aquascaping?

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apharing

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 20, 2009
153
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massachusetts
Hi guys, i am currently in the prossess of sucking all the sand out of my tank, and I want to redo the whole thing bare bottom. The fish are an Oscar, a pleco, and a tire track eel. I was thinking of putting a big piece of driftwood in, but would that work form my big clumsy oscar? any other design ideas are welcom:):popcorn:
 
I don't see the point of having bare bottom. Sand is way better looking! I have a bare bottom 35, the bottom has since been covered with algae and planaria tubes. If you don't know what those are, they are little tubes that cover the glass, they are made of some sort of dead organic matter, and little worms live inside.

The only advantage I can think of with bare bottom, is that ICH isn't likely to strike twice in a row. Most of the time, it can be treated anyway.

If you can put the driftwood in another tank for a while, you could cover it in java moss. (or another kind of moss) Once it is attached well, (after a month or two) the fish cannot pull it off without some serious effort. Combined with some clean, light brown sand, this look could win aquascaping contests!

Another thing to try is weighted bunches of hornwort. Your oscar could pull them around if he wanted and nothing much would happen to it... Some stems could break, but they would regrow quickly. If you decide you don't like hornwort after a while, you could give it away.

Both the aforementioned plants are very easy. Java fern could be used, but the leaves could be pulled off and broken by an oscar... I would think. I had an oscar back in the day, and he pulled around plastic plants sometimes. If someone has tried having an oscar with moss, please don't hesitate to chip in!

I had goldfish and java moss, they rooted through it constantly and it never got settled. That is why, you start it in another tank, if possible. If that is not possible, because the driftwood doesn't fit in any of your other tanks, get several of the same type of rock, mid sized to sort of big. Then, attach moss to it in another tank, like you would with the wood.

Unfortunately, if you have large robust plant destroyers in every tank, you will have to get moss already attached on something... If that fails, it could be an expensive tragedy. You have been warned... :) Option B is to set up a ten gallon, fill it with rocks, water and moss. (and cycle it and add some small fishes, possibly feeders) Then, transplant mossy rocks to all your tanks. It is a good excuse to set up another tank, anyway.
 
hmm i really like that idea of the driftwood with java moss. I think i will do that, with a bare bottom, and if i dont like that, i can always add sand. any suggestions of where to get the drift wood and where to buy java moss?
 
Oh you don't have driftwood yet?

Well... MOSS should be avaliable at an LFS somewhere. If not, you can get your moss of choice on Ebay or aquabid. Sometimes, you can find a piece of driftwood with moss already on it on ebay or aquabid.

Willow moss is common in streams and such, you might be able to find a little rock with some on it to start a culture. You might find a piece of wood with willow moss on it, but I don't know if it is illegal to remove that from it's 'habitat.'
 
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