Rescaped my tank, what do you think?

[poconoboss]

My tank was getting a little crowded looking. First of all I have a 3d background which on it's own looks great, however over time I added driftwood, rocks and too many plants and my tank became crowded, I didn't have any open spaces on the bottom anymore. My flame moss was growing out of control and it just became a bit too much and I just wanted a cleaner look.

I also wanted to add white sand to create a cleaner look and easier maintenance and hopefully show off the colors of the fish better.

I completely broke down the tank this weekend and cleaned it all out. I arranged some rocks to create a tier in the rear (hey, that rhymes!...lol)

I filled the rear with Flourite and planted my plants, I then added a small layer of gravel to help keep the Flourite (which is lightweight) from moving around. It also helps keep the plants anchored.

I then added sand to the front area. I let the tank sit for a day to let the filter clean up any debris and cloudiness in the water. Then I added my fish.

Holy cow!! What a difference!! My tank seems SO MUCH brighter and the fish look incredible with the light bright scenery.

I like the natural setting in the rear with the plants and background, but then when the fish swim in the front I can see them clearly and they look awesome!! I also notice my Cory's love the stay on the sand now (in the past, they usually stayed in the rear), I presume they like the soft sand on their belly.

Here are some pics, what do you think?

TANK:

http://poconoboss.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Fish-Tank-Setup/IMG2933/768758220_idiUD-XL.jpg

http://poconoboss.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Fish-Tank-Setup/IMG2975/768758232_uHQg8-L.jpg

http://poconoboss.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Fish-Tank-Setup/IMG2973/768758302_DDzeZ-L.jpg

http://poconoboss.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Fish-Tank-Setup/IMG2974/768758283_6ctKF-L.jpg

WITH FISH:

http://poconoboss.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Fish-Tank-Setup/IMG2956/768775055_G84mZ-XL.jpg

http://poconoboss.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Fish-Tank-Setup/IMG2977/768775028_imGTm-XL.jpg

http://poconoboss.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Fish-Tank-Setup/IMG2958/768758432_UerLR-L.jpg

http://poconoboss.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Fish-Tank-Setup/IMG2971/768758318_a3sgB-L.jpg

http://poconoboss.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Fish-Tank-Setup/IMG2970/768758339_8rYVp-L.jpg

http://poconoboss.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Fish-Tank-Setup/IMG2966/768758374_HdfuY-L.jpg

http://poconoboss.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Fish-Tank-Setup/IMG2962/768758409_W6GEP-L.jpg

[Sharkbait]

Looks good. Can we see a before pic to compare?

I'm personally a pretty hardcore planted tank guy, so cutting back on the plants is hard for me. But I'm at that point where I'm thinking I need to create more swimming room. So hard! lol. I love the aquaterra background. I think if you get some taller plants to blend in with the background, it will make it look more natural and over time, the growth of your current plants will fill the tank in nicely.

The gravel you used to put overtop the plants looks a bit out of place. Perhaps if you sprinkled some of the sand on the gravel, it will look better. Try it on a small patch first.

What strains do you have in your tank? What size is your tank?

Thanks for sharing! Cheers!

What strains do you have in your tank?

[KEWX]

It looks great!!!!

[William Palumbo]

Looks dynamite to me!... Love that background...Bill

[poconoboss]

Looks good. Can we see a before pic to compare?

I'm personally a pretty hardcore planted tank guy, so cutting back on the plants is hard for me. But I'm at that point where I'm thinking I need to create more swimming room. So hard! lol. I love the aquaterra background. I think if you get some taller plants to blend in with the background, it will make it look more natural and over time, the growth of your current plants will fill the tank in nicely.

The gravel you used to put overtop the plants looks a bit out of place. Perhaps if you sprinkled some of the sand on the gravel, it will look better. Try it on a small patch first.

What strains do you have in your tank? What size is your tank?

Thanks for sharing! Cheers!

What strains do you have in your tank?

Ok, let me try an answer all your questions:

Tank size: 85gal Bowfront.

Strains: Red Dragon, Cobalt, Blue Snakeskin, Albino Turk, Melon cross, Bosmani Rainbow and assorted maint. crew.

The background is made by Pangea by the way, not Aquaterra. ;)

As far as the plants are concerned, there are some varieties that will get quite tall and will fill in. They were all new plants so the specimens are a little small. I went with plants that will be easier to maintain, that flame moss was a terror since it trapped all the fish poop in it..yech!

I forgot to take a before pic, here is a pic that was taken a while ago before the plants overran the tank and the moss grew out of control, back then I was housing some other fish for a friend until his tank was setup. Since this pic was taken, I had also added another big piece of driftwood with Moss and Anubia's on it, it was really too much. I find the fish swim a lot more, now that there is more room.

http://poconoboss.smugmug.com/Hobbies/Fish-Tank-Setup/fulltank/504322270_Pb56W-XL.jpg

[Spardas]

Nice remodeling job!

The old one was too cluttered and it seems like 2 discus in there weren't doing so great.

But anyway, great job on the makeover, love the clean sand look! :D

Also, go with what sharkbait said, I think if you have some sand mixed with the gravel; it'll provide a more natural seamless look into the two.

[poconoboss]

Nice remodeling job!

The old one was too cluttered and it seems like 2 discus in there weren't doing so great.

But anyway, great job on the makeover, love the clean sand look! :D

Also, go with what sharkbait said, I think if you have some sand mixed with the gravel; it'll provide a more natural seamless look into the two.


Those two wound up being fine, it was unrelated to the tank, there were being picked on when I added them in the tank to hold for someone, so they turned real dark, once they stopped being picked on, they were fine.

I may try adding the sand, I think I like that Idea. :thumbsup:

[DiscusFreakaZoid]

Must of spent hours changing that up but well worth it in the end. New Look not only looks good but accentuates the fishes colors imo and now there front and center. I notice the blues look shinier and more Life to them. You must of sat in your chair for hours after you were done staring at your new design. couple LEds white/blue shinin down on the sand at nite with a moonliight shimmering effect would be neat on this layout

[pinoysport]

thats tight man... I was thinking about getting a 3d background but its kindof spendy for me. ... your tank is nice... nice work

[zamboniMan]

Looks good.

[Disgirl]

That is a real showpiece, love the redo. And very good picture taking too!
Barb:)

[tcmemphisbbq]

Love that background, GREAT job!

[Harriett]

The background adds a lot! to the tank, really nice selection. I like the plant varieties you have chosen but would like to offer some plant scaping advice. To get the most natural looking effects, remember that in nature, you usually see plants of one variety clustered together in an area--this makes sense, since when plants propagate, they do so generally close to the mother plants, whether by runner or sending out a floater with plantlets--which, when heavy enough, sinks to the substrate [swords]. With the stem plants, keep taking trimmings and planting them nearby the main bunch so it expands nicely. So I would gather by type in a casual way, the swords to one area, the grasses more forward in another area, etc. When you stand back from the tank and look at it, you want to see it as a naturally occuring phenomena. One thing many people choose to stay away from is making a perfectly bilaterally symetrical tank: 2 swords on the left, 2 on the right, one in the center sort of deal--it looks contrived and not relaxing to look at, I think. Don't try to distribute plants equally everywhere, it doesn't happen like that. The way to balance the tank visually is to plant in groups that lead the eye from one area to the other and always back into the tank center. It's a subtle thing. Keep the tallest plants towards the back, then mediums, then short ground huggers to the front but do mix it a bit where they meet. The golden 3/5s rule about placement is nothing dead center middle, plant off center to create more interest. Amano is a master at this and taking a look on his website and studying a few of his tank set ups will teach a great deal about this method. As the tank matures, the number of specimens of each variety will expand and it will hang together well. When you plant up a tank, it takes some months for it to get to that point, but looks splendid when it does. This rationale holds for all types of gardening--all based on mimicking nature.
Hope that helps.
Very nice start.
Harriett

[darbex]

Very nice

[poconoboss]

Must of spent hours changing that up but well worth it in the end. ...


...couple LEds white/blue shinin down on the sand at nite with a moonliight shimmering effect would be neat on this layout


Yeah, you could say it took a few hours, all in all about 6-8!!

I might have to look into those blue led's. :idea:

[scottishbloke]

I like it very much! I also have the same light fixtures as your tank- love 'em. I also really like those 3D backgrounds, kinda pricey for me though. One small question, though- do your Boesmani's leave any food for your discus? Also, watch out regarding feeding BH to Rainbows (if you use it)- they may develop fat on the liver and have short lives as a result, at least according to Adrian Tappin and other bowheads on the forums.

Keep us posted as the tank grows in and you do some fine tuning etc, nice work

Colin

[poconoboss]

One small question, though- do your Boesmani's leave any food for your discus?
Colin



Feeding is not an issue at all. During feeding the Discus attack the foods first, they are on top of the food chain. As they are feeding (usually at the top of the tank) and as food falls to the mid level, the Bosmani swoops in and gets what is sinking and what ever makes it to the bottom gets eaten by the bottom dwellers (my cleanup crew).

It's actually a nice system, no food goes to waste.

I am thinking about getting more rainbows from the dealer I got my Bosmani from. I only got one to see how well he got along with the Discus Now that I see they get along, I plan on getting more.

[Yassmeena]

Hey Robyn,

I love the changes you made! Clearing out the front of the tank and organizing the plants adds a lot of dimension to your layout.

As for your plants, I love that sword at the left. I think it's a Kleiner Bar?

Adding some more leafy plants (as opposed to stem with leaf) would look great! Such as amazon sword - a lovely plant that works very well in discus tanks! Some crinum thaianum would also balance out the aquascape by adding verticle dimension. I have some to spare... I could give 'em to you for free if you'd like. Just shoot me a PM!

Nice work!!! Love the tank!

Best,

Yasmin

[David Rose]

Nice scenery, nice landscaping, and some beach front real-estate...what more can a discus ask for? :D Beautiful!

[90 Gallons of Fun]

Truly Awesome!

[dbfzurowski]

awesome tank,
"love what you did with the place" that's what my discus would say

[poconoboss]

Hey Robyn,

I love the changes you made! Clearing out the front of the tank and organizing the plants adds a lot of dimension to your layout.

As for your plants, I love that sword at the left. I think it's a Kleiner Bar?

Thanks.

That plant is an Ozelot Sword.

I don't know where you got Robyn? My name is Len. :D

[Yassmeena]

Thanks.

That plant is an Ozelot Sword.

I don't know where you got Robyn? My name is Len. :D

Sorry - total brain lapse!

Well, at least now I know your name. :D

Yasmin

[hayliekay]

I LOVE the new layout. i don't think you need sand on the gravel at all.. it looks stunning

[valery]

Looks awesome! I'd be so tempted to do some tall vals towards the back.. would look so natural with the 3d background coming through =)

awesome job!:D