# Tank designed to be viewed from both sides?



## Sketch (Jan 18, 2011)

Hi everyone. Im new here, been lurking around for quite awhile before finally registering an account here. A couple of months ago i saw a picture of the aquarium by Filipe Oliveira (titled 'Christmas Moss' i think, in some AquaticMagic advertisement) one of the members here posted, and since then ive been obsessing over it. I decided to give this a shot (there's not really any other options, i cant stop thinking about it), and have been reading up as much as i can all over the net, learning and gathering ideas from other people's tanks.

I bought a 15gallon tank, with 2 fluorescent (40w cool daylight, 13w warmwhite) over it. Bought a couple of beginner plants, planted them in topsoil substrate topped with 3mm gravel, provided diy co2 so i could learn how the plant grows, and to get the hang of it.

So im thinking of moving forward and set it up. Im trying to set up an aquarium that can be viewed from both sides, simply because there is nowhere else i can think of to place it. It'll become sort of a divider between the living room and study room. So.. any pictures or ideas how to design the layout? I searched the net, didnt really find anything related to it except amano's 'Dance of the Angels' tank, but there wasnt a picture of the other side. Any plant suggestions as well?


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## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

I'm doing a 45g room divider tank too, between my den and living room areas.
It has some inverts that like to walk around the perimeter of the tank glass,
so instead of doing the typical background foreground, I'm doing two Islands
of tank scaping surrounded by plants etc. this also helps lower your lighting
requirements as most of the plants are directly under the light bulbs.

what's fun about room divider tanks is you can actually do two different
scapes in the same tank, when viewed from each side - if you are clever.

It may depend on your approach to things.
I mean - you seem to want to model your tank after others.
That may be tough since most fancy model tanks are designed for
magazine articles, thus they are lit up and photographed from one angle.
usually nano tanks are designed to be viewed from all sides,
so you may want to focus on model tanks of the nano class for inspiration.

for me, the fun of this hobby is to be creative - do what you want to do,
using the tank as your canvas, scape, plants, lighting and animals as your paint.
my next tank scape will look nothing like any other tank out there - which suits me just fine


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi Sketch,

First of all, welcome to APC! If you have been "lurking" for a while you know what a great site this is!

Every year GSAS has a Home Show where we visit member's homes and do video and photos of their aquariums. Here is one of my favorites from two years ago. It is a 55 gallon (approx 48" X 13" X 20" high) and looked amazing from the "front" as well as the "back"!

Front
















Back


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Several members here have done tanks as you describe. I don't remember which threads they are in, but try searching the Aquascaping forum and sub-forums with terms like "two sided", "both sides", "divider", and "pennisula".

Some of these tanks are beautiful, so it definitely can be done! One tip, get a wide tank for your set-up, at least 18" wide. This makes it much easier. The typical 55 gallon, only 12" wide, is difficult to design for viewing from only one side, much less two.

Good luck, and please show us how it turns out.


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## Sketch (Jan 18, 2011)

thanks for the replies guys. my tank is approx. 60x30x30cm high. i bought this size initially because im new to this and i didnt want to waste too much money (smaller tank = less plants & substrate).

the islands are a great idea spypet, i never thought of that. i think ive been too focused on the 'background-foreground' scape, trying to make it fit. i'll play around with it, try to sketch some ideas.

keep the suggestions coming guys, or any more pictures for inspirations. thanks a million!


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Here's a link to a journal about a pennisula tank: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/journals/71901-ada-120-p-new-setup.html

You can see the entire development of the tank, and it is a very successful design, IMO.

--Michael


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## Sketch (Jan 18, 2011)

thank you for that michael. i think i've got a pretty good idea to design my scape now. i'll start as soon as i buy the plants i want, which may be weeks, its so hard to get nice plants where i live, all they sell are the common fast growing ones like cabomba.


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