50 Gallon South American Tank

BriLandy · Feb 17, 2017

Hey all,

Here's what I've accomplished so far with my new 50 gallon tank. With the exception of the plants, it will be a South American Blackwater biotope. I'll be adding some floating vegetation, alder cones and more roots/driftwood in the near future.

Any suggestions to make it prettier are always welcome.

MyFishFillet · Feb 17, 2017

You could always add some sort of background. Not any Decorative ones, just a solid color. I think it'll help make things pop and it will hide those cords that are hanging behind the tank lol.

Black would go well with your stand/hood but I'm sure others would look just as good. In my opinion at least.

Guppykid101 · Feb 17, 2017

MyFishFillet said:
You could always add some sort of background. Not any Decorative ones, just a solid color. I think it'll help make things pop and it will hide those cords that are hanging behind the tank lol.

Black would go well with your stand/hood but I'm sure others would look just as good. In my opinion at least.

I've really enjoyed my background, it isn't a solid color but I certainly wouldn't consider it decorative..I think it adds a natural look to the tank, to each their own however

Guppykid101 · Feb 17, 2017

BriLandy said:
Hey all,

Here's what I've accomplished so far with my new 50 gallon tank. With the exception of the plants, it will be a South American Blackwater biotope. I'll be adding some floating vegetation, alder cones and more roots/driftwood in the near future.

Any suggestions to make it prettier are always welcome.

Btw, OP, I love how you used both rock and driftwood in your aquascape! That's something I've never been able to pull off

BriLandy · Feb 17, 2017

MyFishFillet said:
You could always add some sort of background. Not any Decorative ones, just a solid color. I think it'll help make things pop and it will hide those cords that are hanging behind the tank lol.

Black would go well with your stand/hood but I'm sure others would look just as good. In my opinion at least.

I just painted another tank to have a black background and it looks really nice. I was just too eager to get this one set up, lol. I probably will soon.

BriLandy · Feb 17, 2017

Guppykid101 said:
I've really enjoyed my background, it isn't a solid color but I certainly wouldn't consider it decorative..I think it adds a natural look to the tank, to each their own however

Your tank looks nice!

If you look closely at the pic I posted, you can see that one of the large rocks on the left side is a fossil with some sort of snail shells! My boyfriend's friend is a rock collector and gave me quite a few of those ones in the tank.

Guppykid101 · Feb 18, 2017

BriLandy said:
Your tank looks nice!

If you look closely at the pic I posted, you can see that one of the large rocks on the left side is a fossil with some sort of snail shells! My boyfriend's friend is a rock collector and gave me quite a few of those ones in the tank.

Amazing! Its the little touches like that that can give a tank some personal touch where others may not notice. Good luck on the progression of the tank!

BriLandy · Feb 18, 2017

Guppykid101 said:
Amazing! Its the little touches like that that can give a tank some personal touch where others may not notice. Good luck on the progression of the tank!

Thank you. I'll post updates.

BriLandy · Feb 18, 2017

I added what I believe to be a male and female angelfish today. They're juveniles - about 1.75-2 inches each. Amazingly, it seems like they already decided to pair off. Is that even possible with fish so young? They're hanging out together and shooing off the rams when they get too close.

Aquaholic3 · Feb 19, 2017

I really like the way your tank looks. It has given me some ideas for my own. It has been three months and I still can't decide what to do with it lol.

BriLandy · Feb 19, 2017

Aquaholic3 said:
I really like the way your tank looks. It has given me some ideas for my own. It has been three months and I still can't decide what to do with it lol.

Thank you! Haha it all depends on what kind of biotope you're going for and the fish you have.

Aquaholic3 · Feb 19, 2017

I have got lots of catfish lol. I can never find nice driftwood or rocks to put in the bigger tanks.

BriLandy · Feb 19, 2017

There is a cool LFS in my area that breeds shrimp and has lots of cool plants and driftwood, so I get lucky there sometimes. Otherwise it can be hard to come by. I got rocks from my parents' yard and from a friend who collects rocks.