# My first step towards Aquascaping



## bniro (Mar 6, 2008)

Hi all,

Amazed by all the wonderful aquascapes out there, I myself thought of giving it a try 
I've always liked fish keeping, and during my school days I did involved in it quite actively.
But it's been a long time since I had a chance in such fun things, and here I am &#8230;.starting on aquascaping.
Hope I may find all the support in this wonderful forum. Comments are most welcome

My 120 Gal Tank









I used River sand for the base









My Filter









Initial setup









Added some gravel(need to find some good driftwood)


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## bratyboy2 (Feb 5, 2008)

welcome bniro!!!!

believe me you will get all the support you could ever need here. hell my first post i got like everyone on this forum to help me. im always here to help if i can and i will give you the advice you want on your layouts....so you got me!!!

good luck see you around!
~brad


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## mitra-hyderabad (Sep 1, 2006)

Tank looks amazing bro. I like the support columns. Is it just a cement beading or is the cement holding the glasses together??


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## bniro (Mar 6, 2008)

wow..a reply in just 3 mins. ..i already feel lucky to be here

Thanx brad...


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## bniro (Mar 6, 2008)

Thanx mitra ...
Glasses are fixed and glued in to the cement frame..


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## bratyboy2 (Feb 5, 2008)

can you give me some directions on how you did that?


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## bniro (Mar 6, 2008)

bratyboy2 said:


> can you give me some directions on how you did that?


Well since I'm not much of a mason, I did get some help from a guy next door (who's a good mason) in building this 
The frame is actually concrete, we built it first on the concrete table.
Then we fixed the glasses inside with cement. To avoid any leaks we applied silicon glue along the glass-cement boarder (but I'm not sure how effective that is)
So far it's without any leak 
The "tree trunk" like support for the concrete table is also done by the mason guy 
Now I need to do some painting too.


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## bratyboy2 (Feb 5, 2008)

is your pH high as of right now since the concrete is curing?


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## bniro (Mar 6, 2008)

I haven’t done a ph test yet 
Need to get a ph kit soon since I’m planning to introduce my first plants probably next week


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## bratyboy2 (Feb 5, 2008)

what plants? do you have fish in mind?


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## bniro (Mar 6, 2008)

i like neon tetra..so will definitely have them..
in terms of plants....yet to decide on some...
would you be able to give me any clue on this ?


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## kakkoii (Jan 18, 2008)

How do you like your filter? the reason I ask this is because I am considering getting one.


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## jasonc (May 2, 2008)

Wow! What an amazing cement/concrete tank, good job. I think the background brick wall paint in brown or olive color will add more natural look. IMO, do a well planning for your tank, don't simply dump all kind of plants in the tank and spoil such a nice tank:boxing:. Perhaps you could get some emerged plants and submerse plants too.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

That's the first time I've seen a cement stand/frame. Cool.
What kind of lighting have you got (or did I miss this in another post)? You can pick out plants based on the light you have, or pick the plants first and figure out which lighting will be best.


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## bniro (Mar 6, 2008)

kakkoii said:


> How do you like your filter? the reason I ask this is because I am considering getting one.


still it's too early for me to comment on my filter 
but there is hardly any noise when it's on.


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## bniro (Mar 6, 2008)

jasonc said:


> Wow! What an amazing cement/concrete tank, good job. I think the background brick wall paint in brown or olive color will add more natural look. IMO, do a well planning for your tank, don't simply dump all kind of plants in the tank and spoil such a nice tank:boxing:. Perhaps you could get some emerged plants and submerse plants too.


thanks jason...
thanks for the plant ideas. i'm going shopping this week


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## bniro (Mar 6, 2008)

davemonkey said:


> That's the first time I've seen a cement stand/frame. Cool.
> What kind of lighting have you got (or did I miss this in another post)? You can pick out plants based on the light you have, or pick the plants first and figure out which lighting will be best.


I got 3 - 3foot long 30w fluorescents
will post some pics of the top i did for them.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

bniro said:


> I got 3 - 3foot long 30w fluorescents
> will post some pics of the top i did for them.


With those, you'll have just 90 Watts total (less than 1 WPG) which is on the low end of low light. I had less light than that on a 100 gal (back in the days) and was able to grow Java Fern and some kind of moss (probably Java Moss).

*Also, I've read that the larger the tank, the less light you need, as compared to smaller tanks, to meet a certain lighting range (low, med., or high). There's a lot of detail involved in that statement and it's debatable, and it's above my experience level. I suggest reading the Science of Aquatic Lighting threads.*

I'm thinking you'll be limited to that and maybe Anubias or Cryptocoynes. Check out the plant finder and search by lighting requirements and you'll see many of the common low-light plants. You could have a wonderful aquascape with these, but if you want more variety of Flora, you'll have to bump up the lighting.

-Dave


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## bniro (Mar 6, 2008)

Hi all.. ..here are some pics of the tank roof i did...
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm147/bniro/top1.jpg
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm147/bniro/top2.jpg
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm147/bniro/top3.jpg


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## LordSul (Mar 17, 2006)

Hi bniro,
You got a neat tank there, first time I saw cement frames and legs.
Im not a pro myself at all, but IMO, the rocks you have dont suit together, the color and the type of rocks seem too "different" with each other.

Looking forward to see the updates


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## pb300 (Jun 5, 2008)

Have you used the filter yet?
I have the same one and have been running it for a few months now with no problems at all. The only time it makes any noise at all is if there is some air inside but a few presses of the priming button takes care of that. I'll like it better then my brothers xp2 and it was 1/3 the price.


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## cpark188 (Jul 25, 2008)

I'm patiently following this thread and wish to learn something from you and so excited to know about your plants and the finishing tank view. I have seen the gravel and rocks layout indeed very well arranged. And now to watch the plants that are planting into this tank. Keep on posting, nice and solid.


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