Brown in/Blue out ...tank redo

[Lady Hobbs]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v93/carolo/X-HOBBS%20FISH%20ONLY/redone.jpg

Just re-did my tank. I now have 80 pounds of blue gravel I have no use for! Figured I may as well change out the gravel before the plants took hold.

I baked little Laterite balls until hard in the oven and jammed them down in the gravel. It worked great!

Big reflection from the TV shows but you get the drift.

[Drumachine09]

Well, you have all that extra gravel, just get a new tank!

Looks good btw.

[SkarloeysMom]

WOW! I love that brown gravel! You tank looks great! I have that neon blue gravel too and I've been wondering what brown would look like since I have like 15 lbs of it unopened that the guy gave me when I bought my 10g.

I have some questions for you about how you went about changing out the gravel. What do you do with the fish while you're doing that? Do you have another tank you can put them in? It seems like you'd have to take out all the fish and break down the whole tank and re-cycle it. Is there another way to do it without doing that?

[genitor]

Tanks looks good

[Lady Hobbs]

WOW! I love that brown gravel! You tank looks great! I have that neon blue gravel too and I've been wondering what brown would look like since I have like 15 lbs of it unopened that the guy gave me when I bought my 10g.

I have some questions for you about how you went about changing out the gravel. What do you do with the fish while you're doing that? Do you have another tank you can put them in? It seems like you'd have to take out all the fish and break down the whole tank and re-cycle it. Is there another way to do it without doing that?

I took out all the plants first then half the water. Then the gravel. I didn't take the fish out as I had no place for them. Dumped the new gravel in, replanted and filled tank. With a larger tank, the toxics levels don't get as high as they will in a smaller tank but I will still have to keep on eye on it for ammonia levels.

First thing my neighbor lady said was ........"ohhhhh, I liked the blue gravel better." Go figure.

[zackish]

that is really nice...was it hard to take out all the gravel and did it make a big mess? I am assuming that is your 55?

[Lady Hobbs]

I use a small plastic bowl and put a strainer right in the tank. Fill the strainer and let most of the water drain off before I put it in something else. The little stuff left I get with the net.

I have all the used gravel in a big dry box but will take it outside to dry out well so it won't mold. I have $80 worth of the darned stuff so will have to use it for something. I may use it in a non-planted tank that I plan to get for some severums. The blue and green plants together just didn't look too hot to me.

[nanaglen2001]

Holla Mylady

Tank looks good. Real great start, and now let Mother Nature take over, it`l be a jungle pretty soon.

An idea to use the blue gravel.

A friend of mine, an aquarist thru and thru has a nice set up, he calls Atlantis.

I am going to ask him if I may use some of his pics, cause pics say more than 1000 words.

[nanaglen2001]

Here it is, Atlantis...this tank is meant be really kitschig.

In it is the Akropolis and the Venus of Milo and some "antique" stones.

Citronella and Manni (the orange parrots) are so happy in this tank, they are spawning every 3 weeks or so


I was allowed to use this pic by Axel Wunsch, who ownes the Copyrights

[Lady Hobbs]

Nice set up! Some people are certainly more keen on decorating their tanks than I am. When I first set up the 55, I had a blue foil background and with the blue gravel, I loved it! The color really popped. The foil background made it almost impossible to take pictures of the tank with the flashback, tho.

I like black on black but you also have to consider the color of the fish. I'd never find my featherfins in black gravel. LOL

I will most likely have to use it in my next tank. It's just too expensive to throw out and replace.

[SkarloeysMom]

Here it is, Atlantis...this tank is meant be really kitschig.

In it is the Akropolis and the Venus of Milo and some "antique" stones.

Citronella and Manni (the orange parrots) are so happy in this tank, they are spawning every 3 weeks or so


I was allowed to use this pic by Axel Wunsch, who ownes the Copyrights

I like it! Sounds like the fish do too. The blue gravel really looks great in that set up.

[Algenco]

I like the natural look of the brown. I use to have a similar gravel in all my tanks, it was sold as "Red Flint", small size with smooth edges.