I Need Inspiration.

[Steven A]

I am stressing myself out lol.
I love my fish! Finally fish i want and really really like. They also keep me on my feet lol. Any way I have been informed that Dwarf Puffers will begin to be on sale in the winter, so not long left. I have therefore decided to leave him in there alone for now.
I have deiced against moving my 2 puffers. I thought that because I want them to breed and only the male cares for the eggs I would end up with a dead female in a tank that size. 8O So they are staying put.

Well like discussed in another topic I have found that "Spark" regarding fish but not tanks. I need some inspirtaion and advice.

What should my tanks look like?

This is for every one, please regards the fish's opinions lol
i.e. what will make them more happy to.

Images would be great. tankmate suggestions would also be great.
Any thing else you can think off, After seeing some of your tanks in gallerys I am ashamed to post images of my tanks lol

Please help. 8)

 

[gheitman]

The "easy" answer to your question about what your tanks should look like is that they should look like whatever you want them to. I don't know that there is a right answer to your question. In the final analysis only you can determine what looks right. My own preferences are for natural looking tanks with live plants and as little artificiality as possible. This includes tank decorations such as rocks, driftwood, etc. Some fish prefer a heavily planted tank which provides plenty of hiding places to make them feel comfortable while others prefer open water for swimming. Since you have a planted discus tank already you probably have some idea of what you want. The one thing that I have noticed is that a tank layout changes over its lifespan. Sometimes I'll go so far as to just rip out some plants because I have grown tired of them or, more frequently, I'll transplant some from one tank to another because I think they would add to the overall picture.

As far as tankmates go, I'm not sure what to recommend putting with your dwarf puffers but your discus would get along well with some rams and maybe a pleco or two. If you need some more ideas you could check out the web site www.fishprofiles.com. The following link has a list of fish they recommend as possible tankmates for your puffers.

http://www.fishprofiles.com/interac...=Freshwater&sci=Carinotetraodon travancoricus

Don't be intimidated by the tank pictures you see posted by people on this web site and elsewhere. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't post pictures of my worst looking tanks You could also look at several books for inspiration. I like Peter Hiscock's books including "Aquarium Designs Inspired by Nature" and there are always Takashi Amano's "Nature Aquarium World" series of books. The Amano books will really give someone an inferiority complex.

I hope this helps.

 

[Steven A]

Thank you for your help. I love the natural looking tanks to. I just cant really seem to get hold of the right decor and plants. I love plants that are easy to grow etc ... (No CO2) and I really want some "carpeters" the plants the grow along and up stuff lol.
Driftwood etc .... I also do like its really finding shapes that I like if you know what I mean.

So Any moe suggestions etc ....

 

[gheitman]

The plants that people use to carpet a tank frequently requires lots of light and CO2 injection. I have dwarf sags (Sagittaria subulata) in a couple of tanks and that grows fine for me under lighting providing as little as 1.5wpg although it does better under the 3wpg in my 30 gallon tank. How much lighting do you have on your tanks? If you go to the web site below you can see plants listed by their light requirements (as well as their difficulty, family, region, type, etc.).

http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_cat.php?category=1

 

[Steven A]

I do not know any thing about my lighting to tell you the truth I'll Just check.
The bulbs say:

13 Gal: F14 W / GROW ( T8 )
33 Gal: F25 W / 30 / GROW
33 Gal: F25 W / 30 / GROW

Lights are on for about 10 Hours a day with no CO2. I might start using flourish excel after I have done some research on it.

Thank You Gheitman, For your help and plant suggestions on msn lol.
So I am deffinatly having Java Fern, Java Moss and Some others lol.
carpeters suggestions wanted lol,

I can buy plants from this site .... www.java-plants.com

Regarding Tankmates

13 Gal Puffer Tank: More Dwarf Puffers (Eventually lol)
33 Gal Puffer Tank: Try a Dora Cat and maybe dither fish e.g. fast fish such as danios
33 Gal Discus Tank: Maybe 2 Dwarf Cichlids Rams or Cockatoo's and some Dither fish e.g. Congo tetras or Cardinals.

So Now I need some images of tanks for idea lol.

 

[Jchillin]

Steven I can understand what you are saying. Gene is absolutely correct in his statements and advice to you.

IMO, tanks are never "completed". That is especially true of planted tanks. I've only had mine since March and since then it has undergone several transformations (take a look at my tank clickys). I haven't even posted a pic of what it looks like right now. The fact is, aquascaping is not an exact science. All I could suggest is that you keep things balanced.

Like Gene, I prefer a tank with natural decorations (took a lot to convince my wife as my tank pics will show).

*For the record...I looked at some of Mr. Amano's stuff and politely put the book down.

 

[Steven A]

Thank you Jchillin, I have done a bit of research and have decided on eventually trying some:

Four Leaf Clover, Green Ludwigia and some Hygrophilla Polysperma.

 

[greenmaji]

*For the record...I looked at some of Mr. Amano's stuff and politely put the book down.

OMG.. best advise ive heard in a while.. Extremely advanced techniques can be very discouraging to people just starting out in the hobby and that would be one of the best things to do with Mr. Amano's books if your feeling discouraged right now.. HTH