I Need Inspiration

[poisongirl]

I want my new tank to look as natural as possible!

I am going with gravel rather than sand, and so far I have decided I am going to have one or two bits of bogwood, hopefully ones I can put plants in between.
I have got hold of some bits of pipe different sizes, which I am in the process of cleaning although they were new, and going to silicone gravel and bits of slate to make some wee tunnels.


I am trying desperately to get hold of some 2D background, but having problems as I need two bits that won't have an obvious join and I can only get it onlien, or my other option is to scrape the horrible blue paint off that was badly done, and spray it a dark colour and just heavily plant the back with tall plants and get more rocks.


My OH say just get a poster but I want this tank to look Really good. It will be my last change of tank for a good few years until we buy our own house.


What can I have to make it look less bare, without looking fake?

 

[ellena]

Several people on here have had success painting the back of their tanks and the old stuff should come of with something like a stanley knife blade (be careful not to scratch the glass) Why would a background have to be in 2 parts?
Black is a very effective background colour, your heater and filter will be much less noticeable against it. If you do go with background, use some baby oil or olive oil to attach it, smoothing out all bubbles with a credit card. Gives a really nice finish

 

[Jallen]

The pipe tunnels won't look natural.
Sand makes the tank look very natural and is easier to maintain.
If you have less than about 2 watts of lighting per gallon of water in your tank you won't need CO2 (if your lights are under 62W total), otherwise I recommend DIY CO2 (google it)

I recommend vallisneria spiralis, and cryptocorynes for planting in the substrate and java ferns and anubias for attaching to the wood. These plants are all easy to look after even with low lighting and no CO2.