It's Time to Start Thinking About Aquascaping & Theming Our 60 Gallon Goldie Tank...

[ArtesiaWells]

And i made sure the ship was not dead center in the tank, its actually off to the right side more, leaving more open room on the left for the chest and skull and plants to hide my filter intake

Do you not think this would work as a genuine dead-center centerpiece?

 

[Kimlafeiet]

Its that solid black double sided background i bought from petsmart. it comes in a roll and you just buy the length you need. i just cut to fit and taped it to the corners with clear scotch tape.
I didnt paint it because if I want to change the look someday, I didnt want to be stuck with only black background as an option.

 

[ArtesiaWells]

Also:

Can you take a look at the bottom of THIS page:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...ming-our-60-gallon-goldie-tank-248652-10.html

And the top of THIS page:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...ming-our-60-gallon-goldie-tank-248652-11.html

And tell me if any of these spark your interest over the Petco ship we're discussing now (which you bought)...

For some reason, the red and white striped sails on some of these ships scream "childish" and "fake" to me...

 

[ArtesiaWells]

Its that solid black double sided background i bought from petsmart. it comes in a roll and you just buy the length you need. i just cut to fit and taped it to the corners with clear scotch tape.
I didnt paint it because if I want to change the look someday, I didnt want to be stuck with only black background as an option.

Understood. I will look into that at my local Petsmart.

 

[Kimlafeiet]

I did put them in before I had fish in there, but I have pulled them out a couple times to gravel vac under them, with fish in the tank. the fish were fine, just be sure to put them in slowly so you dont squish anyone

 

[ArtesiaWells]

I did put them in before I had fish in there, but I have pulled them out a couple times to gravel vac under them, with fish in the tank. the fish were fine, just be sure to put them in slowly so you dont squish anyone

 

[ArtesiaWells]

While you're glancing at the pics on those pages, let me ask you something else...

What do you make of the "Asian/Zen" thing we were in the midst of building versus the pirate theme? We were going for the "Zen" thing because of the goldfish we're keeping, and the part of the world they originate from...

 

[Kimlafeiet]

The ship is the centerpiece of the tank, but I think its just one of those unspoken rules of decoratig that you should never put a centerpiece dead center. I am a painter, and that same rule applies. Always paint your focal point off to the right or left of the center....just a little.

 

[ArtesiaWells]

The ship is the centerpiece of the tank, but I think its just one of those unspoken rules of decoratig that you should never put a centerpiece dead center. I am a painter, and that same rule applies. Always paint your focal point off to the right or left of the center....just a little.

Point taken.

Kind of like how I placed that bridge ornament in my tank pics kind of off to the left, but yet a bit towards the center? Would you agree?

 

[Kimlafeiet]

I like the 2 piece one with blue and gold coins on the top of the 2nd page and the one on the same page 2nd to the bottom with the skull and crossbones on the torn mast. I dont care for the red striped ones either, they seem too cheesy for me as well.

I like your asian zen theme too. i like the brigde and the bansai trees. the dragon in the petsmart pic is pretty cool too. you could put the trees on either side of the bridge and build up behind the trees with taller plants. maybe some slate pieces.....

 

[Kimlafeiet]

Agree on your brigde placement, it looks good where it is, makes the eye flow across the tank.

 

[Kimlafeiet]

I have a calico ryukin in my coldwater tank that has dark driftwood and slate pieces, and only green plants. its a work in progress, but I think the slate looks good with my goldie, and I think you could add small pieces to an asian zen theme.
This tank really has no theme, but I like the natural look of it.

 

[ArtesiaWells]

I like the 2 piece one with blue and gold coins on the top of the 2nd page and the one on the same page 2nd to the bottom with the skull and crossbones on the torn mast. I dont care for the red striped ones either, they seem too cheesy for me as well.

Thank you very much for taking the time to look over the pics; I, too, am in agreement with you regarding the ones worth looking at and the ones that look cheesy.

I like your asian zen theme too. i like the brigde and the bansai trees. the dragon in the petsmart pic is pretty cool too. you could put the trees on either side of the bridge and build up behind the trees with taller plants. maybe some slate pieces.....

Well, you're not making it any easier for me!!



Do you think the bridge with the Bansai tree next to it would definitely work? Convict, a member participating in this thread, had suggested putting just ONE tree towards the LEFT of the bridge while leaving the other side "open" so it looks as though it's kind of "leading somewhere"; as it is, the fish like to swim through the archways of the bridge all day and night, and they also love to follow along the bridge top as if they're crossing it, pecking at it for food bits...lol...

As for the Petsmart dragon bubbler, yeah, it definitely works in an Asian inspired tank, but my wife doesn't really care for it because she says it kind of works against our "Zen" theme which is supposed to create a more sedate, calming effect; she thinks the dragon looks too "aggressive" for this approach, and even still, that thing looks SHARP and I would worry about my fancies injuring themselves on it...

Hmmm....so the theme choices have come down to:

• Zen/Asian (already in progress)
• Pirate/Shipwreck using the pieces you bought at Petco, or choosing one of the other ones we're discussing in the thread
• Castle/Magical using the bridge I have now and buying the castle pieces to be "connected" by the bridge in the center of the tank

 

[ArtesiaWells]

Agree on your brigde placement, it looks good where it is, makes the eye flow across the tank.

Okay, thanks; so just build up the bridge with the Bonsai plant and plants around it/behind it? What about the Asian gazebo on the other side -- leave that where it is and just build plants around that too? Leave the center of the tank open for additional rockwork/heavy planting?

 

[ArtesiaWells]

I have a calico ryukin in my coldwater tank that has dark driftwood and slate pieces, and only green plants. its a work in progress, but I think the slate looks good with my goldie, and I think you could add small pieces to an asian zen theme.
This tank really has no theme, but I like the natural look of it.

Oh, you have two tanks? Is the cold water one just goldfish?

I like the natural look; in fact, it's what I wanted to go with when we re-started our last 60 gallon after the bacterial infection wiped out the goldies in it and just before it cracked and flooded our house...the wife, for some reason that's beyond me, didn't care for it and thinks it's "boring." I actually had that "tree stump" piece from Petsmart in there, but we took it out because it didn't mesh with the "Zen" thing, and, due in no small part, to everyone's input in this thread.

I had my eye on that fake log/driftwood piece in your cold water tank -- they have it at my local Petsmart...thing looks really sharp for fancy goldfish though, and again I was worried...

 

[Convict2161]

Ok.... I went to Costco and the HUGE bottle of Advil

What have you decided if anything yet? I guess I'm in for the long haul with this thread lol

 

[ArtesiaWells]

Ok.... I went to Costco and the HUGE bottle of Advil

Please, my good friend -- if I and my threads are giving you headaches, I don't want that to happen...I appreciate all your input thus far and wish no ill will towards you...

What have you decided if anything yet? I guess I'm in for the long haul with this thread lol

LOL; no, I have not decided on anything yet -- still just running the tank as you see it in the pics and trying to figure out what theme I want to go with. To make things easier, I suppose I will start a new thread once a theme is decided upon so we can just address the design points there...

What do you make of the pirate/shipwreck thing being discussed over the last couple of pages?

 

[ArtesiaWells]

As I said, D, I don't want to give you headaches with regard to assisting me here -- I just wanted to know if you had a chance to take a look at some of the shipwreck ideas me and Kim have been discussing in the previous pages and what you thought of them versus either the Zen or castle ideas...

 

[ArtesiaWells]

Kim:

Do you have any further thoughts going forward about my situation? Go with the Zen theme being that I already have the bridge and gazebo in place...or, rip it all out and buy the two-piece ship from Petco? Should I consider going the route of the CASTLE theme being that this bridge looks more suited towards a "joining element" between the two castle pieces?

Any way I spin it, I'd be looking at spending a ton of money on this theming -- whether I get the $100 dual pieces for the ship plus all the plants and skulls, etc., or if I get the $100 in castle pieces (plus the plants), or if I even continue with the Zen theme, because it's going to require a TON of money in plants...but the decor is in place, pretty much...

ANY input would be greatly appreciated...

 

[ArtesiaWells]

UPDATE:

Doing some more searching around for sunken ship decor, I stumbled across THESE:

And, the corresponding piece to this, which looks like:

And I also found THIS one piece:

I'm going to dig up some more, but...any thoughts?