Help with aquascaping

[tommyk]

Hi everyone,

I have a 4foot by 1 foot by 1.5 foot deep freshwater community tank. The tank has been running for 2 to 3 months after the cycle completed.

My stock is as follows.
1 bristlenose Pleco
5 cory cats
3 mollies
5 buenos aires tetras
12 neon tetras
And 1 mistery snail (that has just appeared)

I have fine gravel substrate and two pieces of driftwood.
I have some plastic plants and a couple of small fake rocks.

I also have a small java moss and a couple of pieces of elodea densa growing in the tank.

The tank at the minute doesn't look terrible IMO but I would like to add a sense of depth to it. I have a few more plants that I bought recently but I don't have names for them. Just picked them up in a petstore. ( I'll post pics later)

I'm not a natural at this aquascaping and would welcome any suggestions.

I'll post a pic of the tank in a few minutes.

Thanks in advance

 

[tommyk]

This is the tank as it is

 

[FishBoy185]

I would take out the orange and red plants IMO. they don't quite give the tank a natural feel to it. I would then plant it with live plants only. Have you considered sand instead of gravel? I used to have gravel but when I changed to sand it was the best thing I've ever done. My tank looks amazing now. And it looks more natural with sand.

 

[tommyk]

Plant 1

Plant 2

Plant 3

Plant 4

 

[tommyk]

Thanks fishboy185.

I will take out them plants tomorrow ( GF might go mad she likes them ones)

I'm not to sure about changing to sand seems like a lot of work.

One thing I'm concerned about with real plants is that my lighting wouldn't be the best. All I have at the minute is 1 four foot fluorescent tube over the tank and wouldn't be in a position to change it at the moment. I've seen a lot of people on the site paying a fortune for lights.

Has anybody any experience in growing plants in pots


I also have a few pieces of green slate I'm wondering how these would look

 

[FishBoy185]

For me, I always thought sand was intimidating and hard. But actually its pretty smooth and easy. I'd recommend pool filter sand which you can buy at your local pool supply store or home depot. Its not really dirty at all. You put it in a bucket and rinse it a couple times and put it in your tank. And it goes straight to the bottom because its a heavier sand unlike other sands you can buy so It won't damage your filters. I'd definitely look into Current USA Satellite LEDs on Amazon. There only $116 and put out some to a lot of light for most plants. If you won't be able to afford the LEDs then you can always go to your local fish store and buy a Flouresent bulb specifically for plants. As for the slate, its all up to you. If you want a more natural look then I would go with Drift wood and some Medium sizes rocks along with some plants. I would also get a black backround to make your Decor and fish pop out more.