plcd22

Ok here is the deal... I am very cheap and need some ideas as to how to scape my tank for little or NO money! Here is a pic so far...






Right now it is empty with just some coarse stone in the bottom that I scooped up near my office (back in the woods). it is a 30 gal tank with a whisper filter and two air stones and a heater set at about 80 degrees right now. so far no fish as waiting on the cycle! but plans for fish are some neon tetras and some other CHEAP fish that will go well with them, maybe a red tail shark and we'll see what else down the road. any input would be great! thanks in advance!

midnightwolf

you should get some live plants because they look better than cheap fake plants and make your tank look great but if you dont care what they look like you could just get some fake plants for cheap. if yo want a rock you might beable to get one from anywere as long as you wash it but im not 100% sure.

hope this helps

Amanda

I've found that keeping fish can get expensive. You could try getting clay pots & such from Wal-Mart. Did you boil the rocks before you put them in the tank?

navyscuba

Are you familiar with freecycle Everything on it is free. Craigslist will cost you some money for some used stuff but not as bad as in the store.. You can put platys, mollies, a small pleco(be sure won't grow too much), or some swordtails. Don't put goldfish if you plan to put tetras or other fish that don't tolerate ammonia. Good Luck

Shawnie

http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/fr...h-tank-photos/ check this link out..it has alot of members tank photos to give you some ideas.....I shop for alot of my stuff at wally world....alot of marbles, silk plants, caves, vases, silk flowers, flower pots, and many more things can be bought cheap....also the dollar store has tons of great things you could use also...you just need to make sure nothing has dyes, perfumes, and any other ingredients or coverings on them that might come off after being in water for long periods of time...boiling anything you get a few times will help if you have concerns...if it doesnt withstand the hot hot water, it wont be good for your tank...any rocks you get you should always boil, a few times over, then put a teaspoon of vinegar on them after they are dry...if the vinegar makes bubbles almost like peroxide does, do not use it...even tho you have collected the rocks already in there from outside and it looks nice, id always be careful about taking things from our environment as pesticides and germs are always present and could be put into our tanks....goodluck !!

plcd22

after I posted the pics above I realized they were from a week or so ago when I first set it up and it was all foggy it has since cleared up very nice look...






thanks for the help so far... Keep it coming with suggestions on how to do it as cheap as possible! rocks, pots etc, any tips and suggestions to go along with those ideas! Thank so much already!

CHoffman

Terra Cotta planters are a CHEAP way to make your tank look good..I have them in allot of my tanks and they come in all different sizes..If you find a nice looking rock or two you can give them a good cleaning by boiling them and using 1/16 parts bleach, just make sure you rinse very well untill you no longer smell bleach and add some extra water conditioner just incase...You can make a cave by putting rocks together..As far as plants go you almost have to pay for them..Unless you want to find some in a river or lake but you have to do a bleach dip for them to make sure they have no harmful organisms which can hurt some plants...There are all kinds of ideas just be creative.

Red1313

Dollaramma!!!
lol but if not that store then wally is usually a good place to start.
I like a natural looking type of tank, so driftwood is something that I'd suggest, boil it really well then give it a coat of... (laqure? varathane? I can't rember the stuff) to seal it and prevent it from rotting really fast.
Also invest in some aquarium sealent. You can build rock caves or bridges or put stones on a piece of PVC pipe to disguise it.
Like mentioned above, if it survives boiling and isn't metal go for it.
Be creative and make sure that any holes are big enough that nobody's going to get caught in them.
I wouldn't recommend taking plants out of a lake though, even if you bleach them I wouldn't, but it's you're call.

Shawnie

LOL dats me!! love the pvc suggestion also! great idea red! some xmas moss all over it would kick bootie ...

plcd22

What do you mean?

Red1313

drift wood in most aquariums starts to rot. If you want to grab a piece out of you're back yard the books I've read recommend boiling it to help remove bacteria, fugus, tannins ect. And giving it a coat (paint it) with something similar to varnish to lock everything that remains in it and give a barrier against the water. It'll last longer and protect your tank from any contamination (herbicides, pesticides who knows). I can't however remember what the product was that they recommended....
I'll keep looking and see if I can find it.

EDIT: Here's a driftwood link, not the one I was looking for but it might help you out a bit.(whoops forgot the link )

here's another one, the last post seems to have the most relevent info.

plcd22

oh ok that is what I thought you meant but I know i can't just paint it or polyurathane it ... that is why I was a bit confused! but if you find that product that would be AWESOME!

moscoeguppy

rocks are free, you just have to go pick em up and scrounge for em. as far as plants go you can buy a couple of live plants like watersprite and java moss and some hornwort and your tank will be full of plants in no time. all you need is one of each one of those. within six months you will trimming out plants cause they are taking over your tank.

plcd22

thanks moscoeguppy I will look into that! are those three Easy to grow?

angelfish220

I got 1 free watersprite plant (about 3 leaves) from my bio teacher. In 6 months the top of my tank was covered in 5 inches of pure watersprite, for a 4 foot long tank that is saying something!

And java moss grows like wild fire as well.

plcd22

any specific water conditions that need to be kept for this stuff thanks for the info this is great!

angelfish220

I can't speak for hornwart, as I have never had it. But Watersprite and Javamoss both could care less about lighting (as long as there is enough to lite the tank there is enough for them to grow) I never added any fertilizer or anything, just whatever fish poo was about, and they just grew! PinkFloydPuffer keeps javamoss in brackish tanks and it still grows.

plcd22

very nice... at this point I have no fish as I am waiting for the cycle to complete... should I wait till then to get plants?

angelfish220

Doesn't matter if your tank is cycled or not to add plants. They actually help cycle as they house some beneficial bacteria on themselves.

plcd22

sweet thanks... I have some bulbs that I added yesterday and hope that they will start to grow! I was wondering if I should take them out but I will let them in there and GROW hopefully!

plcd22

A couple pic of sometings I found lying around that adds a bit... back ground and pot... I want some nice looking back drop but for now this is better than nothing

Jess

I know some people use a piece of fabric for the background and tape it into place.
I think with that you can use anything you want.

plcd22

what is up there now is a peice of "contact paper" Taped in place. it is a "oak" looking pattern and at least it isn't just a clear back in my tank so this hides the wires and all that stuff behind there

plcd22

Here are a couple shots of those bulbs I put in the other week...




if you notice there are four Neon Tetras in there now too


Closer shot

Shawnie

I had this great black with different brite colored balloons wrapping paper ...I just love different balloons and I used some of that for one of my tanks..its kicking LOL ..and one of my other tanks my granddaughter drew all kinds of lil kids stuff and I put that on the back

plcd22

Thought I would give you an update!









Found some very nice quartz and some other glass like stuff that looks pretty nice in the tank but can't see it very well in the pics...