My 55 gallon Set up!

[Davy_Jones]

Hello, I havent gotten my tank yet..... But not much longer from know and Ill have it.
Im having trouble trying to come up with idea's for the setup.
So far I have this very large shipwreck:

But Im trying to think of other decorations that wont take away from the realism of the theme. Im not looking for tackey things, just something that will look real and good at the same time. So far, I have the ship and some large rocks I found outside.
Im looking for old relics, things that you'd probley find on a ship.

THANKS.

ALSO, sense the sunken ship has plants, I dont know whether I should use plants or not?

 

[Apotheosis]

Be careful with any rocks you collect. They may leach certain chemicals once placed in the tank; you never know. Better to be safe than sorry.

I think some rocks would go good with the shipwreck. Maybe gray-colored rocks. And I think sand would look better with it than gravel.

 

[Davy_Jones]

Yeah, Ill check into the rocks. They are grey.
Also, with sand, would I have to do aqua vacs?

 

[rkilling1]

If you go with sand, Pool filter sand being the better choice, you really only need to hover over the sand bed when doing PWC's inorder to remove the nasty's.

IMO, I would remove the fake plants from the ship and attach some real ones. There are a select few that will grow under normal lighting and don't need anything special to be added to the tank. Looks MUCH better, IMO, then the fake ones.

 

[Davy_Jones]

Heres a picture of the rocks:

I have more of them.

And Im not sure on these: Driftwood, Spiney Oyster, Barrel

 

[Davy_Jones]

So which of those will go best with the set up?

 

[JeffreyL]

The rocks look like concrete with pebbles imbedded. Is that what they are? If so, likely harmless, unless there is something nasty imbedded. But IMO, they don't look that great.

A lot of LFS have rock for sale. If it were me, I would look for a few rounded rocks in the 2 to 4 inch range. Color to determined by gravel or sand color.

For accent pieces, have you tried a craft store? I was in a Michaels recently and they have a bunch of pirate small figures and accesories. Maybe a spilled chest or barrel half buried in the gravel. As long as the pieces are hard plastic and non toxic, they should be fine.

I can't believe I am telling someone to set up a Pirate themed aquarium.



HTH and we are definately gonna want pics of this one!!

Jeff

 

[odessadude]

The best way to approach this is to put it together, put some water and fish in it. Take care of it scientifically and enjoy it. If you don't like the looks, change it till you like it. I have about 250 gallons of tanks running now and change the look up every now and then. Personally I like the natural look of the tank, but it is you to decide how you want your masterpiece to turn out!

 

[Davy_Jones]

The best way to approach this is to put it together, put some water and fish in it. Take care of it scientifically and enjoy it. If you don't like the looks, change it till you like it. I have about 250 gallons of tanks running now and change the look up every now and then. Personally I like the natural look of the tank, but it is you to decide how you want your masterpiece to turn out!

Ok, thanks!!!!!!!!!

 

[cee219]

I think the ship wreck is pretty cute. I don't like those rocks very much either.

But you'll want to change as time goes on. Most changes like decorations are pretty easy. In my 55g, I've had the same old same old for almost 3 years and I'm ready for some change. I got to a point where I hated the gravel, so I basically just bought some cheap foreground plastic plants to cover and dug them in and it looks pretty nice.

 

[Davy_Jones]

What about the barrel or the oyster?