Aquascaping

[rubberdoofa]

Ive spent a fortune on my tanks, i love my fishy friends to bits but im hopeless with any kind of decor, i just cant get it right.gourami built nests everywhere pulling my live plants up carting bits about etc i gave up after the 50th time of repositioning the floating whole plants and fishing out the floating bits, yes i had weights on them but what they couldnt pull they ripped to bits so i found a new home for them im now back to sq1 with a bare tank plain sand and the 2 resin mopani roots and a rock cave no plants left worth saving
I have a rio 240 lighting isnt great but it does the job your basic arcadia tubes for tropical and plant growth filter is a fluval 305 and is c02 injected(proflora2) but coz ive no plants i ante running it at the mo.
fish are:
3 danios
2 panda cats
1 C.A.E
3clown loaches
12 mollies (6week old fry) the larger ones i have a smaller tank with 66, 3weekers
the bloody things are taking over

i seriously need help in aquascaping making my tank look like a home from home for my fishy friends
has any one got any ideas?
i have ideas its just putting it in to practic thats where it all goes pear shaped cant get the Ricca to stick to anything but the surface that went in the bin took me ages to grow it on too, the silk plants where a mistake waiting to happen which did I would like more rocks in the tank but cant get any that ante priced like they where made of gold i baught the backing sponge thing for the tank looked gorgeous too untill the algea got it couldnt get the stuff off (BBA) ive almost had enough and concidering trashing my tropical tanks altogether
Ok im having a moan

 

[Tommy Gunnz]

Well, I dont know much about planted tanks (in the process of learning and prepping for my own now), but I have had a CAE before and I found it was the culprit behind my fake plants and decor always getting torn up and tipped over. Dont know if this could help you any. My CAE really had it in for my thermometer and I had to take it out of the tank in fear that he would break it. I could actually hear the CAE 'fighting' with the darn thing from upstairs in my bedroom which is weird considering that I have quite a few tanks and usually the sounds of air pumps and water getting filtered drowns (pun intended) out my tv !!

 

[Teelie]

My luck with planted aquariums is they've all failed with the exception of Java Moss. Nothing else will last for me. My solution is: fake plants. Can't kill those.

Seriously though, you might want to ask about in the planted forum. CO2 injectors and strong lighting are two things they'll tell you right off you need and the're two things I don't have, excepting my newly developed shellie tank with dual lights. That might be why I've failed. A good planted tank needs adequate lighting and CO2 in the water.

 

[rubberdoofa]

Well, I dont know much about planted tanks (in the process of learning and prepping for my own now), but I have had a CAE before and I found it was the culprit behind my fake plants and decor always getting torn up and tipped over. Dont know if this could help you any. My CAE really had it in for my thermometer and I had to take it out of the tank in fear that he would break it. I could actually hear the CAE 'fighting' with the darn thing from upstairs in my bedroom which is weird considering that I have quite a few tanks and usually the sounds of air pumps and water getting filtered drowns (pun intended) out my tv !!

yep my CAE also has a love hate relationship with the thermometer he or she is bigger than it and would pull it off the glass i gave up sticking it back on and let it float for a while now he sticks next to it lol may be he thought it was another Cae comming totake over lol or a lady friend that isnt taking an interest lol i did write a post ages back algea eatter V thermometer it was so funny to see him attack it with such viggor lol

 

[rubberdoofa]

My luck with planted aquariums is they've all failed with the exception of Java Moss. Nothing else will last for me. My solution is: fake plants. Can't kill those.

Seriously though, you might want to ask about in the planted forum. CO2 injectors and strong lighting are two things they'll tell you right off you need and the're two things I don't have, excepting my newly developed shellie tank with dual lights. That might be why I've failed. A good planted tank needs adequate lighting and CO2 in the water.

i have the c02, and im told my lighting is okish (ide love hilides )but not likely to get them this side of a lottery win ,Ive been in the planted forum befor andgot loads of advice on plants etc had all my amazon swords and i dont know what they are called now but they are the long weedy looking bushes pulled to bits and ruined when i got 6 gourami, then spenta fortune in weights and extra sand and plants replacing them in between had a bad bout of BBA and had to scap the lot and have never got back to my beautiful tank again what ever i put in looked stupid or didnt last im defo doing summit wrong along with an extrodanarly bad ideas and taste how do you mannage to have a gorgeous planted tank or none planted with rocks etc what ever i try it just dont look natural,
whats a shellie tank
Aquarium decorator needed by ass hole with large tank and no clue!!!!

 

[Teelie]

A shellie tank is a tank holding African Cichlids from Lake Tanganyika that live in shells. They're usually quite small, between 1 and 2" in length but quite territorial and aggressive. I'm debating whether to try live plants with them but doubtful as they love to dig in sand.

 

[CBBP]

I don't get it.. why not jsut.. make your plants grow so fast you can't notice the damage? haha...

 

[Ristof]

If that happened everyone would be happy

By a plant that is attached to a peice of wood, fish can't pull that off and I have had mine for about 2yrs now, doesn't look like it but it is still alive (well just) and stuck to the log)

I have tryed different types of plants in mine when I was going for a planted tank but they just got ripped out and leaves got bitten off. I just ended up with plants clogging my filter and floating bit all throught he tank.

I did buy a coil heater and fertiliser (it is like a clay)that I put under the gravel when I set the tank up. I was told something to do witht he warmth of the heater at the bottom would break the waste down and feed the plants.
I know like to add that I no longer have any of that in my tank. I spend about AU$100 for the coil heater and AU$40 for the clay stuff. I know just add the plant food (liquid form) into the tank each water change.

Like you all I seemed to try didn't work so I gave up. Now I just have a couple of bunches of plants and a big log that takes up about half the tank in the middle. A small log tube for the Ghost Knife and a flat rock leaning against it.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Join the club! I ought to have known, just looking round the house and garden, that I have no talent for this sort of thing. Still, what works for me has been Java fern and anubias, even I can't kill those. With lots of bogwood round the tank, they don't look too bad. And I splashed out and bought one of those coconuts with Java moss on it, that's actually taken off and is looking good. Other than that- no, I was never cut out to be an interior decorator.

 

[rubberdoofa]

OH JOY!!! Im not alone im not the only one with the interior design tallent of a blind moose oh thats made me feel tonnes better I sit hear at the comp and drool over the tank pictures in the forums and feel so damn inadiquet as a fish owner because i cant seem to make my tank look great too.
ante those tanks fantastic though

 

[Callum]

im a miracle man with fake plants i can make em look lovely but im useless at aquascaping reals. And yes there are some truly stunning tanks on here i like jimbooo's rio 180 tank its amazing.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Let's hope that our fish can't tell the difference!

 

[annka5]

Deep breath.... exhale... deep breathe in.... exhale.... chant softly "fishkeeping is relaxing, fishkeeping is relaxing" "it's a fun hobby, its a fun hobby".

Then, see what it is you like about the tanks you find most stunning; see if you can find an acheivable balance somewhere. Use Java fern and java moss and some bogwood rather than riccia etc. Unless you've a really odd shaped tank, you should be able to find piccies of similar sizes which you like and then try copying them, modifying for easier to grow plants or whatever.

 

[BigIan]

riccia is a floating plant in the wild so unless WELL strapped down to wood/stone it will float away.

there are many rules for aquascaping all of wich are far to complicated.
I`d advise you sto start playing with your "hardscape" think about how you want the tank to look at the end, and what the plants you want to use need. then lay your wood/stones and substrate to begin that,

watch the tank for a few weeks and decide if your happy with the hard scape.

then start planting your plants, again watch themn for a few weeks and see if your happy with them or not.

but remember do your research and get planst that will do well in your aquarium with the amount of technology and effort your willing to put into the tank.

I`ve just spent the best part of 300 quid today on stuff for my planted tank, and thats not including plants. but i have a very clear idea of what my tank will look like when its finished

 

[Miss Wiggle]

I`ve just spent the best part of 300 quid today on stuff for my planted tank, and thats not including plants. but i have a very clear idea of what my tank will look like when its finished

have you know?! lol

what you got yourself?