Hello! I joined this board last week, and have truly enjoyed reading all the post. I can see there are many people here with great ideas and knowledge of fish keeping. I would like to pick your brains and get some creative ideas from other members here. Let me start by saying I already have a 29g, freshwater tank, and have been very fortunate to have had great luck with it. It is 18 months old now, and thriving. It is decorated much like a pond or river bottom, with lite gravel, many plants, etc. I am now in the process of setting up a 55g, which will be placed between my living and dining rooms, which presents the first area I need suggestions for. Obviously, there will be no background, as the tank will be viewed from both sides. It is being built into an area with little traffic, and my fiancee' is building a great cabinet to set it on. I have a cannister filter, which will be underneath. So, number one, how can I hide the tubes, and equipment, or at least make them appear less noticible? Now on to another thought..I really would like to set up a false reef type of decor, with a dark substrate.I already have 35 lbs of a dark marine blue gravel, and was thinking of mixing it with black. Any other ideas? I went to a local LFS which deals only with fish, and the clerk there said I can put real, live coral in my freshwater tank. I had always thought this was not a good thing. He says it would help keep my PH at a good level. Any thoughts on this? Btw, I saw Shauna's freshwater reef in the top tanks and loved it! I was glad to see my idea wasn't so far off the wall. So, all you imaginative people out there, share your thoughts and ideas with me, please! I want something different than my other tank. Oh, and another question, is dead coral ok to use? And what does it look like? Thanks for taking the time to read all this!
Help me set up my dream tank, PLEASE!!
- Thread starter CeaWitch
- Start date
I think if you want a tank as a divider, you should get a tank that has an internal overflow. The internal overflow will be set at one end where the water comes down and out through the same overflow box.
Make a sump below the tank and hide all your equipment. You don't really need a canister filter if you can use live sand or live rock as your biological filtration.
Make a sump below the tank and hide all your equipment. You don't really need a canister filter if you can use live sand or live rock as your biological filtration.
Hi, Dattack! thanks for your replies. I'm afraid changing the tank and type of filter are not an option. They were a gift from my fiancee', and I wouldn't feel comfortable in asking for a larger tank, as he spent quite a lot already, and has started the cabinet to fit this tank. Another ?..is live rock only good for saltwater? Thanks!
Yes, I think I see where your coming from here, so, lemme see what I can help you with. Dead coral rubble will bring up the Ph and Hardness of your tank, which is great, if your doing African cichlids, or, if you do a brackish tank. Since from the sounds of it, you already have quite a bit of experience with freshwater, you could try a saltwater tank. 55 is a great starter size for that, but, it's also a bit more advanced. What size fish are you thinking about? Do you want lots of little schools of fish, and a couple bigger ones to accent it? Or, do you want all large fish?
Wo. I just reread some your post. Putting live corals in a freshwater tank will kill them. Is this going to be a saltwater tank or freshwater tank?
What you can do is to have all the filtration at one end of the tank or place it on the side. Build the stand to enclose this area to to hide the equipment.
Something like this but less complicated.
http://members.shaw.ca/stircrazy/standcovered.jpg
What you can do is to have all the filtration at one end of the tank or place it on the side. Build the stand to enclose this area to to hide the equipment.
Something like this but less complicated.
http://members.shaw.ca/stircrazy/standcovered.jpg
You could try fake coral, resin I believe. Or lava rock. If you are in fact going fresh water. Crushed coral substrate, I've heard is ok for african cichlids. Try to get a good idea of the fish you plan to keep in this tank, then that will help you lots on the decor.
P.S. sounds like you have a great fiancee' *celebratesmiley*
P.S. sounds like you have a great fiancee' *celebratesmiley*
Thank you all for your thoughts! This will be a freshwater tank for sure. I did get a great piece of resin table coral, nice large size. Will be using blue and black gravel, and looking for more unusual pieces of rock and resin corals. Dattack, I showed the pic to my guy, and he liked it very much, and is going to do something simular. Thanks! I plan on having angels for sure..and will put some larger fish in the new tank. I have 2 huge opaline gouramis and a rainbow shark that are getting too big for the 29g. They will moving to the new tank. I plan to use smaller fish in the 29. The size those fish have grown to are actually the reason for the new tank. And, yes..my honey is really a terrific guy! *twirlysmiley*
well first u should do is goto the pet shop u got the live coral advice from and smack him upside the head with some live coral lol
like everyone said it will raise the ph but if u wanna put freshater fish in with the corals read up on the type of fish that can tolerate high ph i know african cichlids like high ph but i think u mentoined putting angels those are south american cichlids and they perfer lower ph justmake sure ur fish can tolerate high ph i have a cousin who put some dead corals into hisfreshwater tank and someof his fishes died some lived i think only ones that survived was the buenos ares tetras and his ph readingwas off the chart i was finally able to convince him to take those corals out and get rid of them and he got a huge arrowana from a friend b/c they were in a 30 gal at 15+" and doing better in a 70-80 gal not sure on size and he fed his BA tetras to it sad for the tatras but i never liked BA tatras anyways hehe
like everyone said it will raise the ph but if u wanna put freshater fish in with the corals read up on the type of fish that can tolerate high ph i know african cichlids like high ph but i think u mentoined putting angels those are south american cichlids and they perfer lower ph justmake sure ur fish can tolerate high ph i have a cousin who put some dead corals into hisfreshwater tank and someof his fishes died some lived i think only ones that survived was the buenos ares tetras and his ph readingwas off the chart i was finally able to convince him to take those corals out and get rid of them and he got a huge arrowana from a friend b/c they were in a 30 gal at 15+" and doing better in a 70-80 gal not sure on size and he fed his BA tetras to it sad for the tatras but i never liked BA tatras anyways hehe
Lots of points here. Hiding tubes stuff - be imaginative with rockwork, plants, and if possible put heater into the cannister filter. Should be possible if you think about it.
Live coral in a freshewater tank is not possible. I believe there are freshwater corals, but they are very small and totally uninteresting to you (andactually I thinkthey're bryozoans not true corals). Any clerk who tells you live corals are ok in freshwater is a jerk, period. Ditto live rock is a marine concept, not freshwater. For sure there is rock from freshwater that is packed with live bacteria but again, totally uninteresting to you.
But you could still do a great tank with rocks and fake or dead,dried corals. They will raise your pH and hardness though. Ever thought of african cichlids - they'll love this sort of tank, plus they're quite large, and very brightly coloured. Lots of web info on this subject - see www.cichlidrecipe.com for a starter.
For the appearance you want , you might want a different susstrate to the one you suggest. My african tank has a substrate that part dark gravel, part oolitic sand, split by a wall of rock. Oolitic sand is 'snowballs' of limestone mud round a core of sand or dust up to 2-3 mm in size. Looks good, doesn't hurt fishes mouths BUT can't aquascape, hard to syphon, expensive,raises pH,kH as well.
Having said this I doubt how fast some of these things - sand, corals, limestone etc actually dissolve into water, especially if it's already alkaline. Also this rate of dissolution will slow as pH/kH rises. I would bet that the dead corals killed aznpanthers fish with residual organic material or bleach/cleaning chemical rather than by raising ph.
Lots to think about, but good project
Live coral in a freshewater tank is not possible. I believe there are freshwater corals, but they are very small and totally uninteresting to you (andactually I thinkthey're bryozoans not true corals). Any clerk who tells you live corals are ok in freshwater is a jerk, period. Ditto live rock is a marine concept, not freshwater. For sure there is rock from freshwater that is packed with live bacteria but again, totally uninteresting to you.
But you could still do a great tank with rocks and fake or dead,dried corals. They will raise your pH and hardness though. Ever thought of african cichlids - they'll love this sort of tank, plus they're quite large, and very brightly coloured. Lots of web info on this subject - see www.cichlidrecipe.com for a starter.
For the appearance you want , you might want a different susstrate to the one you suggest. My african tank has a substrate that part dark gravel, part oolitic sand, split by a wall of rock. Oolitic sand is 'snowballs' of limestone mud round a core of sand or dust up to 2-3 mm in size. Looks good, doesn't hurt fishes mouths BUT can't aquascape, hard to syphon, expensive,raises pH,kH as well.
Having said this I doubt how fast some of these things - sand, corals, limestone etc actually dissolve into water, especially if it's already alkaline. Also this rate of dissolution will slow as pH/kH rises. I would bet that the dead corals killed aznpanthers fish with residual organic material or bleach/cleaning chemical rather than by raising ph.
Lots to think about, but good project