Newest member of the family came home yesterday... Post pics of your fish too..

[S13Teddy]

I've had all of those neons for a long time. They were there when I established my tank.... lol.

[Jager]

teddy that is a hella clean tank. your aquascaping work is very impressive , the best ones make things look natural and emphasize the fish, youve done that very well.

[Beancooker]

I agree. The tank looks badass. What kind of wood did you use? I need to find a piece like that.

[Jdoggmr2]

I agree with the weights....From experience they are awesome jumpers.

[MasterZenki]

Arrawana pwns all pet fish....i wanted to get one but they are way to damn expensive

[x240xdrifter]

Heres my Fish tank as of right now, I tried to obtain the natural look as best as possible, I hate seeing thoses really fake stupid objects and multi-colored gravel in tanks.









I really wish I saved up for like a 20 gal. tank or something, 10 gal. tank is a nice little set-up, but I would love to have a good sum of fish, and 3-4 fish doesnt cut it for me, oh well

[S13Teddy]

I agree. The tank looks badass. What kind of wood did you use? I need to find a piece like that.

Its a piece of driftwood. I actually went around all of the neighborhoods in my area looking for stuff to put in the tank, and one house had that piece laying under a bush. I grabbed it really fast and ran. lol. The smaller piece my friend gave to me. He legally grabbed that one in San Diego.

You should go ahead and fill that tank up to the top... and also, if I were you I'd put the heater at the bottom of the tank horizontally. That way (A) its more efficient (B) when the water gets heated, heated water rises, and it will rise to the sensors and they will think that your tank is at the right temp when it actually isn't (C) when you do water changes you wont have to worry about turning it off because its at the bottom where theres still water.

[x240xdrifter]

Like So...?



I never thought about that heater thing, thank you for that, and the water level thing, the book told me 1-3 in., glad its ok to fill it up, it was sooo annoying when trying to sleep. Should I still fill it up more? Presonally I think that makes a huge difference in presentation, thanks again

any more tips or criquettes?

[Jager]

you can fill any tank to the black plastic line covering the glass itself. the tank is made to withstand that amount of pressure.

your aquascaping you may want to add wood or other items to give more hiding areas for the fish. i am a fan of the minimalist designs as well, but use the plants and pagoda to make your heater disappear and the down tube for your filter blend in if you can. not only will it help with the cleaning (the plant plastic pieces grab detritus and can be yanked out and washed real fast) it makes it look more natural to the eye. they also make plants that suction cup to the wall itself that you can put over the down tube and look extremely natural, or a piece of granite rock etc. its partially up to you.

best example i can give you is this photo versus a video.

here is the vid. notice the powerheads and their cords very obvoiusly on the side of the tank and the cords obstructing the view and the fish themselves.here is the same area after i swapped in one better powerhead and reran the cording.

in this photo you can see one newer powerhead in the top right side and then one in the bak covered in algae of various types, I did this intentionally to help blend the powerhead easier

its hard to easily explain, but most people abhor seeing the mechanicals of a fish tank and prefer to see the fish, if you can blend your equipment in then usually everyone is happier with the tank.

disregarding the powerhead on the side of the tank in this photo (its a friends tank i took photos for) there is a whole mess of pvc tubing and overflows bulkheads and such running in this photo. I cant spot them but i can promise you they are there as hes running this beast skimmer behind it (its 6ft tall) and the other support equip.

from the front this is what his main tank looks like (he has a small 40 gallon coral frag tank next to it also plumbed in.



takashi amano is a great guy to google up, he is a grand master of the freshwater planted tanks , and hes the very definition of JDM tytness for freshwater

[Jookmasta]

had a beta...............choked on one of the stones............swam real fast in circles and then floated to the surface............no more fish after that.

[S13Teddy]

Dang Jager, your tank is Abosuletly amazing. Are you on any fish forums?

As for the heater, if you look in my tank, I think its kinda hard to see the heater, because I've hidden it at the bottom within my plants. Its much better.

[Jager]

yeah, i used to run a puffer forum and i worked on the wetwebmedia.com crew for a while on and off, they published some of my stuff in their online magazine. i am on WWM's forum as well as a local SW forum for the washington Dc area (best large group to join for my area even though its 4 hrs away).

as for other major forums thereeftank.com, and reefcentral.com are the two biggies. I am hardcore fish guy, and will prolly always have a tank of some kind. its just too relaxing to watch to say no to. having the extra money would be nice at times though. LOL

computers and fish are my expert areas, im working on getting my knowledge of cars expanded to match :P

teddy, again your tank is very well done, especially considering its size. the smaller the tank the much more difficult it becomes to aquascape. heck ive got a 4ft by 1.5ft box to work with so hiding stuff becomes easier as less real estate overall gets taken up.

not that it would probably be used much, but i can offer my services as far as fish care diseases etc to anyone who needs it. but seeing as fish dont get turbocharged i doubt itll probably be needed much

[S13Teddy]

Thanks again.I work at a LFS, so hopefully I will be able to either get a larger tank, or bring more goodies into this one. Currently I only have a 20 gallon which is the one pictured.

I am no where near being pro, but I try my best to model after ADA Aquascapers. Their tanks are gorgeous. The main tank at my LFS is really beautiful as well. If I ever have trouble I'll let you know, and perhaps you can help? I was thinking of starting a nano reef tank for my desk, but I'm not entirely sure of the difficulty of keeping it stable, especially if its only a few gallons.

[Jager]

i work at an LFs as well, it keeps the costs almost manageable :P

ADA used to build tanks that were at least in name sponsored and approved by takashi amano, if you can get one, you would be very VERY lucky, and they sell for LOADS to serious enthusiasts, the last 20 gallon i saw went for 350 bucks it was a rimless one and was stunning.

if you plan to do SW, the idiom is go big or go home. meaning that the more water volume you have the easier it is for the system to absorb mistakes, and deal with issues. the smaller Sw tanks are total PITA's to work with and maintain, due to how tight the water parameters HAVE to be kept. even evaporated water can kill everything as the salt in the water doesnt evap, so the salinity rises very quickly. most Nano tanks are either sparsly stocked with fish (like 1 tiny goby or a goby shrimp pair) or have no fish and are invert coral tanks as they pollute less. if you have to try it, get a drilled tank, or an overflow kit and a bigger tank to put under it for more overall water volume. you can also store your heaters and other equip down there. or get a nano and a bigger tank and hook them together. keep delicate fish in the smaller tank and whatever others you want in the bigger one.

to give you an idea of cost for a 10 gallon Sw kit this is what id likely spend myself at My cost.

tank 10 buckslighting 100 bucks t5 or a single 70w HQI /metal halidesubstrate and rocks about 100 bucks

now per week i need about 10 gallons of salt mix, and need to do 50+% water changes at least every other day. if i could put a skimmer on it then i could lessen that, but the skimmers for small tanks can be pricey, or are DIY and can be finiky, or ugly (a 4ft pvc air driven skimmer isnt exactly easy to hide.)

so id feel comfortable selling you a kit with everything to get it cycling at about 250ish for ten gallons.

for 600 bucks i can start you with a basic 75 gallon setup. or for 400ish a 55 gallon.

my current 75 system i spent 250 on the tank had the stand built custom so it could handle anything id ever put on it (3/4 solid pine boards and a 2x4 ladder bottom frame) wood was 150ish and we spent 24 hrs building it.

200 for the skimmer used, (it sells for 700 without the pump)pump was 110 bucks 100 bucks for DIY 3000gph modified maxijet powerheads which keep the water current moving (i have about 11000 gph in that tank current wise at any given time. its all chaotic so the fish can swim fairly easily, but i get very little detritus buildup.)

330 for atcost 6 bulb tek fixture including bulbs, (sells for 440 without the 6 bulbs bulbs are 20 a pop.)

spent well over 200 on the rock at literal cost or sold to me as base rock.Sw mix i get 200gallon boxes for 35 bucks my cost

phosphate reactor was 50 bucks had to buy a pump for that too. pump was 40

substrate was 15 bucks a 20lb bag, i got 3 for the main tank and 2 for the refugium section of the sump underneath.

then theres all the various chemicals, water purifiers, food , and maintenance to keep it up.

its a HUGE initial investment. even at wholesale or a bit above, but do it right the first time, or have to start all over and rebuy the expensive equipment after buying the crap stuff. either way its gonna be expensive.

id ask at your LFs if they can put you on the maintenance team, or if you can setup a display tank at the store that you care for first. just so that the initial cost and burden of upkeep is on the store, and you can get the right ways to do things on their dime and not yours. nothing sucks worse then having 1000 bucks in stoney corals go up in smoke cause the temp jumped a degree or the calcium dropped a bit or the skimmer didnt get cleaned out fast enough. or losing all your fish due to poor shipping or such. nothign ever happens fast in SW that is good

if you already feel fairly comfortable with what your doing as far as Sw, give me an idea of what your tryin to do, and the budget your working with as well as what you want the tank to be when it matures (ie reef tank with soft corals, hard corals (sps or LPS) or fish only.

sorry for the long *** post, if i need to i can do a cliffs notes version.

[x240xdrifter]

Ok so you guys have helped me out alot, made me realize I can do things that I thought you couldnt do, so I rearranged my tank to "hide" as much as possible, and the results were freaking awesome, when I did my water change, I went outside in search of some things to improve my aquascape, and I did not come empty handed.

It went from this :



To this:







Now it doesnt rival anything like you guys, but its a huge step in the ight direction, I think I might go back outside later insearch of smaller rocks and etc.

more tips and criquettes would be greatly appreciated

[Jager]

add more water, literally fill the tank to the black plastic line on the glass. you will be fine and it will be virtually silent.

a word of warning about adding things from outside, non porus rocks like granite and such can be washed off well and generally be ok, but any rock like pumice or sandstone is NOt generally a good idea unless from an approved area, as they can absorb chemicals and pesticides an d leech them out years later.

woods and sticks are also not the best choices unless you boil them at the least first to remove any tannins or chemicals.

i would try to find some small rocks or get some low plants to put in the front so that its not a clear view all the way back, but still is visible, think liek bushes infront of a house.

GL, it gets addicting to aquascape, and i recommend taking a photograph or two when you have it how you like it, so you can reconstruct it again if need be as close as possible.

[S13Teddy]

Thanks for the info Jager. I've never done a SW tank and honestly don't know too much about them. My store is mainly focused on freshwater tanks, although they do have a smaller SW section.

I knew that smaller tanks were a pita to work with because of stability, but I wasn't sure on how bad it was. I'll have to gain some more experience with SW from the store, then perhaps run a 12g Nano someday...we'll see.

Ok so you guys have helped me out alot, made me realize I can do things that I thought you couldnt do, so I rearranged my tank to "hide" as much as possible, and the results were freaking awesome, when I did my water change, I went outside in search of some things to improve my aquascape, and I did not come empty handed.

Honestly, it looks a heck of a lot better. What I learned also is if you put a backround in the back of the tank, it will look cleaner (since you can't see the electrical cords and stuff) What I did for the beginning is I put two pieces of black construction paper along the back. It looked much better. For my new tank I went and bought specially made tank paper. Its just a personal preference, but I think it looks much better.

Also as Jager said, you can fill it up all the way to the brim, like on mine (you can clearly see how full it is on mine)

[otterman]

A fish? Are you kidding me? That thing looks like a big guppy.

Unless you buy a shark then it's nothing to brag or be excited about. And by shark i mean a ****in shark with teeth that can eat a person. Not those little "sharks" you can buy in the mall that catfish can eat.

Any pet where it's living space is cooler then the actual pet, is lame.

[x240xdrifter]

your right, aquascaping is uite addictive, I only wish I saved up for a 20 gl. tank, I feel that the 10 gl. tank is very limiting, not just in fish, but in what you can do space wise. I'll be playing around with this, to see how it goes, apparently my platy did not like the change, too much stress I guess, shes not active at all, and hides in the plants real low, the others (molly and tiger barb) seem to like it. And just out of curiousity, can you do a saltwater set-up with a 10 gal. tank?

[S13Teddy]

Having a 20 is nice, but there is still plenty you can do with a 10...



Depending on where and what kind of tank you get, it should not cost a whole lot to upgrade. A 20g tank at Petsmart will only cost about 25 bucks after taxes. If you get another 10g filter and use the one you have, you'd be doing alright, then for lighting, if you're planning on just running fake plants, you can get one of the PetsMart hoods and lights.... But I definetly think you can do a lot with a 10 gallon...

[Beancooker]

Wow, this thread has turned out to be cool.

Jager, the last pics of the tank posted were awesome! The coral that is growing in there is amazing.

x240xdrifter, nice change in your tank. Looks good.

Okay, here's a question, I am under the impression that the tannins in wood are good for the fish. It will keep the ph levels low which is good for my fish, and will help with his slime coat, and overall health.

Any advice?

BTW, What the heck is the store you guys work at? LHS?

[Jager]

LFS = local fish store. generic term for the pet store in your area.

depending on the fish you have IE the arowana, yes the tannins can be helpful, however, if your fish prefer higher ph tannins are bad, and tannins can turn the water very brown. the woods that you buy in fish stores are boiled/bleached most of the time. its mostly dangerous because wood absorbs pesticides, metals, and various crap that is bad for everything. it can lead to things dying unexplained.

the tank with all the corals at the end is a really nice friends tank. id love to have his space and fish, but i like puffers to much to give them up for some invertebrates and corals that may get munched on. his tanks also been running for 10+ years. in a form or another. the tank is a real reef in the sense that the corals have glued the rock together and formed one massive base.

bean id love to see some fake or real large wood sections in the water and maybe some large root style branch structures for your arowana. it will break up the tank well, but it is easy to clean and remove if need be.

[S13Teddy]

BTW, What the heck is the store you guys work at? LHS?

LOL.

For my wood, I soaked it for 2 months in a huge bucket to wiegh it down, then I boiled it. I am almost positive it's good now...

Bean, is your tank just sand and water?

[x240xdrifter]

ok guys, here is my third and final design, and I must say wow, I love it, I think it looks great, not to brag but ya haha. Fish love it too, they are swiming all over the place.





Who would think by adding more stuff, it would make your tank look bigger, and way better, now all I need is to get some background, I'll go with black I think, or mirror stuff, I'm running to a pet store tomorrow, whats some things every fish owner must have to maintain a good healthy tank?

[Jager]

fill the tank the rest of the way :P

basic tools of the trade, a spare filter pad, net, extra fish food emergency packet, and a basic water testing kit (get a liquid one NOT a strip tester) the ph ammonia, nitrite and nitrate all in one kits are usually under 30 bucks.

[Beancooker]

bean id love to see some fake or real large wood sections in the water and maybe some large root style branch structures for your arowana. it will break up the tank well, but it is easy to clean and remove if need be.

A few pieces are going to be found this weekend. However, I have to be careful with what goes in. I am bringing home a stingray in the next 2 weeks or so, and can't have anything that can hurt his stomach.

I have a lot more to say, but if I keep typing, I'll be late for work.

[zachary29]

ah i used to have an fish tank with glass fish in it for a couple years. they were cool though, you could see thier brains and digestive system. this thread makes me want to go out and buy another set up

[Dittoz7]

Your Fish Thanks You!!!

[Jager]

GL with the stingray, find pieces of wood that are mostly in the water column and only have 1 or 2 pieces touching the bottom. as for size, i do hope you lay out a few extra feet somewhere to go bigger, even the FW stingrays get fairly big (8+ inch disc) and enjoy as much floor space as possible. you may consider a very low top to bottom tank and long and wide setup with a mostly enclosed lid out of Plexiglases for down the road.

feed that arowana like its a fat kid at a carnival the hour or so before the stingray goes in. it'll be alot less likely to pick on the ray when you add it.

oh and or

[S13FX]

I have a spider does that count?