decorating tank

[twiztid1980]

I'd like to know if anyone has any ideas on a main decoration for the center of my tank. The driftwood I was gonna use was bad so that idea fell through. I'd like something to go about half way up the tank height which would be about 12 to 13 inches and not take up a very large area of the gravel. Any ideas would be great thanks.
here is a picture of my tank 65 gallon 18 x 36 x 24h
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[Drumachine09]

I dont know, but nice kribs.

[cocoa_pleco]

the middle looks really empty. Try some fake/live plants on both sides, then a plump piece of driftwood in the middle.
Or, you can stack a bunch of rocks in the middle and have a "rock hotel" like cichlid tanks

[cocoa_pleco]

NICE kribs.

My males getting some great colors, his fins are REALLY neon blue.

My lamp. brichardi has beautiful yellow and blue colors, and my auratus is neon yellower

[twiztid1980]

What kind of rock can be used without altering ph or maybe some sort of ceramic decoration.

[cocoa_pleco]

slate is really good for stacking and doesnt affect anything, utah ice rock is cool, and black rock is baseball sized pieces for stacking with the slate.


None of these, the utah ice, slate, or black rock affect PH or anything

[Drumachine09]

Adding rocks will, however, increase the hardness of your water.

[twiztid1980]

I have very hard water so I may go with something ceramic then. I'd like to leave the hardness where it is and not increase it. I'd buy malaysian driftwood online but chances are I wont like the piece I get and no pet store around me has anything good. I want to keep the look as natural as possible though so rock or driftwood is the way to go I think.

[*Sarah*]

Rocks and driftwood are great, and so are plants. There are lots of fake ones out there that look very real. Or you could keep real plants, I have a tank of each, but I have to say, I get a lot of enjoyment out of my real plants, they are a challenge, and they're pretty cheap so if I kill them it's not a big deal lol.

[cocoa_pleco]

one of my lfs has any piece of regular or malaysian driftwood for 11 bucks, no matter what size


make sure you soak the driftwood for a week to get rid of tannins, unless you want tannins

[twiztid1980]

I will be using live plants once the tank is cycled but figured the tank needs a main decoration with plants around it. I just cant seem to find that one pice of decor that I like.

[cocoa_pleco]

you can put the plants in now. They will help convert the ammonia to nitrite and speed up cycling a bit

[Chrona]

I think they just eat the ammonia actually. I found my tank cycled pretty darn slow when I put the plants in with the fish. Of course, it didn't really matter because I never got an ammonia or nitrite spike.

How about a DYI stonehenge decoration in the middle? A big round base piece with rectangular pieces of rock to make the pillars, all held together with epoxy. Later, on, you could let java moss grow on it.

[minabird]

Since you're getting plants, how about a plant as a centerpiece; one that stands out from the other plants in the tank. In my 28 gal bow, I have a center grouping with a piece of malasian drftwood in the front center with a banana plant on the right end, a cryptocoryne wendtii on the left and an african spearhead (anubias gracilis) behind the driftwood and just left of center; the anubias is the actual centerpiece.

In another tank I have a rotala rotundifolia as the centerpiece with its red leaves contrasting against bogwood and a background of bacopa caroliniana.

[Glasstapper]

check out these pieces of natural driftwood. I like the tall ones the best. You could always attach an anubias or java fern to it to get plants growing on it. Reasonable prices, too.

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[Chrona]

check out these pieces of natural driftwood. I like the tall ones the best. You could always attach an anubias or java fern to it to get plants growing on it. Reasonable prices, too.

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I think the only problem with those sites is that you never see exactly what you are getting. The posted picture is the ideal piece of driftwood, but you may get something entirely unsuitable. Ebay on the other hand, has lots of reputable driftwood suppliers that post an image of each piece so you know exactly what you are getting. Of course, it's a bit more expensive, but they have some REALLY nice looking pieces on there.

[Glasstapper]

So the ones on that site aren't generally like the picture? If it was close, then I'd say "cool", but if not, I'm sorry I suggested it. oops.

[Chrona]

Well, the fake ones are the same, but in general, stores will seperate driftwood into sizes and maybe quality categories, with different price tags for each. General online pet shops are great if you don't really mind what shape the driftwood is (ie if it's going to be swamped in java moss anyways), but I personally find the extra 50-100% worth spending to know what I'm getting. Of course, you could always just go to the LFS to see the stuff in person :)

[twiztid1980]

Ok well I went with a piece of lava rock, some slate, and some fake plants for now. The plants will be replaced with real ones once tank is cycled.
Heres how it looks...
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[*Sarah*]

I have slate like that too, and I have it piled so there are kind of caves for the fish to swim through :)