Debating aquarium layout...

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Soldato
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8 Jun 2005
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Hi all,

I thought I would post this here too to get some more feedback from people...please :) this is by far the most populated forum I'm on so I thought I might get some quick opinions in here :)

Thought I would make my own thread to keep from taking over the current fish tank thread with all my questions when I don't even have a tank setup to show off lol.

I am looking to setup a planted tank, and I have bought everything I need aside from fish plants and substrate.

I've got a Fluval Roma 200, an Aquamanta EFX 1000u and various pieces of wood/rock...

I am looking to chose one of 4 designs at the moment. All pictures were taken of the actual hard scape I'm putting in in and coloured in on my ipad lol

I have narrowed it down to these 4 different designs...

Option 1

vejy.jpg


Option 2

y4h9.jpg


Option 3

79bk.jpg


Option 4

lv6d.jpg


I'm debating which of the above to use and would love to know which people prefer...



Also... I'm going to seperate the differnt substrates using some plastic canvas from hobbycraft to make barriers, but I am wondering what height I should do the barriers? In other words what depth to do the substrate.

The barriers will look a little something like this, but all stuck together with aquarium sealant:

s87h.jpg


I have not yet decided what to use for the "sand" coloured substrante and would like some suggestions... (possibly just sand I guess? lol) But for the planted portions of the tank I intend to use JBL Aquabasis topped with JBL Manado. But I don't know how deep each should be and guidance would be appreciated.

I am also interested to know which plants people would recommend to achieve this look.

Thanks all :)

G
 
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The only problem i see with different substrates is the bottom fish mixing it up as they go about their daily routine of scrounging about:(
 
3 or 4, but personally I'd scrap them all and go for something a little more creative. ^Yes! something like Helm's Deep would be good :D
 
You can't have option 3,
trees planted in the middle of a footpath break a number of by-laws, and that arrangement of stones clearly breaks several H&S rulings regarding standing stone monuments.

Your local council will shut you down quicker than a popular Sci-Fi show on Fox

Even if you protest that this is just an 3x1x1 aquarium, it will cut no ice with such criminally incompetent jobsworths.

I suggest you lay the whole lot out with rubber matting on the floors and the walls,
you don't want social services getting involved with unexplained bruises on your fish.
 
My brown pleco, Gandalf, he destroys my plants :( We have probably spent best part of £50 on real plants over the past few years, and he uproots the swines everytime! Then all the other fish decide they look like flake floating around on the top, so nom nom nom!

Love me fish though, looking at getting a nice new tank when we move next :) Maybe a corner tank!
 
you can do this but your pretty much stuck to having fish like tetras.

with the pebbles as well i imagine all your fish waste is going to accumulate by the side of it dependant on how your filter is set up, you would probably need to get a power head.

moss trees always look pants in a normal aquarium IMO. they look lovely in pictures in magazines/on the internet but they spend months and months trying to get the perfect photos with an awesome co2 setup.

what lights does your roma 200 have? T8? the light output will leave your choices very slim/next to none for carpeting plants
 
Thanks for the replies :)

I'm wondering if I would be better to use a light coloured gravel, that's small, but not small enough to fit through the gaps in the barriers.

I'm considering a home made co2 setup using a demijohn with some yeast and sugar in. But undecided.

I still have the T8 lights that came with the tank at the moment, but wouldn't rule out LED lights. The tank is near a large window so will get a lot of day light.

What do you mean by get a powerhead? as in what for? I don't know what the normal use for them is, but I have ordered one of these already:

PH121 EMPEROR 9000 POWERHEAD 900 L/H

I was initially just getting it to use as a powered syphon to pump water back into the tank when I do water changes lol. It has a head height of 1.2m which is sufficient for my requirements.

Whan you say I would be limited in choice for carpeting plants, did you have some specific ones which would be more suitable than others in mind?

Also... are any of the T8 lights better than others? I've noticed they do lots of different ones.

Thanks very much :)

G
 
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There's different hues and shades. But the t8 light out pur per gallon is low. My friend has the same tank. He can only grow low light plants. His DIY co2 always leaks. Co2 boost by yapi is a nice product made a huge difference in my tank

The powerhead will add more flow to your tank improving circulation picking up fish waste better that's all. Its normally for marine tanks where u need a current
 
Malt_Vinegar said:
Don't place the tank where it will get a lot of sunlight, you will be destroyed by algae in the longer summer days!
Click to expand...

I will either close the curtains or cover one side of the tank with some kind of shade lol

Really didn't have anywhere else it would fit sadly.

Luckily it's ont a sid of the house where although it will get a lot of light it shouldn't get too much actual direct sunlight. (Hopefully)
 
I went for option 3 in the end, built my barriers:

0zao.jpg


Needed much more pebbles than previously planned to hide it though.... Went for gravel instead of sand in the end...


37z4.jpg


Happy with it so far though :)

All the wood is still soaking.


G
 
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