any advice for doing my first aquascape? ?

[herbzIOW]

I am going to do an aquascape for the first time and would like some advice on all aspects. Substrate, plant feed, cheap co2 systems, lighting etc, etc. I was thinking of stocking with a school of rummy nose tetra and a school of otos.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Let's start out with what size tank you're working with. That'll give us a base point on what to recommend.

 

[herbzIOW]

I have 2 sizes to chose from. 2ft x 1ft x 1ft, and 2 n half ft x 1ft x 18inches

 

[Rivercats]

Always go with the largest tank you can afford but IMO longer shallower tanks are better than shorter taller tanks. You can do much more in longer tanks.

 

[herbzIOW]

Cheers. That's the tank sorted then

 

[CorallineAlgae]

For substrate most people consider Aqua Soil the best but it's so pricy. I love Eco Complete personally.

For lights, either a two lamp T5 or an LED fixture like the Finnex Ray II or similar. I use LEDs on all my planted tanks with great success.

For a filter I'd recommend a canister over any other option. I love the Rena XP series. They're just so easy to service. Most companies make nice canisters these days. Eheim has the best reputation for longevity.

A simple paintball co2 system would be fine although a larger one is preferable to many people, even for smallish tanks. Depends on how far the nearest refill service is to your house or work. I can refill paintball canisters three does down from my house so it was a no brainer. AquaTek has some nice kits for either option. You can get them on Amazon or eBay. The eBay ones come with more add-ons for the same price.

For ferts I'd go with dry ferts from GLA unless you want shrimp. Dry ferts have copper in in the micros that can effect shrimp. Just learned that one this week.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

For aquascaping it all comes down to what look you're gunning for. Check out my build thread to see how I went with it. My favorite tank on the forums in from Castello9 or something like that. There are lots of other people with nicer tanks than what I have. It's only been setup for three weeks as of today, so... Oh! Don't miss Fort's or Rivercat's tanks. They're insanely nice and Betty different from all the others I mentioned.

Once you decide on what style you like giving advice on how to achieve it will be much easier.

 

[Rivercats]

Start with easy to grow plants like water sprite, wisteria, anacharis, myrio's, narrowleaf temple, crypts, swords, dwarf sag. Then anubia and java fern or even some of the various mosses to tie and grow on driftwood. Using root tabs and starting out with a basic fertilizer like Seachem Comprehensive is good to start with.

 

[herbzIOW]

What about a backing for the tank? Would your standard run of the mill backing look stupid? Should I use a 3D background? Or should I not use a background at all??

 

[Rivercats]

Painting the back of your tank looks best IMO. I like some 3D backgrounds but they take up too much room inside the tank that you can use for fish and plants.

 

[herbzIOW]

What colour paint would you use?

 

[Rivercats]

Black actually shows plants and fish off the best as does black substrate. Colors tend to pop against them. And many fish actually color up better with a dark substrate.

 

[herbzIOW]

I have a backing that is black on one side and dark blue on the other to fit this size tank kicking about already.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Post a pic once you get it on. I much prefer black paint myself but I have the same film on my tiny tank. It works ok.

 

[Rivercats]

I have a backing that is black on one side and dark blue on the other to fit this size tank kicking about already.

I had to use the same one too because I had to have 6 guys get the tank in and in place so moving it to paint wasn't an option due to size BUT if you get any water splash between the tank and background you will have to clean it up by removing part of the background or your left with water marks. A royal pain in the behind IMO.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

I had to use the same one too because I had to have 6 guys get the tank in and in place so moving it to paint wasn't an option due to size BUT if you get any water splash between the tank and background you will have to clean it up by removing part of the background or your left with water marks. A royal pain in the behind IMO.

That's the very reason I decided to paint my tank when I redid it. Just hated having to clean it. I was able to shove the film under the top and bottom plastic frames on my tiny tank. Hopefully it helps.

Sucks you couldn't paint it. It must be hard to clean as it's so big.

 

[Rivercats]

The problem is the weight and it takes several men to move it. Now you clean what you can reach! There are 3 water spots on the back of the tank that the plants cover but I know they're there and it drives me nuts!!! If we ever decide to move that tank is getting its back painted.