Very tall aquarium--what do I put at bottom?

[Autumnsky]

Endlers? They are smallish and come in every color and different patterns.

From the info at the beginning, this is 16" x 16". That is a reasonable width for some fish maybe Green Neon Tetras, or other smallish bright Tetra, Neon or Gold Neon. Maybe Zebra aka Emerald Dwarf Rasbora, the CPD, Microdevario kubotai aka Neon Green Rasbora (could be Neon Blue, or Red varieties as well)

A really long, Like 6' DW, with fern and moss and Anubias and some stem plants strategically placed where your certain schools of fish might hang out, attached, could do wonders for the tank in the aforementioned pull one long log out with every thing attached would be a good idea, with a thick mil plastic roll to lay it on. Roll it back up till the next tank clean out.

There are brass metal connectors which could connect the suction wand to the length to reach the bottom, with a pump connected to it for suctioning/vacuuming the substrate.

Sand would probably be best as you have debris land on top and not get stuck in crevices of gravel or stones.

This could really be a challenge.

 

[azmodan]

^Great suggestions! Personally for such a tall tank I might even go bare bottom since you won't really be able to reach down there and it'll also be sitting on the ground so no one will really be looking at the stuff on the bottom necessarily. A powerhead pointing down to send debris up would be ideal. I like the idea of a very tall piece of driftwood covered in mosses, anubias, Java fern, and bolbitis, and you could also use lots of suction cups to attach those plants to the sides of the tank. Post pics when you get it all set up and hardscaped!

 

[Linwood]

I'm making this up but just think about it...

Instead of anything attached down low, put just rocks or sand or something easily maintained at the very bottom.

Get some little decorative pots of some kind that are low profile, and can be hung from above.

Hang them from fine fishing line from the top, at various points and depths, as many or as few as you want.

Now you can individually haul them up to put in root tabs, prune, replace, etc. You can even rearrange on the fly if the spirit moves.

You might even consider oddball shapes, e.g. take a piece of PVC, cap bottom, drill some holes all down the sides randomly, plant something in each that can grow out/down/up, and let it slowly make a big cylinder of growth.

 

[Bloodroot]

I love this thread... it is amusing how excited we all are getting over the ideas! Haha!

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[BigRedsReefs10]

I'm making this up but just think about it...

Instead of anything attached down low, put just rocks or sand or something easily maintained at the very bottom.

Get some little decorative pots of some kind that are low profile, and can be hung from above.

Hang them from fine fishing line from the top, at various points and depths, as many or as few as you want.

Now you can individually haul them up to put in root tabs, prune, replace, etc. You can even rearrange on the fly if the spirit moves.

You might even consider oddball shapes, e.g. take a piece of PVC, cap bottom, drill some holes all down the sides randomly, plant something in each that can grow out/down/up, and let it slowly make a big cylinder of growth.

That sounds awesome, why you got to go giving me ideas?

 

[Autumnsky]

I love this thread... it is amusing how excited we all are getting over the ideas! Haha!

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We are easily excited, lol......CRAZY excited! It is a little bit like solving a fun puzzle.

 

[Cold Canadian]

You could find a drift wood log at a beach that is about 5 feet long. Tie allot plants that will root into it on it than put it in the tank do its like a multi level planter.

 

[Autumnsky]

oops bumped the wrong button.

 

[ScaryFatKidGT]

Some oto cats would work as well. You're just going to have to keep the stocking level very low on this tank due to decreased oxygen. I'd probably add a powerhead and airstone as well to the tank.

Wouldn't an airstone at the bottom airate the whole tank pretty nicely? and the filter.

Kuhlis are great fun! And awesome bottom feeders!!! Make sure to give them as many hiding spots as possible and get 6 of them. The more hiding places you have and the more of them that you have in the tank the more playful they are. One of mine LOVES playing in the bubbles as they flow to the top of the tank. On the drift wood idea, if you could go find and clean at least one seven foot piece, I would drill/dig holes out along it to make mini caves. You could also attach plants/decorations to it with a fish tank safe glue. That way of you need to remove the decorations, for some reason, you remove the drift wood and all the other plants/decorations come with it.

I have also been loving my shrimp. They are wonderful little cleaners and I actually find them climbing all over my tank. You can get some pretty cool red ones... the name is escaping me at the moment.

As for the top I would persoanlly get one large school of xray tetras or something like that. 20-30 of them could make a wonderful display.

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I honestly am drawing a blank on fish you could put in there safely and humanely. Id say fact guppies would be a good choice but Id say no to corys, most tetras, danios, gouramis, most of the common community fish that i can think of. Good luck though, this will be quite the challenge.

corys would only have the bottom but whats wrong with danios or neons?

You could find a drift wood log at a beach that is about 5 feet long. Tie allot plants that will root into it on it than put it in the tank do its like a multi level planter.

Yeah thats what I was thinking, and then maybe light the tank from the side? Get a 72" T5 and glue it to the side? lol

 

[Cold Canadian]

Yeah thats what I was thinking, and then maybe light the tank from the side? Get a 72" T5 and glue it to the side? lol[/QUOTE]

I would suggest not glueing it on. Maybe tape it so it would be easier to change the light bulb if it dies.

 

[neontetra_lover]

Neon tetras make good pets too


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[mariano999]

Or you can put a step stool

 

[kitties102]

You guys are awesome--I've read everything that's been written thus far. My husband really likes the driftwood idea. My husband custom built a base over the weekend. I've attached a picture to show you--I thought it was pretty impressive for his first piece of furniture (it's got plenty of support inside...I hope anyway). We're going to fill it up tonight as a test run for the filter--no fish or decorations yet, but soon! As you can see, we have stairs right behind it, so that's how we'll be reaching in to feed the fish, etc. The pray sign in back may be indicative of the support we will need to get this thing going

 

[FWFishTanks]

Love the placement of the tank and the stand! Tell hubs he did a good job.

 

[Bloodroot]

That is awesome!!!

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[kitties102]

It's up!

Well, we got it up and it's been running successfully for a few weeks or so!
A canister filter is at the bottom with extra long hoses running up and into the tank.
We put a thin layer of black sand on the bottom and then marbles, so that they wouldn't scratch the tank if we had to roll them out.
A few live plants at the bottom.
A bubble machine (I don't know the proper technology) with two of the stick things that the bubbles come out of at the bottom
For fish, we have about 4 small bottom feeders and some tetras and a molly. Most of them seem to like to hang out at the bottom.
We got a long tool from Lowe's--I think it's normally used for painting, and attached a fish net to it with clips, so that's what we use to adjust things at the bottom, which hopefully wont be too often. We stand on the stairs and take the lid off to feed them.
The light is Evo quad clip from Aquatraders 15 " version. It lights all the way to the bottom of the tank well on either the blue or white setting.
Whew!

 

[kitties102]

pics

pics here

 

[Autumnsky]

That is pretty and looks cool.

The marbles, can trap food and poop, so a word of caution for that.

Please keep us posted on the process, good or bad. We are here to help and give you a pat on the back too, lol!