Renovation Ideas For 100 Litre Tank?

[emilythestrange]

Hi, recently i've been thinking that maybe i should do a change round in my tank, it wasnt too long ago that i had to strip out all of the silk plants and scrub them down, now around 1 month later, it looks as though it needs doing again

I know a more natural tank might look alot better, but im strangly clueless about real plants and what i need to do to maintain them, do all plants need a strong light to keep them looking healthy?
What would you suggest?

 

[ellena]

Java ferns are almost invincible supposedly, although they look a lot better with proper care.
You can use silk plants to get a lovely natural look too though. Expensive initial outlay, but you could add them gradually. Some tall ones especially would make a big difference as the top half of the tank is quite bare at the moment.
Changing to sand would look great, as would having a background. If you went with black and got a black guard for your heater, it and the filter would almost disappear and the neons would look stunning. Or put the heater a bit further down and hide it with plants.
Personally, I'd ditch the skull and the log and replace with coconut caves/bogwood/mopani wood/rocks etc.
I think more is more in fish tanks generally, so get a load of plants in there, real or fake and it will soon be looking fab

 

[emilythestrange]

Java ferns are almost invincible supposedly, although they look a lot better with proper care.
You can use silk plants to get a lovely natural look too though. Expensive initial outlay, but you could add them gradually. Some tall ones especially would make a big difference as the top half of the tank is quite bare at the moment.
Changing to sand would look great, as would having a background. If you went with black and got a black guard for your heater, it and the filter would almost disappear and the neons would look stunning. Or put the heater a bit further down and hide it with plants.
Personally, I'd ditch the skull and the log and replace with coconut caves/bogwood/mopani wood/rocks etc.
I think more is more in fish tanks generally, so get a load of plants in there, real or fake and it will soon be looking fab

Yep, im wondering if there is a few plants that do not need alot of care, then i may gradually put one in, and see how it goes, i recently stripped out some more plants, which have had it, the Pets at home plants dont seem to be lasting long, the algae jut loves them, only collects on the silk plants after a month or two, depending.
Its annoying, yet a more filled out 'jungle' look may be more interesting and better for the fish.

 

[Wills]

Pets at home usually sell big java fern mother plants on a small block of wood for about £10 if you get 2 of them and drop them on each side instant planting and java fern really does look after its self and established plants grow and spread quickly. The thing with java fern is because its on wood you can move it as much as you want because it needs to keep its roots over the substrate rather than being planted down.

Main problem with me for this plan is that my local P@H keeps these plants in with their goldfish and to put it politely i wouldn't trust it in my tank but if yours is good or keeps it in the planted section you should be fine

 

[emilythestrange]

Pets at home usually sell big java fern mother plants on a small block of wood for about £10 if you get 2 of them and drop them on each side instant planting and java fern really does look after its self and established plants grow and spread quickly. The thing with java fern is because its on wood you can move it as much as you want because it needs to keep its roots over the substrate rather than being planted down.

Main problem with me for this plan is that my local P@H keeps these plants in with their goldfish and to put it politely i wouldn't trust it in my tank but if yours is good or keeps it in the planted section you should be fine

Yeha im pretty sure that they have a dedicated couple of tanks for plants, doesnt java fern need ferts and co2 and adequate lighting ?