Ideas on how to stock it and how to make it look better

[Nikhil]

It's a 15gal tank with 5 red phantom tetras, 4 fancy guppies, 4 snails and planning to add some shrimp soon. I also have a small piece of driftwood, a rock and about 5 plants. 

I'm wondering what I can do to get rid of the algae and to revive the baby tears on the side. I would also take suggestions for other plants to add. I am planning to add several different colors of the shrimp from the Aquarium Co-op store in person soon.

 

[KaitieG]

It looks to me like you have a great start here.  I think it will start growing in and look better and better.  When your Val starts growing and spreading across the back it will really fill in.  I've not grown baby tears, since I try to stick to the "super easy" plant selections.  I would try adding a background of some type...black, blue, one of the foliage designs.  Even if you do the black garbage bag background trick as a quick and easy option, it will really make your plants and fish stand out better and make your filter virtually disappear.  It'll make a huge difference in the look with minimal $ and time investment.  

If you have both male and female guppies, those will fill in for you too 🙂 You'll have so many you won't know what to do with all of them...ask me how I know 😉 

[Nikhil]

Thanks so much Kaitie I also got that suggestion to add a background but I'm having trouble figuring out how to put it on back there as the tank is full of water so it will be very heavy. I also dont have space at the back to reach back and put it as it is in a nook of sorts.

[Tony s]

For plastic backgrounds, you could just run it behind and tape it to the side. If you get the right kind of scotch tape, you really won’t see it at all. Works really well with the black garbage bag trick. Or something that I have done, try using some very thick wax paper. It gives it a cool kind of frosted look. Looks a bit endless. May have to use a double layer to hide the equipment though. But the bag and paper trick are dirt cheap. So if you don’t like the look, trash it and it doesn’t cost anything 

[JettsPapa]

On 4/30/2024 at 9:34 PM, Nikhil said:

Thanks so much Kaitie I also got that suggestion to add a background but I'm having trouble figuring out how to put it on back there as the tank is full of water so it will be very heavy. I also dont have space at the back to reach back and put it as it is in a nook of sorts.

Can you reach over the tank?   If yes, you can tape a piece of black poster board to the back (cut to size of course).  That's what I've done with quite a few of my tanks.

[Tanked]

Symmetry in nature is rare, and I'm just offering opinions. 

My process involves asking questions, the first one being: How did that tree, rock, plant get there?  Looking at your picture again today, it appears that your midground  plant - wood - plant _ rock  arrangement is in a straight line across the tank. i.e., flat and symmetrical. 

Arranging the driftwood to show off more those gnarly features and add a sense of movement or time will go a long way until the plants fill in.  I would also consider moving it off center, and perhaps rolling it forward to show show off additional textures.  One of your taller plants could be slightly behind the driftwood.

I'm a big fan of rocks, and yours are lost in the background.  The red rocks could come forward.  You already have high and low spots in the gravel, so rocks emerging from a gravel bank might be of interest.   Some Dwarf Hairgrass in the foreground might be worth considering.

 

[Tony s]

Another small thing with rocks. Learned from landscaping. And something most homeowners don’t get. Chickens don’t lay rocks. Meaning rocks are not eggs laid on the surface. They should be partially buried and come out of a surface more naturally 

[Tanked]

On 5/1/2024 at 12:38 PM, Tony s said:

Another small thing with rocks. Learned from landscaping. And something most homeowners don’t get. Chickens don’t lay rocks. Meaning rocks are not eggs laid on the surface. They should be partially buried and come out of a surface more naturally 

...and a pile of rocks will always look like a pile of rocks.  I like your explanation better

[Lennie]

Here is what I would do:

Black background to match the bottom side of the tank and cover the filter in the background and look better and complete

more naturalistic aquascaping and planting

Buying or making a lid, filling water to the top. Such low water level to secure lowering the risk of jumping does not look nice, and the LED reflects to the eye and disturbing instead of peaceful.

Add a couple variety of botanics. Botanics take it to the next level

 

And last, keeping the tank glasses clean. It makes a big difference in terms of look as well

[Nikhil]

Hi lennie what do you mean buy botanics and also should i increase the water level even more, like above the filter and how do I fix the led reflecting?

 

[Nikhil]

Also how would I make it more naturalistic and make the planting better?

[Lennie]

On 5/1/2024 at 11:32 PM, Nikhil said:

Hi lennie what do you mean buy botanics and also should i increase the water level even more, like above the filter and how do I fix the led reflecting?

 

 

On 5/2/2024 at 6:10 AM, Nikhil said:

Also how would I make it more naturalistic and make the planting better?

Hello Nikhil

Some pods, cones, leaves, twigs and woods are safe for fish tanks. You can google what are safe aquaric botanicals and what are not. I personally collected my last batch in our hiking trip with my family. I use our pesticide free naturally dried banana leaves from our garden, and I sometimes order catappa leaves and alder cones online. The key here is being safe for the fish tank and not being subject to pesticides and such as well as  being away from the car gasses, toxic fumes.. etc. you get the idea I believe

 

In terms of scaping the tank, I would simply google your tank size and check for aquascaping styles you like and try creating something similar based on your own liking and material/plant/decor a availability. You can find many ideas on youtube and pinterest

 

what filter is that? I cant see well. If you increase the water level, without a lid, it would be risky for fish to jump. So better get or DIY a lid first, and raise the water level afterwards. once the water level is increased, you wont see the light reflection I believe. It seems this way just because the water level is  low and pic is taken from a lopsided angle

[Nikhil]

It’s also hard for me to put a lid as it’s in a nook so the lid would be diagonal or I would have to remove the tank out the lid on and then not be able to do anything inside the tank because of the lid. Also the filter is a National Geographic filter and it’s the medium size

[Dancing Matt]

Giving it some time is always good advice. It takes a while for the plants to grow in.

[johnnyxxl]

On 4/30/2024 at 9:47 PM, Nikhil said:

It's a 15gal tank with 5 red phantom tetras, 4 fancy guppies, 4 snails and planning to add some shrimp soon. I also have a small piece of driftwood, a rock and about 5 plants. 

I'm wondering what I can do to get rid of the algae and to revive the baby tears on the side. I would also take suggestions for other plants to add. I am planning to add several different colors of the shrimp from the Aquarium Co-op store in person soon.

 

Just make a simple lid that you can take off like Cory used in his DIY video, I made knobs for mine to make it easier to lift and open.  Make it 2 parts one that sits under the light and the other to be in front.  

Regarding botanical one easy way is woods that are really sap filled and oily feeling are generally not good for the aquarium.  But here in SC, I know walnut oak, and gum are good. If you are Leary collecting your own pods and twigs 

[Lennie]

On 5/2/2024 at 10:16 PM, johnnyxxl said:

But here in SC, I know walnut oak, and gum are good.

Walnut is a question mark. Especially black one. And there can be hybrids I guess, I don't know but I remember reading something like that in the past. The toxicity is mainly related to juglone from what I understand.

Some people say they face no problems meanwhile others mentioning they faced deaths. I have been gifted some leaves from a friend but I hesitated to use any.

There are studies that show the toxicity of juglone on fish. Also, Ive seen people mentioning problems they face too

Quote

Marking (1970) discovered that juglone was an effective fish toxicant. His studies showed juglone was highly toxic to nine species of fish, including rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri), northern pike (Esox lucius), goldfish (Carassius auratus), carp (Cyprinus carpio), white sucker (Catostomus commersoni), black bullhead (Ictalurus melas), channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus), and bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) at concentrations ranging from 27 to 88 parts per billion over a 96-hour period. In a study conducted to screen natural product biocides for the control of non-indigenous species, juglone scored high. For example, in five out of six taxonomic groups tested, juglone was among the most toxic (Wright et al. 2007a).

Marking, L.L. 1970. Juglone (5-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone) as a fish toxicant. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 99(3):510–514.

Idk how it works or a few leaves pose any danger to the tank, but I prefer to be safe rather than sorry. So I did not use the leaves in my case

Edited May 2 by Lennie