Pretty Fish Tanks?

[Bluesand1313]

Hmm.. wasn't sure where to post this. First off, let me just say that my 10 gallon fish tank looks like crap. My two five gallons don't look bad, but seriously, most of you guys have gorgeous tanks! And then there are mine, just lying there. They would definitely place last in any beauty contests!

How do you guys make your tanks so beautiful? Are there any specific things that would make a tank look exceptionally pretty? In my 10 gallon (I'll take some pictures maybe later or something) We have yellow and blue algae covered gravel, a live plant, and a driftwood-looking ornament. Also a small dirty clown fish ornament in the corner. Oh, and I almost forgot, we have shells lying around the tank as well (My attempts to make it some-what decent looking).
So yea... not the prettiest tank. I need to make things pretty again!

My five gallon wide tank has pink, blue, and red gravel with three big tank-rocks, two put on the bottom and one over them so it's like a little cave for the Oto's to hide in. I also have a green plant near the right (if you were facing it) corner in the front, and an ornament with a giant fake snail on it behind the green plant in the back. (There is a large gap for some fish to hide in). OH! Almost forgot again, a dirty bright ornage/yellow plant beside the rocks and a little round rock I found somewhere a long time ago...
That one is eh.. but It just doesn't have a popping WOW to it.

My last five gallon high doesn't have any gravel yet (or fish.. or water) but what I do have is a barrel ornament with many holes for the fish to hide in, and a bright pink plant that is somewhat-spiky.

I also have a tiny quick question I thought I would pop in here since I don't think it deserves it's own thread. My five gallon high has a lid, but I need to put the filter wire/air thing through it and I've tried many different approaches to try to get it to fit under the little holes at the back of the aquarium lid, with no luck. I've bee debating weather to just leave the lid off or not use a filter (Right now I'm just keeping the lid off). Any suggestions? I have a cat and I don't want her noticing there is no lid and deciding to have a little betta snack while I'm not home or something. (I don't think she would do so because she doesn't even notice any fish anyways.)

 

[Naringlo]

I'd say just go natural. I have a nano tank that I'm working on at the moment. It's got sand substrate as that looks more natural than coloured gravel. And I only put live plants, real bogwood and real rocks in the aquarium for a natural look. Also, try positioning plants and objects in specific places e.g. tall plants at back, short plants at front. Same applies to bogwood and rocks.

And to the last bit, you need a filter in the fish tank for the bacteria colonies. You could try melting or cutting into part of the lid to let the equipment go through.

 

[Bugdozer]

I agree with Naringlo that a natural looking tank always appears attractive. But also, an unnatural looking tank can also be pretty if the decor is just right. What tends to invariably look a bit wrong, though, is trying to mix and match the two. If you have coloured gravel but with live plants it tends to jar somewhat, also putting too many comedy ornaments in a more natural looking tank can clash a bit.
My tank is a natural looking one, with riverbottom type gravel, a piece of driftwood and several live plants. I do have some false ornaments in there - two fake plants (but realistic type ones, not fluorescent pink etc) and a thing we call the "fish house" which is sort of a domed cave that's made of resin but looks somewhat like twisted roots, so it blends in. The fake plants are at the back to "bulk up" the scenery unobtrusively.
I'd suggest looking at pictures of other people's tanks and seeing what you like best, then simply copy the design or base your own on it. But to keep the tank looking nice will take maintenance - any layout will look shabby if there is algae and dirt all over it.

 

[Salam]

I agree, natural looking tanks are (in my opinion) the better looking tanks.

Suggestions to spruce up your tanks:

- Get some black gloss and paint the back of the tanks. That will give you a beautiful, clean backing that will show off your fish colours.

- Use either sand (playsand is fine), black sand / gravel or cat litter as your substrate. The black one will enhance the colours most but is also the most expensive (limpopo black sand is very good), playsand is most natural and cheap and cat litter will make your plants grow like crazy and is also cheap.

- Get live plants! They make such a difference. Stick to a few types, but then many, for example a whole side planted with crypts. It looks more natural having same plants 'in bulk' rather than randomly spread around.

- Stick to a theme. I have nine tanks, and in each tank there is either a certain type of wood, or certain rocks, but I don't mix let's say brown colourd wood with grey rocks. It can be done, but it is easier to stick to one thing and go with that.

Hope that helps. I started with blue gravel and a 'no fishing' sign a year ago and I now have nine planted tanks. It can be done

 

[Peter C]

iv gone with black in mine, black background, black sand, really shows the plants and fish off well at night with the light.

Try not to overcrowd your tank with plants / fish. sometimes less is more

apart from that just have fun, itl take a week or so of messing about, thinking while your at work etc how to arrange the tank, make it look nice etc

 

[Bluesand1313]

Hmm.. first off, thanks for all the feedback!

Second, I think I will go with the natural look for my 10 gallon, since I already have one live plant in the tank. I think I will keep the driftwood-looking ornament since it's natural enough looking. I'll take out the clown-fish ornament and keep the shells.
I'll also see what I can do about the black background. That's a really interesting idea, and we have quite a few brightly-coloured fish in the 10 gallon (ex: guppies and neon tetras) so that would make them really pop. Where would you get the black background stuff?

I've tried using sand once before on some little shrimp guys I had, and it was constantly cloudy and dusty, the poor little things. I'm not good with sand so I think I'll stick with natural-looking gravel.

I'm only going to do one tank-redecoration at a time, since I'm not made of money
I think I will stick for a 'pink' theme for my five gallon wide, which will be housing my female and oto's. Even though I think it would clash, I'm going to keep the rocks as well because it gives the oto's somewhere to hide.

I get to start fresh with my five gallon high since I haven't started it yet! I think I'll go for like.. a sunken ship type theme... thing.

I'll post pictures once I've got everything done!

My next question would be: I have an algae eater fish in my 10 and I'm a little frightened if I change all the substrate he isn't going to have enough algae to eat. I have wafers but I have a snail problem that came with the plant and they just eat the wafer before he can get to it. Also, how could I store the fish/change the gravel with them inside?

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I really like the Dorset Pea Gravel from Surrey Pet Supplies... it was so much cheaper than gravel other places and the delivery was reasonable too. It did require a lot of rinsing before putting it in the tank though.... I just put it in a bucket in the shower and let it run for about a half hour coming in every couple of minutes and mixing it up.

I don't excel at decorating my tanks either so I just go with live plants, rocks and gravel. I have a couple of ornaments like a ship wreck in one tank and a rock bridge and broken jug in another.