new tank

[claireroe]

hi again ! thinking about my new tank , I planning to get a sand or small white gravel and using some long plants to create a very simple look and a pure blue background . I'm also wanting to have brightly coloured fish . Any suggestions or ideas on sand , fish or plants ? ( or should i stick to fake plants ? )

 

[yvez9]

i prefer live plants but some people swear by plastic... it's a question of personnal preference

as for sand, playsand is cheap and effective, or you could buy some really fine gravel. I got some white hagen gravel, it's so small it's pretty much like sand. it looks awesome.

As for fish, it depends on your tank size

 

[nightlife20]

iv had both fake an live plants... with different effects comming from both

with fake plants, the upkeep is minamal (just a rinse every now an again) no chance in ur fish eating them and no chance of rotting plants setting off ur water chem. depending on how u do it you can have it lookin realy nice

my 3ft with FAKE plants

the fake plants wernt brough from an lfs or petshop btw... they were brought from a crafts store... i did have a pic somewhere of what my 4ft used to look like with fake plants in but some reason cant find it.



but then again the same thing could be said for live plants, sure if u havnt got right lighting the plants could die... and dependin on setup u might/not need co2 ...

heres what my 4ft used to look like with LIVE plants

its realy what draws u first, iv switched an chenged between the two that often that iv made myself dizzy


as for fish.. this goes on what size tank your havin..

 

[Ferris]

I think if you're going for fake plants, the answer is to buy decent ones that look realistic (like in nightlife20's pics). You see so many horrible plastic plants for sale so its worth shopping around.

I use fake and there are plenty of good ones out there.

 

[GSD]

if your going for fake use silk they look better!
in my 30gal i have both a mixture or fake and live

 

[nightlife20]

ahhh found my other pic (4ft fake plants)

as said before all decor (apart from driftwood and rocks) are from a craft store, its just the general checkin if they are safe before u put them in the tank thats a bit iffy.

soak them in hot water over night to see if the color runs if it does chuck em, if they contain netal inside them( as the normaly do) use a tank safe sealent to seal the ends off