Help with a new show tank!

[raverain]

OK...I am about five years into the hobby. I have had many tanks setup and rearranged, broken down, recycled, etc., but I am going for my first freshwater show piece. I currently have a 40 and a 20 gallon community that have been doing well for years and although they have atractive and effective aquascaping, I am looking for something that will take someone's breath away. I am getting a 110 gallon tall tank setup fully ready to go in the next two days but I am looking for some ideas for aquascaping. I'll start by giving you my ideas and pray this knowledgeable forum can perfect them. Thanks in advance!

I want this to be a community tank consisting of mostly small schooling fish and clean up crews. However, I don't want to turn this into a live plant tank as I have many of them in the past. I would like to use plastic and silk plants as well as driftwood, large stones and some self-made caves. I was hoping to sylicone some large stones together and cascade my substrete down from back to front over top of these in order to get a layered look. Then I wanted to form caves from flat rocks syliconed together and place large pieces of driftwood around. I wanted to use tall and realistic silk/plastic plants throughout the tank, maybe syliconed to many of the rocks to make it look as natural as possible. All my other tanks have only had plastic plants, though, and have been minimilistic on depth and layering. Any and all suggestions would be appreciated. Here are some topics that quickly come to mind: Should I use a background (none of my other tanks have one)? Should I use specific rocks for layering? Where is the best place to find rock other than the [acronym:41b1e863ee="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:41b1e863ee]? Are silk and plastic plants from the Wal-Mart crafts section any diffrent from Pet-Smart brand "aquascaping" fake plants? Is siliconing gravel to the back of a tall tank too much weight?

Again, thanks in advance! I have enjoyed reading these forums and hopefully you guys can help me to turn this tank into a real show piece!

[BrianNY]

Welcome to AA raverain.

I'm sure your idea of a "knock your sox off" 110g tank can be done. Largely, it's your imagination that will become present. These are just some of my thoughts of what you mentioned.

Silk plants are fine as long as they contain no metals. I wouldnt silicon them to anything because it will make cleaning them very difficult. A background will probably show the effect more prominently than without one. I also think that black or blue tends to add depth and would look better than gravel.

You can create the layered look using clear mylar strips. I think this is better than rocks the gravel has a tendency to eventually level out. The strips can be cut and formed in any width and will keep the sculpted look.

As for rocks, as long as they are aquarium safe your imagination is the limit.

Good luck and lets see some pics when done.

[raverain]

Thanks for the advice! Explain these mylar strips to me...I have never heard of this product. I have the dimensions of the tank now: 48" width, 18" depth, 32" height. 32" of height is a lot of vertical room to fill so I definitely want to have a layered, sculpted look. I plan on peeling off the natural looking background and spraypainting the back of the tank black or dark blue. Anyone have experience on which of these works better? I know that the colors always seem darker once the tank is stocked so I was wondering if a lighter color of blue would be better. Again, any and all suggestions appreciated!

[crazycat]

caveat--this is all just my opinion!

i totally think you're on the right track with using natural materials. i definitely prefer rocks and driftwood over the "fakey" decor that a lot of fish stores sell. definitely playing up the illusion of depth is key in creating a beautiful tank. think about the overall compostion, leading the viewer's eye across the tank. placement (foreground and background) and height, and even the direction in which different object point can create a kind of visual flow in the tank. my one questuon would be, have you thought of any showcase fish? i know you meantioned small groups of schooling fish and cleanup crews, but it might be nice to have a couple of larger, showcasey fish, to complement the aquascape.

please post pics! i'd love to see how it comes together!

[raverain]

Thanks for the advice! I have changed tank dimensions as I believe the 100 tall is a little ridiculous putting a lot of thought into it. I am going back in forth between 4 different people looking at everything between a 30 and 70 [acronym:854c573902="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:854c573902]. combo set to a 150 custom. Regardless, I'll have a tank ready to start aquascaping by the end of the weekend. After looking at all my options I decided the 100 tall just wasn't enough ground level space to accomplish what I want (even the 70/30 combo I'm looking at has more floor space). As far as showcase fish, I have a yellow-tailed spiny eel in my 40 that has gotten really big and healthy. He is very active and works great as a bottom feeder, so I was thinking of moving him over. Any other suggestions for showcasers based on what I already want/have? I plan on turning my 40 gallon into a gourami tank (mostly what is in it now anyway) so I want to avoid gouramis. Thanks again for any and all replies!