Newbie

[dliteya]

My first question.........The picture that I have attached are of some designer stones that are polished........nickel to half dollar in size.......will these be okay to use in a 50gal......with an undergravel filter.......I also have a power filter..........

My second question...........what ideas do you have about covering up or hiding filter tubes and air tubing inside the aquarium and all the cords and equipment on the outside.......the aquarium is used as a room divider so it can be seen from all sides and i am having trouble camouflaging all the equipment inside and out............

thank you for any help you can give me or maybe direct me to another site that can answer these questions for me.

thank you
dedra
newbie

 

[BrianNY]

Hi Dedra and welcome to AA

I always like the idea of using a tank as a room divider. . As far as substrate, I prefer gravel in the 2mm range. Larger gravel makes it too easy for uneaten food to fall between the stones. That's JMO, and a personal preference.

Most people here (myself included), view UGFs as more of a nuisance. The best thing you could do for aesthetics, since your tank is a room divider, is to use a cannister filter. This eliminates the mass of tubing and hoses. They are also the most efficient filters on the market today.

 

[TankGirl]

I agree about the stones, and you don't say how you plan to use them, but I would assume them to be safe and you could decorate your tank with some of them, just not a good choice for substrate.

I am an expert at hiding filter hoses and heaters! There are some silk plants that I use, or driftwood, and in my planted tanks the plants take care of it for me. As far as the outside, you can't hide them but so much, and they need to be accessible for maintenance. I keep a lot of plants at home, too, so I would place a tall plant at the end of the tank where the hoses are, or against the end that is closest to the wall. A canister filter is a plus, because all you'll see is a narrow tube, but no big box hanging on the side.

 

[dliteya]

Thanks for your replies. I was planning on lining the whole bottom with these stones, until I stepped back and thought about it I bought some smaller gravel, plan to put a thin layer on bottom and then put the larger stones just throughout the tank......maybe build up in some places.......I am currently working on adhering some plastic plants onto the bottom of my tubing......which should, hopefully, "surround" the tube all the way to the surface and hide it without interefering with anything else.........It is still a WIP and I am not too awful creative...... :? When I am done, I am going to send in some pics and ask for some constructive criticism. ...need all the ideas I can get!!

 

[Menagerie]

[center:2d114ebdfa] Welcome to AA, dliteya! [/center:2d114ebdfa]

I will third the idea of a canister filter. I use canister filters in my tanks that are 29 gal and up. They are quiet, easy to clean and two hoses go up the tank. All the wires are located at the canister, which can be tucked under the tank.

How large is your tank?

 

[FawnN]

As for all the cords, you can't totally hide them all, but you can make it neater.

I found a plastic tubing with a slit all the way down the tubing so that you can easily slide the cords together, place them inside the tubing and all you see is the plastic tubing instead of all the cords. I hope that made sense. You can find them in any hardware store or even at your LFS.

I will try and take a picture of it tonight to show you exactly what I"m talking about.

 

[dliteya]

I worked all day yesterday on the tank.....getting it cleaned and decorated......I have attached some pictures.......thought i would take a break and come back and tuck the plants around the tubes better and hide the cords......i just got tired messing with it.......(I have two young children and a husband) so i dont have a lot of time that i can devote completely to this tank. I do have time every night for a little while.......but any big, time consuming job has to wait.......thanks for all the help and I am sure I will be back......let me know what you think.......

 

[Corty]

Wow.. looks very nice. Especially like the driftwood.

 

[TankGirl]

I think it looks lovely, too, and I really like the driftwood and the plants - great job!

 

[dliteya]

thanks for taking a look.......I wanted something VERY simple......driftwood, two fake plants and scattered stones.......cant get any simpler than that....

I have in my tank:
2 female black mollies
1 male platy
1 female platy
1 female dalmatian molly

50-60 babies:

20-25 platy
3 (toddler) black mollies
20-25 dalmatian mollies
7 NEWBORNS(about two days old)black mollies

They all seem to like their new home.....lots of places to hide!!

 

[verucaproduce]

Just wanted to say that I think you did a beautiful job!

 

[Menagerie]

Simple is good! Beautiful tank