lyndatu

Hello, there!

We are going to redo a 20 gallon freshwater tank into a guppy tank soon......I really want a natural-looking tank........as natural as possible. However, we have some problems, like not having driftwood at the stores. We also have some expensive ornaments that don't look natural but we want to use 'em because we don't want to waste them.......There are some plants at the store and we're going to get some. Any more tips on having a natural-looking tank? Tips on substrate? We're going for fine sand(optional), or is gravel more natural looking or beneficial? It's ok if it's not completely natural-looking, but I want it to be even just a bit. Thanks in advance!

JMatt1983

i belive that sand is difficult to maintain properly, i think your best bet is to get some natural looking gravel, this is my 10G with natural coloured gravel and try to find out what plants are natural to the guppy environment, they are native to south america and trinidad, so you can find that out and look for real or artificial plants, also for drift wood, someone cn correct me if im wrong, take a walk along a beach pick some up, boil it to get rid of any bugs and dirt and put it into your tank

COBettaCouple

black gravel seems to look really nice with a lot of plants. pool filter sand is another option for substrata. The river rocks look pretty natural too and you can find them at the dollar stores. Perhaps the plants can be used to make the ornaments you have fit in more?

susitna-flower

I like to have either really dark (black), or really light substrate. The black seems to show up the colors of the fish, and doesn't show algae, the white is great for showing off cherry shrimp and my magenta apple snails!
As for decorations, I do enjoy driftwood, but find a combination of flat rocks stacked with river stones a good plan also. This gives the fish "caves" , natural breaks to allow them their own small territories.

Are you going to use real plants? If so you can use black eco-complete, which is good for planted tanks, helps cycle your tank, and is a course sand, heavy and not easily disturbed.

lyndatu

Oh, the black gravel looks awesome! I'll go for the gravel........thanks!

I'm going for live plants, but if there really isn't any then we'll just look for fake ones that look as natural as possible...............

I'll see if I can find river rocks........they sound natural.......hehe

Oh and we have lots of moss growing on the rocks in our garden. Are they semi-aquatic and can be used in the tank?

And, how do you anchor the plant in the gravel? Just curious.......I always read that there's a technique........

Thanks in advance!

Jim

I have to go to work, but this is a picture of my tank. Is this what you're looking for, more or less? I'll be back this afternoon and help you out with what I can.

lyndatu

Oh yes, that's what I want Jim! Thanks for the nice pic!

Any tips?

Bill

Definitely use darker gravel if you can - apart from helping to show off the fishes' colours, it makes them feel more secure and also looks good with plants. I rather regret using paler gravel in my tank, but it does look slightly more natural. Just make sure that any gravel you use is small and smooth (safe for any bottom-dwellers you might get), and that you rinse it LOADS before you put it in. I have had bad experiences with not rinsing gravel enough...

As for ornaments, not having bogwood shouldn't be a problem (unless you get something like a bristlenose or clown plec, which need lignin from the wood in their diet), but it does look really nice and if you can find some on eBay it's well worth getting. It also makes a perfect place for fish to hide. I got my 24" mopani off eBay much more cheaply than the tiny portions in my LFS, and it had the added benefit of being used so it didn't require any of the months of soaking that new stuff needs to leach out all the tannin which turns the water brown. Alternatively, slate is a good rock to aquascape with; it's cheap, looks nice, makes great caves, and it's completely inert so it won't affect water chemistry.

With the ornaments that you already have, if you simply want to make use of them and aren't bothered about preserving their look, you could disguise their unnatural features with java moss or java fern. I used some broken flowerbed spacers to make caves in my tank, and they looked very angular and artificial, so I used rubber bands to secure java fern plantlets over parts of them, and it looks really natural now - also, it's a perfect place for java fern to grow on.

You can get a nice, low-maintenance planted look by just using the easy plants - java fern, anubias (there are quite a few different varieties of these two), anacharis, java moss some hygrophila or cryptocorynes. Just make sure you don't plant your anubias or java fern in the substate, leave their roots free by tying them to rock or ornaments - they are water filterers rather than rooting plants. About 1wpg would work fine with those plants. I have 0.88wpg on my tank, and I've managed to grow and propagate hygrophila corymbosa which is purportedly a plant that only thrives in 2-3wpg.

Here is a pic of my tank - you can just about see the "artificial" caves on the right, behind the large-leaved anubias, but they are so covered with java fern now they just look like patches of dark.

lyndatu

Many thanks to all. I highly appreciate your tips. You even put photos! You have very nice tanks.

Thanks! This forum rocks!

jsalemi

You can get driftwood online, too. I got Mopani driftwood from DFS, and it looks great in the tank: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...5&pcatid=13985

susitna-flower

Jim & Bill your tanks are SUPER! I agree the black looks great!

Lyndatu, only one thing I want to caution with the use of slate, ANY sharp edges, which slate sometimes has, can snag lovely long tails, like with guppies.....This is why I would suggest round river rock, or flat rounded rocks. Even some of my driftwood tends to have sharp splinters sometimes, but these can be addressed before you place the wood in your tank.

Sounds to me like you are thinking this through and will have a great tank!

Jim

OK, the 2 biggest things you need to focus on first are your lights and substrate (gravel). Both are expensive, but you'll need to have the right kind or your plants will eventually die.
Of course I'm stuck working this morning, so I want you to read this. It's by Isabella, and is a great sourse of info on starting a planted tank. General Guide to Low-Light Planted Tanks
When I get time over the holiday I plan on writing up a follow-up link on water chemestry for a planted tank, and I'll give you the link when it's done. You'll want to know it also.

ollyaaa

To be fair I think you can grow plants very easily in an aquarium.

I have always just used suffcient light, and left them to it.

Never had a problem personally

Coryd55

I like the look of sand or natural looking gravel. I have sand and it really isn't to hard to keep clean. My plecos like it because they can move it around to be whatever shape they want. Also my kuhlis will like them, which I am getting tomorrow =).