# Suggestions on my 30 gallon tank



## fishaquatics (Aug 2, 2009)

sorry, for whatever reason the picture is not able to go on here. If you want to see the picture go to 
http://www.fishaquatics.webs.com/ and on the home page the first picture is a picture of my tank.


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## Nerbaneth (Jun 30, 2009)

Now people can see it without having the leave the site 

The setup looks good. I would like to see the tank from more angles. I like your choice in diversity of leaf sizes. It really makes your tank exciting. In general 'the rule' is to put large leafed plants in the front and smaller leaf sized plants in the rear. This will add depth to your aquascape. Rules are meant to be broken of course.

A couple other things I can think of:
Your moss would look nice with a bit of a trimming.
I think that angel has unfortunately outgrown that tank. I suppose if it is just the angel and that tetra you should be ok. Once again, according to 'planted tank law', the fish is slightly too big for the tank.

If you could take some more pictures and post them on your site, I would love to help more if I can. Out of curiosity, what kind of suggestions are you looking for?

Hope that helps,
Danny


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## fishaquatics (Aug 2, 2009)

First of all thank you for your suggestions Danny. Once I put what you said in affect I will put updated pictures of my tank on the web. For the suggestion I just want one suggestion on how to make is so both planted sides of the tank match. One side is moss and the other side is all different types of plants.Otherwise suggestions can be unlimmited.

Once again thank you for you suggestions Danny,
Ian

Also:
Thanks for putting the picture of my tank on the forum


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## Nerbaneth (Jun 30, 2009)

Ian,

So you want to keep the moss on one side and the plants on the other, or do you mind plants on both sides? I apologize.. I didn't really understand what you meant. 

I really do like the different textures you have in the tank. This is something my tank is greatly lacking. I am now inspired to figure out how to do this on my own setup... Back to the drawing board eh?

-Danny


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## fishaquatics (Aug 2, 2009)

aa nvm about that,with both sides not matching, I see what you are saying! Are there any other rules that I should follow by?


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## Nerbaneth (Jun 30, 2009)

Rules are basically guidelines you don't need to follow any of them. The golden ratio I think is the only thing that I try and follow strictly. It just seems to make my layouts better when I do.
-Danny


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## fishaquatics (Aug 2, 2009)

Do you think I should just stick with wood in the aquascape, or add some rock, by where the grass is?
I also trimed back the willow moss, and kind of tried to do the leaf guidlines. Im still working on the tank, so when I think im done, I will put up some updated pictures.


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## Nerbaneth (Jun 30, 2009)

fishaquatics said:


> Do you think I should just stick with wood in the aquascape, or add some rock, by where the grass is?
> I also trimed back the willow moss, and kind of tried to do the leaf guidlines. Im still working on the tank, so when I think im done, I will put up some updated pictures.


You are talking to the wrong guy. I only use rocks in my tanks because I can't really get wood where I live (collecting it or buying it). My only option would be to order online - but I would like to pick out my own wood! I'm just too picky I guess

After saying that - I think rocks make a great addition to the planted tank. Just make sure to only use one kind of rock. If you mix rock types, it tends to make your aquarium look bad. I have seen one person do a mountain-scape and they used a dark rock in front and a white rock in the back to make it look like snow covered mountains. This worked effectively, but I think this has been the only aquascape I have seen it work in.

Go rock collecting in your area - see what types of rocks are available - choose one type that you like - and collect about 3 to 4 times the amount that you actually need of various sizes and shapes. Soak all the rocks in water for a couple hours (maybe with bleach) and then wash and re-soak them with dechlorinator. Empty your tank as much as you can and add/move around/take out rocks until you are happy. Fill your tank and prepare to hate your rockscape a week to one month later. Move your rocks around again (usually taking twice as much time as it took before. At the halfway point you will feel like you ruined your whole setup and should have left it alone. And then the next day you will say "woah that looks good"
Can you tell I have done this a couple times before?

You can take pictures when your setup isn't complete. It will be easier to help you in this case. We won't mind if your tank is a little foggy or whatnot. Speaking of that, how is the setup looking?

-Danny


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## Nerbaneth (Jun 30, 2009)

Oh yea.. sharp rocks with cracks and shears usually look better than round ones.


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## fishaquatics (Aug 2, 2009)

With what you said on how to inprove the tank helped. Im still not sure if I did the big leaves in the front and small leaves in the back Guidline right. The reason for this is that I have a big leaf plant that is too tall to put in the front. What would you do in this case? Going back to the rocks, im going to try adding rock in the aquascape. I have had rocks before, but they did not go well with the rest of the tank. When cleaning the rock, I use to just boil it. Do you recommend still doing your way? 

Thanks
-Ian


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## fishaquatics (Aug 2, 2009)

I put the new updated pictures on the site. Sorry for putting you out of the way. For whatever reason the pictures do not want to work. 

Thanks again 
-Ian


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## fishaquatics (Aug 2, 2009)

Hope you like pics


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## Nerbaneth (Jun 30, 2009)

> With what you said on how to inprove the tank helped. Im still not sure if I did the big leaves in the front and small leaves in the back Guidline right. The reason for this is that I have a big leaf plant that is too tall to put in the front. What would you do in this case? Going back to the rocks, im going to try adding rock in the aquascape. I have had rocks before, but they did not go well with the rest of the tank. When cleaning the rock, I use to just boil it. Do you recommend still doing your way?


Looks great Ian! It needs to grow out some and you should try to find a way to make something in the tank a focal point at a golden ratio point. If you found a red plant a put it to the right of your sword, that would help. I put this http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/aquascaping/64310-basic-aquascaping-techniques.html together to gather my thoughts on aquascaping and hopefully to help some people out as well.

Boiling rocks should work well. There are a couple rocks in my tank that I have just rinsed under hot water and scrubbed them with a toothbrush. Just get them clean in whichever way works for you. There is a lot in the link above about rocks.

I think that the left side of your tank is very balanced and that the java fern looks good in the front with the sword in the back. I think that a piece of java fern in front of the moss log would look good.

-Danny


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## fishaquatics (Aug 2, 2009)

I going to get a red plant and try it out. I think I may get rid of the sword and put it in another tank and replace it with a Cabomba caroliniana. I also put rocks in the tank and it looks amazing. I have posted the new pics on the website again. 
-Ian


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## fishaquatics (Aug 2, 2009)




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## Chuppy (Aug 5, 2007)

IMHO, your moss to the right is a tad bit messy.. just a thought.. Keep up the effort!
Drew


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## fishaquatics (Aug 2, 2009)

im going to tie it down to the wood. Ill do it right now.
Thank you
-Ian


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## fishaquatics (Aug 2, 2009)

Chuppy said:


> IMHO, your moss to the right is a tad bit messy.. just a thought.. Keep up the effort!
> Drew


I tied the moss down and now it looks a hole lot better! Updated pictures will come along once I can find the camra.:blah:


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## Chuppy (Aug 5, 2007)

Allright.. Looking forward to it..

hey I take back my word on lighting.. looks decent.

Also, I'd plant more plants.. A HECK LOTS MORE.. IMHO.. I see a lot of empty space at the mid ground and foreground 

Do update.
Drew


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## fishaquatics (Aug 2, 2009)

Fixed my tank up.
























My Angle fish


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## flashbang009 (Aug 6, 2009)

Looks great, hope its working out for you!


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## fishaquatics (Aug 2, 2009)

flashbang009 said:


> Looks great, hope its working out for you!


Thank you and I am injoying it. What I really want it to look like is a ADA tank, and I think its far from that. 
Thanks for the coment
-Ian


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## fishaquatics (Aug 2, 2009)

Updated pictures are on there way, once some of the plants grow in.
-Ian


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