Any tips on how to make my tank look nicer?

[matt1129]

Looking for cheap materials to use in my tank. Primarily i think i need something to take up the middle of the waterspace. since pic ive added a clay flowerpot thats like 4 inches long and i dont know about a background yet. Any cheap easy to grow plants that look really nice? will my cichlids destroy them?

 

[Jon M]

Paint on a black background and remove that god awful box cave thing you have on the right.

 

[matt1129]

Paint on a black background and remove that god awful box cave thing you have on the right.

LOL my dad made that for me and i felt bad. I think im going to take it out and replace it with a flowerpot

 

[Jon M]

Aww, well it's horrid lol. The terra cotta pots work real good but I find their orange unnatural look unappealing. I used to use them in all my tanks originally then started going for a more natural look. Black back alone will make a huge difference.

 

[floridagar]

i agree the black background would look good.

 

[matt1129]

thats the thing, i reallly dont want to have to drain the tank 100% to move it for spraypaint. any way to do it when theres about 4 inches between the wall and the tank glass

 

[Nim Dibbley]

i personally would put some large pieces of driftwood in there and do something with the background.

 

[matt1129]

i personally would put some large pieces of driftwood in there and do something with the background.

DW would lower my pH. I have it at 8.0 right now, plus DW stains water brown. Maybe a piece of manzanita, does this lower pH as well?
if driftwood is soaked for a week submerged with waterchanges in the container, will the wood lose its pH dropping properties?

 

[fishwhisperer]

slate cave! tall, condo style

 

[Jon M]

Some manzanita DW isn't going to effect your water perimeters or color one bit. I've used it in all my tanks and it has absolutely 0 effect on water color and perimeters. I don't use it anymore though. I liked the look but it was a royal pain in the ass getting the substrate vacuumed around it while doing water changes so I discontinued using it.

As far as for the background w/o moving the tank there are ways. I had a 95g against my wall that I didn't want to drain to pull out and spray. I went to the dollar store and snagged two pieces of solid black poster board. Razor cut them to the exact size, and I just pulled it tight around the edges and taped it. I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out but it literally looked just as normal as my other 125g that had the back sprayed black. Worked like a charm.