ArtesiaWells
Aquarium Advice Addict
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2012
- Messages
- 1,392
It's Time to Start Thinking About Aquascaping & Theming Our 60 Gallon Goldie Tank...
I realize it's not the customary thing to do -- that is, adding decor, foliage and doing aquascaping -- once fish are in a tank and comfortable, but because our budget was simply wiped out after the last tank crash we sustained, we had to scrape up enough just to get it up and running again (before it cracked). What we ended up buying was natural-colored pebble substrate (we had shades of blue in the last tank, which was "pirate ship" themed) that looks like this:
Top Fin® Polished Pebbles - 2 lbs - Gravel & Sand - Fish - PetSmart
And because my INITIAL intention was to make this a natural-themed habitat (which my wife doesn't like for some reason) even with plastic flora, we bought one of these:
Top Fin® Grey Tree Root Ornaments - Decorations - Fish - PetSmart (not this one exactly, but one that looks like a real "tree trunk" sitting upright)
We put the tree trunk ornament in the left corner and added THIS to the right corner when we started to think we would go with an ASIAN theme because of the goldfish we're keeping:
Petco Asian Gazebo Aquatic Décor at PETCO
My wife did some aquascaping, and created a little "swirling garden" leading from the gazebo pictured above, cutting out pieces of this:
Marineland® Boxwood Plant Mat - Decorations - Fish - PetSmart
Now -- behind the tree trunk ornament in the left corner, we placed one tall green plant like this:
MARINELAND® Cabomba and Ambulia Artificial Plants - Decorations - Fish - PetSmart
As well as in the right corner behind the Asian gazebo, and also in the right corner, we placed this, to bring in some of the red from the gazebo:
Top Fin® Ludwigia Plastic Plant - Decorations - Fish - PetSmart
Aside from these pieces, we added some small, "spiky" kinds of plants that peek out of the holes in the tree stump, such as:
Top Fin® Aquarium Mini Plants - Decorations - Fish - PetSmart (the ones with red and green)
Top Fin® Mini Hairgrass Plastic Plant - Decorations - Fish - PetSmart
Aside from the two 18" bubble bars going across the back of the tank, side by side so they create a near wall-to-wall curtain of bubbles, that's it for decor right now. Just last night, my wife picked this up:
Top Fin® Three-Arch Bridge Ornament - Decorations - Fish - PetSmart
As we saw this bridge being used in one of Petsmart's demo tanks they staged online for a goldfish/Asian setup; I haven't put it in the tank yet, and I was thinking of placing it kind of over the "winding garden" that kind of snakes into the middle of the tank, leading from the Asian gazebo. So, the bridge would kind of go over the garden right in the center of the tank...
Here's my problem: We are completely unsure what kind of "theme" we're going with here, and we definitely know we need better lighting to show the fish and the decor off (the fluorescent lamps included in the hoods of the new Marineland 60 gallon we just set up are AWFUL, casting a sickly kind of greenish, cold hue to the water) as well as some kind of background on the tank to add dramatics and illusion of depth. I would like some assistance with aquascaping ideas based on what we have in there now, and what we should presumably go with...any input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
First of all: HERE is the tank I was talking about that we noticed on Petsmart's site, and which caught our attention for design inspiration:
Petsmart.com - Sale: Fish: Top Fin® 55 Gallon Starter Kit
AND
55 Gallon Fish Tank » Top Fin® 55 Gallon Starter Kit | PetSmart
You can see where they staged/placed the bridge we just recently acquired towards the right corner of that tank -- not sure how I like that, but they are suggesting this bridge CAN be used in an Asian-type design. In the center, they have that kind of "Buddha" statue and then off to the left is a dragon bubbler (we decided against this decoration because my wife wanted to go more "Zen" and relaxing with the Asian decor). I do like how they have an injection of red throughout the aquarium in terms of plants, and I believe they have a black background on the tank. Further, the gravel they're using in this picture is exactly the kind of natural pebble substrate we have in ours, so that would be a fit, I suppose...
Here are my thoughts/questions: First of all, does it make sense to use this kind of bridge pictured in the tank images above and which we just purchased in an ASIAN THEMED setup? To me, it kind of looks like a bridge you'd see connecting, perhaps, two castles together if you were going with the castle theme; speaking of that, THESE pieces really intrigued me if we were going to tear the setup we have in there now down and just start over, but they're RIDICULOUSLY expensive:
Penn Plax Large Magical Castle Aquarium Ornament at PETCO
Penn Plax South Castle Aquarium Décor at PETCO
My thought was that, as I said, we could place two of these pieces in the middle of the tank with the bridge we have now "connecting" them, and the remainder of the tank would be all plastic plants...I just don't know if I want to go with the expense of doing the castle theme or if it's too "childish." Your thoughts?
Okay, so my next question involves the little red Asian gazebo piece I cited above and if that "meshes" with the tree stump ornament that's in the left corner of the tank right now; is the tree stump piece something that could "go" with an Asian theme? Perhaps we could move the tree stump off the extreme left of the tank, a bit more to the right and more "off-center" and use that as more of a focal point (not using the bridge then) with lots of plants then in the tank and the gazebo still off on the right, but something doesn't "flow" to me when I think of that...
Ideally, I wanted to do (fake) driftwood pieces, logs, rock caves, etc. which are also sold at these chain stores for the more "natural" setup, but my wife doesn't want it, and would rather go with either the Zen/Asian design or MAYBE consider the expense of beginning again and buying the castles...the thought of the "Asian" habitat intrigued me, as that's where the goldfish call their native habitat, but of course you wouldn't see Asian gazebos under the water in the rivers and lakes they inhabit...
What are your opinions on aquascaping/theming this tank? The aquarium is ridiculously narrow and more tall than long, so I can't fit much in terms of heavy, bulky pieces of decor. We barely got the tree stump ornament in there...but I am more concerned with continuing the Asian/Zen theme and incorporating the tree stump element somehow (or not), or scrapping the whole thing and going with the "connected castles" as I mentioned (though we really don't have a budget for this and would like to make what we already have work).
Then, the question becomes...how do you successfully aquascape with plants and such so that the design "flows" and looks "built up" with lush bushes and plants in back and smaller ones up front? I've just NEVER been good at this...
If anyone could assist with any of these elements, lending insight, opinion and/or perspective, please feel free to indulge with your thoughts in this thread!
Thank you, in advance...
I realize it's not the customary thing to do -- that is, adding decor, foliage and doing aquascaping -- once fish are in a tank and comfortable, but because our budget was simply wiped out after the last tank crash we sustained, we had to scrape up enough just to get it up and running again (before it cracked). What we ended up buying was natural-colored pebble substrate (we had shades of blue in the last tank, which was "pirate ship" themed) that looks like this:
Top Fin® Polished Pebbles - 2 lbs - Gravel & Sand - Fish - PetSmart
And because my INITIAL intention was to make this a natural-themed habitat (which my wife doesn't like for some reason) even with plastic flora, we bought one of these:
Top Fin® Grey Tree Root Ornaments - Decorations - Fish - PetSmart (not this one exactly, but one that looks like a real "tree trunk" sitting upright)
We put the tree trunk ornament in the left corner and added THIS to the right corner when we started to think we would go with an ASIAN theme because of the goldfish we're keeping:
Petco Asian Gazebo Aquatic Décor at PETCO
My wife did some aquascaping, and created a little "swirling garden" leading from the gazebo pictured above, cutting out pieces of this:
Marineland® Boxwood Plant Mat - Decorations - Fish - PetSmart
Now -- behind the tree trunk ornament in the left corner, we placed one tall green plant like this:
MARINELAND® Cabomba and Ambulia Artificial Plants - Decorations - Fish - PetSmart
As well as in the right corner behind the Asian gazebo, and also in the right corner, we placed this, to bring in some of the red from the gazebo:
Top Fin® Ludwigia Plastic Plant - Decorations - Fish - PetSmart
Aside from these pieces, we added some small, "spiky" kinds of plants that peek out of the holes in the tree stump, such as:
Top Fin® Aquarium Mini Plants - Decorations - Fish - PetSmart (the ones with red and green)
Top Fin® Mini Hairgrass Plastic Plant - Decorations - Fish - PetSmart
Aside from the two 18" bubble bars going across the back of the tank, side by side so they create a near wall-to-wall curtain of bubbles, that's it for decor right now. Just last night, my wife picked this up:
Top Fin® Three-Arch Bridge Ornament - Decorations - Fish - PetSmart
As we saw this bridge being used in one of Petsmart's demo tanks they staged online for a goldfish/Asian setup; I haven't put it in the tank yet, and I was thinking of placing it kind of over the "winding garden" that kind of snakes into the middle of the tank, leading from the Asian gazebo. So, the bridge would kind of go over the garden right in the center of the tank...
Here's my problem: We are completely unsure what kind of "theme" we're going with here, and we definitely know we need better lighting to show the fish and the decor off (the fluorescent lamps included in the hoods of the new Marineland 60 gallon we just set up are AWFUL, casting a sickly kind of greenish, cold hue to the water) as well as some kind of background on the tank to add dramatics and illusion of depth. I would like some assistance with aquascaping ideas based on what we have in there now, and what we should presumably go with...any input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
First of all: HERE is the tank I was talking about that we noticed on Petsmart's site, and which caught our attention for design inspiration:
Petsmart.com - Sale: Fish: Top Fin® 55 Gallon Starter Kit
AND
55 Gallon Fish Tank » Top Fin® 55 Gallon Starter Kit | PetSmart
You can see where they staged/placed the bridge we just recently acquired towards the right corner of that tank -- not sure how I like that, but they are suggesting this bridge CAN be used in an Asian-type design. In the center, they have that kind of "Buddha" statue and then off to the left is a dragon bubbler (we decided against this decoration because my wife wanted to go more "Zen" and relaxing with the Asian decor). I do like how they have an injection of red throughout the aquarium in terms of plants, and I believe they have a black background on the tank. Further, the gravel they're using in this picture is exactly the kind of natural pebble substrate we have in ours, so that would be a fit, I suppose...
Here are my thoughts/questions: First of all, does it make sense to use this kind of bridge pictured in the tank images above and which we just purchased in an ASIAN THEMED setup? To me, it kind of looks like a bridge you'd see connecting, perhaps, two castles together if you were going with the castle theme; speaking of that, THESE pieces really intrigued me if we were going to tear the setup we have in there now down and just start over, but they're RIDICULOUSLY expensive:
Penn Plax Large Magical Castle Aquarium Ornament at PETCO
Penn Plax South Castle Aquarium Décor at PETCO
My thought was that, as I said, we could place two of these pieces in the middle of the tank with the bridge we have now "connecting" them, and the remainder of the tank would be all plastic plants...I just don't know if I want to go with the expense of doing the castle theme or if it's too "childish." Your thoughts?
Okay, so my next question involves the little red Asian gazebo piece I cited above and if that "meshes" with the tree stump ornament that's in the left corner of the tank right now; is the tree stump piece something that could "go" with an Asian theme? Perhaps we could move the tree stump off the extreme left of the tank, a bit more to the right and more "off-center" and use that as more of a focal point (not using the bridge then) with lots of plants then in the tank and the gazebo still off on the right, but something doesn't "flow" to me when I think of that...
Ideally, I wanted to do (fake) driftwood pieces, logs, rock caves, etc. which are also sold at these chain stores for the more "natural" setup, but my wife doesn't want it, and would rather go with either the Zen/Asian design or MAYBE consider the expense of beginning again and buying the castles...the thought of the "Asian" habitat intrigued me, as that's where the goldfish call their native habitat, but of course you wouldn't see Asian gazebos under the water in the rivers and lakes they inhabit...
What are your opinions on aquascaping/theming this tank? The aquarium is ridiculously narrow and more tall than long, so I can't fit much in terms of heavy, bulky pieces of decor. We barely got the tree stump ornament in there...but I am more concerned with continuing the Asian/Zen theme and incorporating the tree stump element somehow (or not), or scrapping the whole thing and going with the "connected castles" as I mentioned (though we really don't have a budget for this and would like to make what we already have work).
Then, the question becomes...how do you successfully aquascape with plants and such so that the design "flows" and looks "built up" with lush bushes and plants in back and smaller ones up front? I've just NEVER been good at this...
If anyone could assist with any of these elements, lending insight, opinion and/or perspective, please feel free to indulge with your thoughts in this thread!
Thank you, in advance...