the tank.

[valerie]

The sides don't really seem to flow. The right side is too light compared to the left(i like the left best). Maybe try to get some darker colored rocks to match the left side.

Also the decorations are too close to the ground. In such a tall tank you should have something sticking up to balance it. Maybe stick the driftwood pointing up?

As for the cave looking structured, its kind of hard to make a cave and not have it look "fake" unless it is part of a big pile. To make it lok more natural add some more rocks around it.

But really it doesn't look too bad. The onyl thing that caught my eye as off was that the sides were too different colors.

[SayersWeb]

I like the new look much better! :)

I agree with the suggestions that it would be nice to have some taller driftwood in the tank. Just make sure it does not make it difficult for Gulp to swim. You don't want him running into it and getting injured.

You may also want to get more plants along the back and maybe a natural looking background to give it more depth of view. Leave the open areas toward the front so that Gulp does most of his swimming in plain site.

I've been trying to spruce up my 180 gallon and have bought a bunch of silk plants from Petsmart. Below is a recent picture. The Oscar is about 12" long and if you look closely you will see a 10" catfish that looks a bit like yours. The left end of the tank is all torn up in the picture because the Midas cichlids had (and still do) a bunch of recently hatched fry they were protecting.

http://www.sayersweb.com/aquariums/images/2003-12-14_180-04.jpg

[SimonWoodstock]

That is a good looking structure on the left....oh wait, we are talking about the aquarium aren't we?:D

I am into the whole natural theme, myself. I think the structure to the left looks pretty good. The one on the right looks man made, but good luck stacking rocks to make a natural looking cave.

Try stacking the rocks a bit different and adding a new piece of wood in with it to give it a more natural look. Maybe a plant in there with it. That is just my suggestion. I think it is a pretty good looking oscar tank. Good luck.

[Lauren]

I think it looks MUCH better than before. My only real suggestion would be to add a few more plants. When all you have to look at is rocks, you start to evaluate their placement a bit too much. If she doesn't like the look, maybe swap some slate with the other rock, just so its not all one sided, but it really looks a lot better.

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

i susgest leaning the wood against the glass near the granite so gulp has a plase to hide. looks more natural then the cave.

[Slappy*McFish]

Here ya go;)


lol

[ewok]

i think it looks ok. :)

i see what people are saying about the "light" and "dark" sides tho........

for suggestions? if you're bored you could try looking around for "lace" rock. if you find the right formations it sort of lends itself to naturally making caves. i've never been overly fond of "round" rocks tho........

the thing that sort of "gets me" is the top. you need something like a few floating plants or something. or maybe something like the suction cup vines they sell. the top sort of seems bare.....

just some thoughts...............

[Rhys]

nice drawing slappy that would look good if it were real.

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

ewok: the problem with oscars is they love to hate stuff lol the plants will soon be pulled to peices and decaying making the water for around the 8's which oscars dont like that much. also its a bugger to clean it all up. this could be solved my using flake plants.

[ewok]

yeah, the vines are plastic and come with suckers to stick them to the glass. it would just seem to add a little more "dimension" to the tank or something.

i keep my tanks pretty bare and i haven't had my oscar long enuf to see that, actually mines a "fraidy fish". i haven't figured out why, but i would hazard a guess that this poor thing would get spooked by its own shadow. i don't get it actually. a couple of weeks after i first got it it was starting to take the food from my fingers. now it waits until i'm away from the tank. :(

it might still be sick somehow tho......

[Grassguy]

The tank looks good, but I do see what they mean by the right cave looking fake. The rocks just look like they were intentionally set that way. As others have said, you might put some rocks, wood, or plants around it to kinda hide the "intentional" stacking which would make it look more natural looking. Just my 2.

[Gulp]

Thanks for all the input!

I think the right side cave is coming out. Like has been mentioned by you guys (and the wife) it just doesn't fit. Too light.... I will go steal some more dark rocks from my grand pa's stone fence this weekend. :D I will also begin my hunt for more driftwood. I completely agree that I need something tall in there.

I will also look around for the "sucktion cup vines" that were mentioned or some really tall plastic plants. I have decided not to mess with live plants at this point......Gulp does like to tear them apart. He even destroyed one of the plastic plants I had in there originally. Not sure what that plant did to him.....but he would pull it up every night, and new pieces would be floating around the top each day. I finally removed it and he hasn't touched any of the other plants. :P



Originally posted by Slappy*McFish
Here ya go;)


lol

That is awesome. :D :D If I could find a piece of wood like you have shown I would be in heaven. :D The only problem I foresee with the tall plants like you have shown is the fact they would get pulled against the intakes of my filters. You have definitely given me some goals and ideas though. I LIKE it. :D

SayersWeb, sweet looking tank! That is a beautiful oscar. You mentioned "silk plants".....are they better than the plain old plastic plants, and if so, why? I have never used them. Just curious.

Thanks again for all the input. :D

[SayersWeb]

Originally posted by Gulp
SayersWeb, sweet looking tank! That is a beautiful oscar. You mentioned "silk plants".....are they better than the plain old plastic plants, and if so, why? I have never used them. Just curious.The silk plants have a few benefits. They look more realistic and have weighted bases, so that they don't float. They also are more sturdy. The big cichlids tear apart the plastic ones after a while, but they have not done much harm to the silk ones yet.

The silk plants I use are made by "Living World" and the only place I have found them are at the local Petsmart. They don't have them on the Petsmart website. I've also found silk plants made by "SeaGarden" but don't like them anywhere near as much.

[750t]

I also have a tall tank, I found some really tall fake plants to fill in the upper area. Looks a whole lot better. I wish I had pics, but my camera is crap.