My Tank Pictures..

[Evobe]

I agree with Pitdownpaul, Deep blue backrounds make it look alot more natural, which is what your aiming for right?

 

[stuuk1]

Ok, so here is the last update ill do as you will all get bored! I spaced out all the plants, I haven't changed the way the sand sits as I didnt have time + i didnt want to disturb it too much with the fish in there.

As you can see, I went for the black background, I bought a piece of hardboard and a can on matt black spray paint and let loose! Came out very well and im very pleased with it. The mix of tannins from the bogwood, the green plants and now the black background give it a great mysterious look. Although the pictures make it look quite clear, in person its much better!

I almost threw one of the moss balls out but then decided to split one and cover a coconut shell in it which I think looks pretty good. I wrapped some fishing line around it to keep it on there. Will the moss ball attach itself to it?

The plant growing on the piece of bogwood is thriving and looks amazing! I might take some cuttings from it and see if i can grow it on the large piece of bogwood as the javamoss hasnt worked too well...

Last but not least, the crocodile head.. I dont particularly want it in there but the gf wont let me get rid of it and my red tail shark + polkadot loach have made it a home for themselves so I dont want to disturb them. When they get too big for it, then it'll go!

Enjoy!

 

[drobbyb]

Looks much better! If you compere the colors of your rainbows from the first pic to these, you can see a huge increase in their color

 

[Kellz]

Ok So newbie over here..... How do you clean the sand. I was advised to get gravel as it doesnt get sucked up in the gravel cleaner but i like the look of the sand!.....

 

[stuuk1]

Ok So newbie over here..... How do you clean the sand. I was advised to get gravel as it doesnt get sucked up in the gravel cleaner but i like the look of the sand!.....

Hello again... ha!

Cleaning sand is alot easier than gravel and quicker I think. What size tank do you have?

Its quite alot of hassle to change from gravel so sand but well worth it when its done. I changed out my 240 ltr tank (for some reason on a friday night...) and it took me 5 hours! I have alot of fish tho and catching them was a pain.

If you do decide to make the change (you should!) then make sure you wash the sand out plenty of times. The sand I used was 'childrens play sand' from Argos, at £2.99 for 15kg you cant beat it. But its very dusty stuff, so get the dust out first, just in the same way you cleaned your gravel before putting it in the tank.

Ok, got carried away and didnt even answer your question..

If you have the gravel vacuum thing, take the big bit off the end so you are left with the tube. Just hover the tube above the sand and it will suck up the rubbish. Its very easily and sometimes you will suck up some sand, but when you do the change just put a good depth of sand in. If you find it doesnt suck up all the time, then disturb the sand by waving the end of the tube over it, then it will suck it up.

Good luck!

 

[Jenni84]

The new pics are great!!

Im off to buy some new plants at the weekend as most of mine have been eaten/demolished!

 

[Carlovel1]

Your priority should be getting proper schools of fish. Glass Catfish should NEVER be in groups less than 5. 2 Xray Tetra is not enough. Polkadot Loach and Yoyo Loach should each be in groups of 4 or more

But your tank is absolutly stunning , the sand is lovely and so are the plants

 

[stuuk1]

Your priority should be getting proper schools of fish. Glass Catfish should NEVER be in groups less than 5. 2 Xray Tetra is not enough. Polkadot Loach and Yoyo Loach should each be in groups of 4 or more

But your tank is absolutly stunning , the sand is lovely and so are the plants

I have to be honest, I do know that. But when I first started I dived straight in not knowing anything about fisk keeping.

I got the two glass catfish along with alot of others inc the xrays. The tank is overstocked and knowing that the glass cats grow to around 15cm, its cruel in the long run to add more. In time I will make the numbers up, especially with the glass cats.

As for the polkadot loach, I recently got another yoyo so that makes 3-ish. I have tried to find a supplier that stocks polkadots but cannot find any which is a shame. But thanks anyway. I've tried...

 

[nosoup4you]

Tank is looking great. If you don't like the idea of an actual background, I find solid white card looks great and IMO makes the tank seem brighter.

 

[Wills]

it does look great I love your idea of the moss ball cut up over the coconut good idea that!

Wills

 

[Mark Z.]

Beautiful aquarium and so CLEAN looking!

I especiall like the driftwood with the moss growing on it. I personally don't like backgrounds; to me, they look too fake, but who knows? I like the addition of the solid-black background. My aquarium has a mirrored background which creates the appearance of depth.

Well done!
Mark

 

[heygetsmart]

*sigh* if only I had the patience to do a nice planted tank!

Beautiful!

 

[~T~]

Looks great and yes the moss will grow but wont actually grown onto the coconut shell (moss balls are actually a type of algae). But as long as its secured enough with the fishing like it will be fine and grow over to still give the grown on look if that makes sense. I do something similar cos I dont like the way the perfectly round moss balls look just floaing about. I get the green nets off kiwi fruits etc in the supermarket and net the moss balls to smoothe pebbles.

 

[Assaye]

The re-scape with the background looks much better! Really like this tank.

 

[stuuk1]

Hi all, not updated this is quite a while, so took a pic tonight and here it is

Nothing much has changed, I certainly havent changed anything, the plants have taken over, I keep up with my water changes and thats about it really. It looking pretty healthy in there I think....?