Aquascaping Critique

abcdefghi

abcdefghi

AC Members
Jun 6, 2007
1,331
5
38
I am looking for some opinions on the aquascaping in my tank, until I can get real plants what I have in the tank is what I have to work with. I feel like I can make it look better than what it currently is, but not sure how to go about changing it. I can probably get plenty more slate if I need it, as a ton of it is in the back yard (I just need to be sure to get the pieces that do not have iron running through them).

Inhabitants are 3 x angels, 8 x peppered cory cats and 4 (eventually to be around 10) rummynose tetra.

Thanks.

tank 003.jpg tank 004.jpg tank 005.jpg
 
Live plants are definitely in order! :)

Other than that, it looks good. I am a fan of black backgrounds (I think it'd look great with sand) and placing the heaters horizontally when possible. That's just my personal taste though. Go with what YOU like above all else.
 
Hooked Newbie said:
Live plants are definitely in order! :)

Other than that, it looks good. I am a fan of black backgrounds (I think it'd look great with sand) and placing the heaters horizontally when possible. That's just my personal taste though. Go with what YOU like above all else.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I really want to get live plants, its just money keeping me from getting them right now. I keep checking out the RAOK, as I probably have some things I could trade on there.

The background has black on the other side, I went with blue for now as I felt the tank might be too dark with the black (even though I know it makes the fish stand out more). Might try the black at some point now to see how it looks, and also will position the filters horizontally (I imagine this also helps to disperse heat through the water).
 
I'm also a fan of black backgrounds, you should try it. For my tanks, I don't use anything fake except for the pots...though I will be getting rid of them soon. So my opinion is get rid of the fake cave on the right and anything else that is fake. When you can, add more driftwood, live plants, and slate. So far, with what you have, it does look pleasing.

As for the position of the heaters, I don't really care...though I use Stealths and I have a black background so that does a good job of keeping them...umm...stealthy.

EDIT: I'd also get rid of that stick on thermometer.
 
abcdefghi said:
Thanks, I really want to get live plants, its just money keeping me from getting them right now. I keep checking out the RAOK, as I probably have some things I could trade on there.

The background has black on the other side, I went with blue for now as I felt the tank might be too dark with the black (even though I know it makes the fish stand out more). Might try the black at some point now to see how it looks, and also will position the filters horizontally (I imagine this also helps to disperse heat through the water).
Click to expand...

I wouldn't put the filter horizonal. ;)
 
I'd ditch the pots. If your fish need hidey holes then use the slate you say you have available. The slate in the front left looks out of place somehow. I like the rock cave on the right. Do you need both heaters? I only need one for the summer but put the other one in too for the colder winter months.

Looks OK to me except for those pots.

Q
 
Thanks again all. My cory cats really like the fake cave on the right, and the clay pots, but if I can find some flat slate in the back yard and a way to break it up I can just make my own caves. So will go rock hunting later :)

Que, the slate on the left also bothers me, but if I move it the output from my filter churns up the sand like crazy in that area. I put the slate there to deflect the water, but I don't like how it looks. Not sure what else I can do to stop the sand being blown all over the place by the filter.
 
abcdefghi said:
My cory cats really like the fake cave on the right
Click to expand...
Yeah, I had the same fake cave and my spotted corys absolutely loved it....too bad! :) They got over it real quick when I gave them a nice big piece of Mopani that was kinda hollowed out a bit, they fell in love with that. So my spotted corys have the wood and my peppered corys have a slate cave that I built for them.
 
abcdefghi said:
Que, the slate on the left also bothers me, but if I move it the output from my filter churns up the sand like crazy in that area. I put the slate there to deflect the water, but I don't like how it looks. Not sure what else I can do to stop the sand being blown all over the place by the filter.
Click to expand...
As far as HOBs, my Top Fin (Whisper) and Penguins did that with my sand in certain tanks at certain water levels, they never seemed to leave my sand alone. Now that I'm running AquaClears on all my tanks, this only happens when the water level drops considerably. AquaClears are good at shooting the water across the surface instead of almost straight down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom