[TripDs]

my tank is lacking. someone plz educate me on how to make my tank presentable (besides DITCHING THE GRAVEL). too many plants? too little? remove some? add some? placement? im no good @ decoration. plz. sorry for bad pic

o and i got 2 small rbps in there

 

[rchan11]

Get a new background and put a fake driftwood in the middle would make it look alot better.

 

[killerbee]

your photo is too dark for me to make out on the plants but i would....

1.get sand black, white, or tan (your choice)
2.get a background that has picture, one of the expensive type 3-d, or DIY type.
3.don't worry about fake plants. depending on your fish, some like them some don't. if they do, i would stay with them.\
4. Add REAL driftwood, i've had both and i would extremely reccomend going for the real thing. Not only would it help lower the PH a little, but is also a nice asthetic feature in the aquarium.

That should look good.

 

[elTwitcho]

The gravel has gotta go.

Even what you have however you can work with, first thing I'd do is lose the symetry, it's boring. Instead of putting something in the middle, two plants on each side with a small plant between them, try grouping them together. Maybe put all the tall plants on the left two thirds of the tank, and the centerpiece slightly to the right of center. It will increase the thickness of your planted area and it will also give your tank more variety by having an open area and a planted area. Move some things to the front too, obviously not the tall plants, but maybe move your centerpiece to the front of the tank with plants in behind it, having every little thing stuffed in the back is also boring.

Lighting also helps alot, proper lighting can make an uninteresting tank look very nice, and have the opposite on a really nice tank that is left unlit. Definately get those lights on a timer for a few hours a day.

 

[The_Spoot]

Driftwood, and better backround to match the gravel.

 

[yonam]

deff. the gravel's gotta go man :nod:

 

[Tinkerbelle]

more variety of plants. from what i can see its pretty much all elodea bunches? get some swords, crypts, whatever! but variety!!! and lots of different heights so you can play with the balance and asymmetrical aspects of a planted tank.

 

[shoe997bed263]

get rid of that gravel ahhhh. i would go with black sand and either put some driftwood in there or use some red lava rocks.

 

[cmsCheerFish]

driftwood with some moss pertruding through ur fake plants would be nice.. Scoot ur plants back some so u can view ur p's better.

 

[TripDs]

Thank you for the replies. I know the gravel has got to go, and it will someday, but not now. I guess what I'm mostly looking for is placement for decor in the tank. Remove certain plants? Add certain plants? Where to position them? Where to put driftwood? Get another piece? Also should I switch the blue backround to the black one on the back of it?

Thanks twitcho, tinkerbelle, and cheerfish; thats what i saw mainly looking for. any more tips?

Any1 got any pics of nicely decorated 30gal longs? TY

Here's a better pic:

 

[JAC]

If you're serious about making it look good then the gravel's got to go man, after that you could finish it up with a nice piece of driftwood.

 

[dutchfrompredator]

this is not a problem, besides the gravel. honestly, if you changed that and nothing else you'd be ahead of the curve. you can move plants and backgrounds around to your heart's content after you do that. as luck would have it i just set up a 40 long that my neighbor was getting rid of. the sand was around two bucks at home depot, and i still have half a fifty pound bag for when i accidently vaccuum it up while learning to clean it. that's not even a perceptible expense. also, you have the plants and some form of wood already. lose the gravel first. it's a pain but it's worth it. do a little every day if you don't feel like it. your fish won't care if you strip the whole tank for a few days. spend the two bucks on sand. add it. then arrange the plants, wood, and background to taste. switch it up. have the plant area. have the wood area. have the plant and wood area. have nothing at all. i mean this honestly. adding sand is so easy it should be a crime. that works for you because it'll show the fastest biggest improvement. here's a pic of the one i threw together. it's not great, but you get the idea. quick easy, fast, cheap, and i can mess around with the configuration any time i feel like it.