# Not happy with tank set up



## Mattones (Jul 9, 2006)

Tell me your opinion on my tank set up. For some reason I'm not 100% happy with it. I love the driftwood but now I am starting to think that it is too big. But again i like it the way it is because it has a few different areas for the fish to swim through. I guess the thing that makes me dislike my set up is the plants and background. For the background I am using black cement paper It does make everything stand out because its a black background. For the plants I'm not sure on were to put them because having such a large piece of drift wood you dot have much to play around with.

After looking at some pictures I thought of adding a large floating plant but with this it may cause a problem at feeding time no?

Is there any (Fake) type of plants that could look good in my tank? Maybe adding all the tall ones to the back or one side or having one side which has all plants? Please tell me your opinion on my tank weather its good or bad.

EDIT- My camera makes it seem ALOT more darker because my camera sucks.

The rock on the wood is juts to hold it down. I hope sometime i dont have to keep it on. The wood heavy to hold down because of its size.
My tank as of AUG13th
Background half down cant really make it out








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## bigboi (May 3, 2006)

get a piece of slate and screw it to the bottom of the wood if that rock falls you could be extracting some water from your carpet besides that think it looks good in there


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## Mattones (Jul 9, 2006)

bigboi said:


> get a piece of slate and screw it to the bottom of the wood if that rock falls you could be extracting some water from your carpet besides that think it looks good in there


Slate is not heavy enough unless i have one which is 2 inches thick and the size of my tank which i doubt ill be able to get in there.


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## nelsong6969 (Jul 26, 2004)

so use slate then put a few rocks around the tree on top of the slat too

but i think it would look better if u flipped the driftwood upside down


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## Mattones (Jul 9, 2006)

nelsong6969 said:


> so use slate then put a few rocks around the tree on top of the slat too
> 
> but i think it would look better if u flipped the driftwood upside down


I will try that nexttime.


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## the REASON (Jun 18, 2006)

nelsong6969 said:


> so use slate then put a few rocks around the tree on top of the slat too
> 
> but i think it would look better if u flipped the driftwood upside down


 i agree. that drift wood would deffinately look better as a root system.


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## welsher7 (Jul 29, 2005)

i think you should cut the driftwood in half and place it against the back of the tank with the roots on the bottom. so its looks more natural. jmo


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

to _Tank and Equipment_


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## Mattones (Jul 9, 2006)

FBMBMX85 said:


> so use slate then put a few rocks around the tree on top of the slat too
> 
> but i think it would look better if u flipped the driftwood upside down


 i agree. that drift wood would deffinately look better as a root system.
[/quote]

Its to wide for my tank and I dont wanna cut parts off because then it will just look bad. I will try and move it next time and see.


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## Kemper1989 (Feb 14, 2005)

I think the rock on the driftwood doesn't look bad at all.


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## Mattones (Jul 9, 2006)

AS OF RIGHT NOW:










































i flipped my wood upside down and it doesnt really fit.

MY DRIFT WOOD


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## welsher7 (Jul 29, 2005)

cut it in half and it will fit.


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## nelsong6969 (Jul 26, 2004)

could take a little off the legs so it fits but i would try breaking it so it would look more natural then a straight clean cut but then again you might not even be able to see if its in the gravel


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## odyssey (May 30, 2006)

yer up the other way would look cool, i reckon java moss left to grow on the wood , its not a fake plant but it takes a bare minimum in maintenance.


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## bigboi (May 3, 2006)

Kemper1989 said:


> I think the rock on the driftwood doesn't look bad at all.


 Yeah but if that thing falls could be a problem.


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## CichlidAddict (Jul 1, 2005)

Seriously - flip the driftwood over so it looks like a root. Cut or break off one of the roots if you have to so it will fit. Add a few larger plastic plants that to all the way to the top of the tank. Add one or two larger rocks on one end of the tank.
That should get it looking pretty good!


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## Mattones (Jul 9, 2006)

With it down.

And if i switch it up and cut all the things to make it fit and it ends up still floating which it will how will i keep it down since the ends will be too thin to drill to slate and slate is too light.


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## SpeCiaLisT (Aug 12, 2005)

Why not just cut it up and let a couple float and let some stay on the ground with a rock on top of one of the roots.


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## the REASON (Jun 18, 2006)

cut it to fit (looks like youd only hafto cut one or two peices anyhow) then bolt the biggest piece of slate you can find/fit directly to the bottom. if there is a gap just throw some gravel under there. good luck


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## Mattones (Jul 9, 2006)

I have one of those plastic dividers which keep glass for the hood on .i cant take it off so i gotta be carful. Plus I go into many LFS's and all the slate are little pieces and not heavy..hmm


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## fire-keeper (Feb 12, 2006)

Go to a hardware store like home depot, lowes, menards or a tile shop. You can purchase slate tile squares in various thickness and sizes


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## Mattones (Jul 9, 2006)

fire-keeper said:


> Go to a hardware store like home depot, lowes, menards or a tile shop. You can purchase slate tile squares in various thickness and sizes


Problem is you have to do the scratch method. Scratch the pieace then poor vinegar 
and f it sizzles its not good for the tank.


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## Mattones (Jul 9, 2006)

What can I do to keep that rock there? I think if i move it it will look sorta ugly? Fishing line or will that hurt the fish if they swim into it? super glue or will that posion the water?


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## piranha_guy_dan (Oct 4, 2004)

you need a back ground weather it be a printed one or just a plain black one.

drift wood looks great but i also think your tank would look better with sand, white or light brown and also if not real plants get some realistic plastic plants, i get my plastic plants at Dollarama only $1 each and you can get lots of variety.

for now you can silicone that rcok to the driftwood and then once the wood is water logged enough then you can fully take it out


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## Mattones (Jul 9, 2006)

piranha_guy_dan said:


> you need a back ground weather it be a printed one or just a plain black one.
> 
> drift wood looks great but i also think your tank would look better with sand, white or light brown and also if not real plants get some realistic plastic plants, i get my plastic plants at Dollarama only $1 each and you can get lots of variety.
> 
> for now you can silicone that rcok to the driftwood and then once the wood is water logged enough then you can fully take it out


Sand i was told is hard to take care of because it gets into your filters and messes things up and when algae gets onto the sand its hard to clean because you have to stir the sand around etc etc.

I do have a black background i use black tarp paper but i guess i can always get a real background. Maybe a plant one or shall i just get a plan rockish one?

silicone.. wouldnt that posion the water?

My tank just a few mins ago::
Background half down cant really make it out








All the way up








Side pics


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## piranha_guy_dan (Oct 4, 2004)

Mattones said:


> you need a back ground weather it be a printed one or just a plain black one.
> 
> drift wood looks great but i also think your tank would look better with sand, white or light brown and also if not real plants get some realistic plastic plants, i get my plastic plants at Dollarama only $1 each and you can get lots of variety.
> 
> for now you can silicone that rcok to the driftwood and then once the wood is water logged enough then you can fully take it out


Sand i was told is hard to take care of because it gets into your filters and messes things up and when algae gets onto the sand its hard to clean because you have to stir the sand around etc etc.

I do have a black background i use black tarp paper but i guess i can always get a real background. Maybe a plant one or shall i just get a plan rockish one?

silicone.. wouldnt that posion the water?

My tank just a few mins ago::
Background half down cant really make it out








All the way up








Side pics
















[/quote]

silicone is what is used to hold the tank together. get aquarium silicone. i have sand in every one of my tanks and no problems. just dont have fish that are really skittish and stir the sand up and into the filter intake of make sure your intake inst too close to the bottem. if you clean ur tank with a syphon u just have to skim the surface for the sh*t and sometimes just a bit into the sand but its not as bad as people make it out to be. if it was i wouldnt have 6 tanks with sand in them lol much easier for syphoning then gravel and you can SEE when it needs to be cleaned rather then it all building up inbetween the gravel.

some of the pics didnt look like u had a background but i prefer black backgrounds the best because it makes the fish stand out really nice for pics

hope i helped 
Dan

you deffinatly need more realistic looking plants from a place like Dollarama and you have too many rocks on the bottem IMO. that red plant in the left back corner really has to go LOL


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## Mattones (Jul 9, 2006)

The two plants on the right hand side look kinda odd to me (seems as if they were bought from a dollar store lol) and the big red one sorta looks nice in the corner. I am thinking of adding more taller plants and keeping them in the back but agan I dunno. I am thinking of buying a floating plastic plant for my tank.

The rock layout seems decent but i do think there is just one i can take out maybe the biggest one on the right hand side or the closest one to the wood.


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