I Need Some Design Ideas

[superman1]

hello

ok so i have my 5ft tank full with water complete with dorset pea gravel and painted blue back and side.. now i have 1 small marsh root in the corner and loads of silk plants but am stuck with how i want to scape this.

could anyone give me some ideas incase i have missed anything.

what would you do??

any comments welcome.

http/www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2010Q1/27022010337.jpg

 

[JoshT]

hello

ok so i have my 5ft tank full with water complete with dorset pea gravel and painted blue back and side.. now i have 1 small marsh root in the corner and loads of silk plants but am stuck with how i want to scape this.

could anyone give me some ideas incase i have missed anything.

what would you do??

any comments welcome.

http/www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2010Q1/27022010337.jpg

 

[JoshT]

I am novice to this myself. I setup a 20 gallon a while ago for my daughter and my primary concern was keeping the fish alive rather than making it look nice. I gave it a shot at making it look nice, but it didn't really turn out well. I just finished setting up a new 75 gallon. It's my first attempt and yours will probably wind up looking awesome but figured I'd share what I did just in case you needed some ideas.

The only thing I noticed about yours is that the substrate looked flat. I like to slope the ground so that the debris collects on the bottom and is easier to clean. Anyway, like I said this is my first real attempt at making a tank look good, but I'm pretty happy with it so far. Good luck with yours!

 

[ajs2294]

Focus a center piece towards the left or right slightly off center gives the illusion of more space but at the same time makes your centerpiece look slightly larger. In my 4 foot tank I have 4 large pieces of drift wood and lots of plants. I like the look, It's very natural if you stick with wood and plants. And you don't waste much space, very often fake ornaments take up a lot of space with the molds for little useful space.

 

[Wills]

A good place to get some inspiration for fish tanks = takeshi amano

 

[Truck]

http/showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2008.cgi?&op=showpage&name=view-ag-l
[font="'Segoe UI"]http/adana.com.sg/ada_gallery_2007_layout_large.html#location1[/font]
[font="'Segoe UI"]http/www.adana-usa.com/index.php?main_page=afa_portfolio[/font]

 

[superman1]

I am novice to this myself. I setup a 20 gallon a while ago for my daughter and my primary concern was keeping the fish alive rather than making it look nice. I gave it a shot at making it look nice, but it didn't really turn out well. I just finished setting up a new 75 gallon. It's my first attempt and yours will probably wind up looking awesome but figured I'd share what I did just in case you needed some ideas.

The only thing I noticed about yours is that the substrate looked flat. I like to slope the ground so that the debris collects on the bottom and is easier to clean. Anyway, like I said this is my first real attempt at making a tank look good, but I'm pretty happy with it so far. Good luck with yours!

yeh i get what you mean regarding the substrate. i brought 35kg of the stuff but its pretty much about an inch thickness. i think i will buy another 10kg and see if i can create a sloping effect.

ajs2294 - i am trying to find some big root type wood so that it focuses alot on the middle or off centre like you say. i was thinking of having it off centre to the left as i have that small bit of wood on the right. i was also thinking of having a few plants and stacks of rock towards the back. how does that sound.
i quite like the idea of wood and plants as ornaments, im not much of a fan for unrealistic ornaments unless its a big realistic looking sunken ship

Truck - cheers for those links.. i think this one looks amazing http/showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2008.cgi?&op=showcase&category=0&vol=2&id=183

 

[Jonty]

http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds

 

[ellena]

I think in fish tank design, more is definitely more So many tanks are too bare and that's their problem. Obviously, just shoving tons of stuff in isn't an automatic result, but you'll have a much better chance.

 

[ajs2294]

I think in fish tank design, more is definitely more So many tanks are too bare and that's their problem Obviously, just shovong tons of stuff in isn't an automatic result, but you'll have a much better chance.

It really depends I've seen some very impressive minimalistic tanks, It has a lot more to do with positioning what you have IMO.

 

[NinjaSmurf]

I wpuldn't add more gravel till you figure out what you want to do, because sometimes when you go to arrange things you find you have too much piled up around places.

I usually have it about the way you do, but I level the gravel with the top of the frame in the front and then push the rest towards the back of the tank, as I feel it's kinda weird to see below the top of the gravel in front.

What kind of stocking are you looking at?

 

[Hunterprey]

I think it also depends on what fish u want to put in there, if ur gonna put fish that will need a lot of swimming space, or small fish that needs a lot of LOS loss of sight.

 

[superman1]

well at the moment i want to have something along these lines.

numbers i am still tweaking at the moment but:

7-10 bosemani rainbows
1x Heros Notatus
4x angels
1x RTBS
3x swordtails
20 cardinals (will get the angels small) so hopefully not a problem
3x siamese algae eater
8x Any of the loaches
10x cories
2x bn plecs -

and i may add a few more down the line


i would quite like it to be a little bit dense but with open swimming areas.