need some ideas for a black and white theme tank....

[Emg]

Thanks for the suggestions Ry !

I do know that the sand won't stay prestine white...but vaccing it and stirring it up on a regular basis will help. When I notice it getting "dirty" I'll just go over it with the syphon.

The guppies I am planning on putting in there are mostly black with beautiful silky white fins, so thier bodies will show up nice against the whiteish sand and thier fins will flash nicely against the black background. I know the cories won't stand out as much against the sand...especially when it starts to "dirty" up.....since panda's aren't exactly perfect white themselves...but they're pretty cute and I like them

Thanks Stacie for the suggestion of the gouramis...I have actually thought about some powder blue dwarfs....but I have neon dwarfs in the tank above that and havn't decided if I want any in this tank too....but I might !

The filter I have on this tank is good for up to 30 gallons and I also plan on putting a sponge filter in the back as well. I find they're good at cleaning out most of the "floaties" I sometimes get in my tanks. I really don't like overstocking my tanks and all the extra cleaning that goes along with that issue. For example, I have only 2 dwarf gouramis, 1 bonded pair of blue rams, 4 otocinclus and 2 panda cories (the 3rd one disappeared !?) in a 29 gallon planted tank (and I may put those cories in this tank instead of buying more...the rams dont' seem to like them).....that's enough for me !

Keep those ideas and suggestions coming...I'm all ears !! :idea:

 

[StacieA]

I'm cycling a 15g tall right now that will have a black and white theme also but in reverse to yours so I'll be keeping an eye out on your thread for ideas

Have you considered danios? I've got some long finned blues that are really pretty.

 

[PurpleSmurf]

Saw some silver mollys at the LFS today. They were pure white and would probably look pretty good. If they actually turned silver you'd just have a nice mid-tone I guess.

 

[Emg]

Lol Stacie, I had some danios a while back and swore I would never get them again....they drove me crazy because they just never STOP !! But you're right, some blue long finned danios would look nice in there..they are just the right touch of color too...

I was at the fish stores today, looking at....yep.....fish........and stuff for this tank. I picked up the sand and some plastic plants and another cory, since one of mine vanished while I was away last week. I used the credit I had from the rams I sold. I saw some very nice fake rocks too, just the right color for this tank...but they wanted WAY too much for it...like over 30$ for just one decent sized rock. It was nice, and I was tempted to buy it with my credit...but...good sense prevailed.

Well, here's some pics of what I have so far....

The more I look at this tank, the more I like it....and I was right..those guppies are fantastic in it !! Have to get those rocks....and do some shifting around with the plants and maybe try and find some more variety, which may prove difficult to impossible....also, I think I like the black plants on the right, better than the white ones.....I had no idea the black would look so nice, especially with the white tipped leaves.......oh, have to get that bag of gravel out asap too...that's what I had in there while the rams were in residence...leaving it there so the bacteria can migrate into the substrate here...

 

[Boohoo]

The colour scheme looks very nice EMG. :thm:

 

[PurpleSmurf]

I'm very much a fan of the black plants, they look incredible.

You need to get more black scenery in there. Too many white plants IMO; it's very unbalanced artistically, you need black on the left side.

 

[Emg]

Thanks Boo, but it does need more of something...like rocks...lol...and more plants, just wish there was more of a variety of the black and whites...

 

[StacieA]

That's looking really nice. I agree with you, I like the black plants better...maybe have a few more of them with just a couple white ones for accent?

 

[PurpleSmurf]

Maybe scatter some black river rocks across the bottom?

 

[Emg]

Smurf, I agree with you there about the plants....I'm not liking the white much...the color is too close to the sand, but not close enough....lol....definitly more of the black is better. I saved the packaging so I can repackage it all up and trade it in for more black. ..this stuff aint cheap !

I had thought about the rock idea as well.....I saw some river rocks at one of the stores I went to, but we have so many streams and rivers around here I can just go pick some out of one of them...no charge...lol...I like that !

I want to make some kind rock formation in there....that fake rock looked really nice...sort of like texas holey rock, but just the right shade of gray/blue with holes and caves for the fish to swim in and around and a nice texture too.....dang, why do they have to ask so much for a hunk of plastic !!

I do have to fill in more so there isn't so much of the sand showing...it's rather blinding...lol...