I need ideas...

[BigAds]

No matter what I've done, I haven't been pleased with the way my 36 bow front looks. I've got 7 harlequin rasboras, 5 peppered cories, and 4 ottos in it now that I plan on keeping in it, and 3 dwarf platy that I will be removing soon when they are replaced with a german blue ram and an angelfish. With that stocking list, I figure I should have a good amount of open space, moderate amounts of plants, and some holes and overhangs for everyone to feel comfortable in. I'm looking at picking up another filter to supplement/backup the AC70 I'm running now to make sure my fish have good clean water to keep them happy, but I'm having trouble making a good looking tank that makes me happy. Here are a few pictures of the 36, with some different driftwood and fake plants that I have been moving around trying to find something I like.

Please let me know what you think and any suggestions that would make my tank better and my fish and everyone else happy. Maybe some floating plants? It just seems a bit empty to me still.

Here's how it looked at first...

And here's how it looks now... my wife traded in those original 2 pieces of driftwood for these 2 larger pieces.

Here's the big piece

More detail on it's left side... lots of big groves and holes...

And here's the small piece

And here are two of my little angel yesterday...







All constructive and destructive criticism will be gladly accepted, as long as you don't say ANYTHING bad about my angel
:nono:

 

[BigAds]

Maybe some bigger rocks here & there would be nice... kind of make it a little more natural, break things up a little bit. And now that I see it in pictures... I'm not sure how much I like that background, perhaps I should go black for the background. Then again, the background on there now does seem to add some depth.

 

[sasquatch]

The Angel is wonderful lol (major criteria met ) the background to me is forcing the space, something softer adding depth of field would help, plastic plants are very hard to make look convincing have a look at silk plants, the wood looks great, I find large stones balance the "scale" quite well and add a nice naturalizing effect when they algae up.

 

[BoredAgain]

I wasn't happy until I ditched the fake plants for real ones, just an idea for you.

 

[BigAds]

The Angel is wonderful lol (major criteria met ) the background to me is forcing the space, something softer adding depth of field would help, plastic plants are very hard to make look convincing have a look at silk plants, the wood looks great, I find large stones balance the "scale" quite well and add a nice naturalizing effect when they algae up.

Yeah I think I'm going to have to find/buy? some 3-5 inch rocks to get some algae going... I don't think I'm ready or ambitious enough at this point to do anything with moss or anything like that to make the tank more natural... rocks and algae I think I can handle. I haven't been able to find any silk plants that my wife likes as much as the Jungle Val and Bacopa plastic plants we have now.

 

[Riiz]

You'll be alot happier with some low light plants and/or moss btw. The natural glow of healthy plants is amazing.

 

[Rbishop]

I don't care for the backgound, I prefer all black. And the new chunk of driftwood, on the left, can it be stood up in the center?

 

[BigAds]

You'll be alot happier with some low light plants and/or moss btw. The natural glow of healthy plants is amazing.

I'd love to get some moss attached to the top of the small piece of driftwood, but I don't know if I have the patience or time right now to have to deal with the extra cleaning it might take... I don't want to have to trim plants or worry much more than I do now, but if there's a moss that would stick to my wood, requires very little light, and that doesn't need any special attention I'd gladly try it. I'm going to do a little looking around for some silk plants (perhaps some silk crypto. wendtii, apono. crispus and floating giant bamboo would look better), and some suitable rocks and maybe some java moss. I've only got a single 30W light on my tank (36 gallon bow) so it's obviously got to be a low light plant.

I don't care for the backgound, I prefer all black. And the new chunk of driftwood, on the left, can it be stood up in the center?

I agree about the background... I'm going to make the switch soon. The big piece of driftwood can stand up fine in the center, or slightly off center, I've just been hesitant to do so though because I though the fish would prefer the open side-to-side space. I'll give it a try, just need to see which way looks better, with the branch down and all the grooves and holes on top, or branch on top with the grooves and holes at bottom.

 

[Riiz]

You're in luck, mosses are some of the easiest plants to grow. There will eventually attach themselves to rock or wood, but you need to help them first. The method I use and like the most is using green cloth thread, it blends in really well and deteriorates on its own. But you can also use fishing line or rubber bands.

 

[BigAds]

You're in luck, mosses are some of the easiest plants to grow. There will eventually attach themselves to rock or wood, but you need to help them first. The method I use and like the most is using green cloth thread, it blends in really well and deteriorates on its own. But you can also use fishing line or rubber bands.

But how easy are they to maintain? I am certainly able to do some cleaning when I do my weekly water changes, but I don't want to have to always see the tank and see that the moss is making a mess of things. Honestly, I'd really prefer not have to trim it or do much more than make sure it's set up well to bein with, but I don't know if that's reasonable.