Decorating my tank

[Dannyid]

Hello all, ive got a 90 litre tank, which I've had for about a year, and I'm unsure how to have it set up, at the moment ive got my taller plants along the back wall a coconut shell in the centre ( my upside-down catfish's house) and smaller leafy plants either sides of that,





I am happy with the way it looks but I'm not sure if I should scrap the coconut shell and buy a load of bog wood, I've also got a number of ornaments that I've bought over the year, but I've decided I liked the "natural" look, and as my tank is taller then it is wide they take up abit to much space.

Thought I'd ask you guys for your opinions

 

[LyndaB]

It looks somewhat symetrical right now, which doesn't appear to be what you're looking for.

If that's all you have to work with, and they are fake plants, I would do the following with your back row:

Take the purple one and put it into the back lefthand corner of tank, about 4 inches from the left side of tank, not touching the walls of the tank at all.

Take the one that's to the right of the purple one and put in about 2 inches in front of the purple one and about 2 inches to the left of it.

Take the bright green one that's on the far right and put it to the right of the purple one and maybe 2 inches more towards the front.

Take what's now on the far left back wall and place a few inches from your other tall plants so that you have somewhat of a diamond pattern if you look straight down on them.

Small row:

Move the one that's on the left now just a little so that it's closer to the tall plants. Leave the shell or stone that's next to it pretty much where it is.

Take the coconut shell and move it more to the right and more towards the front.

Take the two small low plants and place them to the right of the coconut shell. Take that last shell or stone and place near the two low plants.

I can see the changes I'd make but I can't explain it very well. Does this make any sense at all?

 

[Dannyid]

Lol it does make sense and I agree with what you've said. I showed that pic to a friend in work and he said it looked like a class photo from school (all the tall kids at the back)

Yep I've got fake plants, a dirty word to some me thinks, but they will be replaced as money allows, got my eye on some tall plants that are attached to bog wood, £17 a go seems quite high for a plants,

I'm doing the tour of all my local aquatic shops this Sunday and it's pay day on Friday so I'm gonna make some purchases,

It's the biweekly water change this weekend too so I'll do some rearranging and will take your suggestions on board

 

[LyndaB]

Love the reference to the tall kids.....

When I started moving over to live plants, I would do a combo of both live and fake. It works. Don't be shy about experimenting. And if you don't like how something looks, rip it up and start over.

Driftwood would look fantastic in there.

 

[tmdavies]

If your from the uk get your plants from here always healthy and disease free www.plantedtanks.co.uk

 

[Dannyid]

Cheers, I'll have a look, bit of a noob question but how do they send you a live plant? Or do they have a shop you have to go to?

 

[tmdavies]

They have a shop you can go to but if you buy online they send them you in the post. I find its best because you know exactly what your getting and the website tells you how look after the plants. If you choose the plants from the europe section they arrive quicker

 

[tmdavies]

All the plants in my tank are from that website. Good luck

 

[Dannyid]

As it's pay day and the first food shop I found myself at the supermarket and lucky for me just over the road is the pet store, I was planning on waiting till Sunday but my money was burning a hole in my pocket

Bought myself a rather smart looking piece of wood and a new plant,

I've given my tank a re-shuffle and I think I'm alot happier with it, still have the 2 fake plants in, but I quite like them (nice broad leaves) and my upside-down cat fish likes them too.



The thing I love about this hobby is that the is always something I would change or move around, but I think this is a step in the right direction

 

[LyndaB]

OMG, that looks 10,000 times better than before..... what a difference. Well done!

 

[Dannyid]

Thank you, I'll keep this thread updated as I add more, cheers for the advice from both of you, already found a couple of plants from that website that I like

 

[tmdavies]

Looks good