The 120ltr/30gal Makeover Project

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FishkeeperLinz

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(Cross posted from another forum)

When I first started in fishkeeping, I joined a forum that was heavily into natural plant set-ups, and quickly indoctrinated into their way of thinking. All synthetic fakery was actively discouraged.

I grew to love an all-natural set-up, and still do, as evidenced in the way I set up my 200ltr during its own makeover, in which the only thing that really changed was the substrate - from black and white gravel, to sand (more "naturalness,").

But when my SIL (who loves my tanks) couldn't tell the difference between the 120ltr and the 200, I started questioning why I stuck so rigidly to the natural, planted tank set-ups that I have for so long.

The 120ltr needs a massive makeover of its own. It looks uncared for. So, now that it's bigger sister is more or less finished, I've turned my attention to my more neglected, problem "child".

This time, the sand substrate stays, but it's time to get creative.

I'm building Atlantis - the lost city of.
:D


There'll still be plants and probably driftwood in the tank to give it sort of a more authentic, abandoned look, but hopefully it'll give the tank an identity of its own.

Here's what I'm starting with;
received_595164401087073.jpeg


The first 2 ornaments arrived last week. The first was a Roman column that was a bit more "ruined" than I anticipated;
IMG_20200521_133613_262.jpg


The second was a set of jars and a barrel:
IMG_20200511_123758_448.jpg


Which was a bit bigger than I expected:
IMG_20200511_140611.jpg


I'm keeping it for now, but I doubt I'll be using it. Luckily, I popped into my local pet shop yesterday and saw some smaller jars that would better fit the theme. I'm going back tomorrow.

Meanwhile, it was third time lucky when a replacement Roman column arrived in the post;
IMG_20200521_134355.jpg


And now that I've done a partial water change and cleaned the tank up a bit, here's how it looks so far;
IMG_20200521_155933.jpg


IMG_20200521_161701.jpg


Obviously, there's not much difference yet, but then it wouldn't be much of a journal thread if it went from zero to Atlantis is one post. :D

Thanks for looking.
 
Sounds cool, I like to theme my tanks so what you are doing fits right in. I have a 30 gallon LOTR tank I just finished silent/planted cycling and currently have a few fancy guppies in. My other themed tank is more natural and is a sunken forest in a 55 gallon tank. I like the Roman/Greek column look. I have seen several different sets on the internet of these and of buildings. :good:
 
Sounds cool, I like to theme my tanks so what you are doing fits right in. I have a 30 gallon LOTR tank I just finished silent/planted cycling and currently have a few fancy guppies in. My other themed tank is more natural and is a sunken forest in a 55 gallon tank. I like the Roman/Greek column look. I have seen several different sets on the internet of these and of buildings. :good:

Yeah, I know - I saw your threads, and had you pegged for this month's TOTM winner.

Actually, it was your LOTR theme that inspired me to go a little bit off from my usual beaten track. :)
 
How awesome! I love the theme you picked!

Thanks.

I'll be watching this to see how it turns out!

I managed to grab one of the jars/urns ornaments yesterday, and ordered a barrel ornament, then began to worry about how much space would be left for the three buildings I want - an arena, a palace and, of course, a temple. So when the barrels arrived, I moved hinge around and removed the largest piece of wood altogether, replacing it with the 2nd largest. So now the tank currently looks like this;
IMG_20200523_161107.jpg


I hope to get the first of the 3 buildings ordered by next week. :)
 

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