Considering Removing All Decorations - Just Looking For Opinions

[Jon M]

Depends on the fish... If I removed everything in my Cichlid tanks all hell would probably break loose as they act as boundary lines and hides.

Guess a current stock would be helpful yeah? Currently it's stocking a Red O, Mono Pbass, and 7 SD. I have 1 CK and 6 SD growing out in other tanks that will be added. (don't worry they're all moving to a 360g when I finally move )

It's a wolf fish he's hiding behind the drifwood

HM? There's no wolf fish in my tank?

Really depend on the fish...if you have more than a couple cichlids, I suggest more instead of less decorations. As for aesthetics, I prefer off center decorations...I don't like perfectly symmetric looking tanks...For instance, the wolf tank, the tank could be a lot more attractive by moving the rock/driftwood a third left or right.

I wouldn't consider it a couple of cichlid with just the O and Pbass. Just the two. So in this case you'd suggest less decor?

Also, I do see some clown loaches? the oscar in 3-5 month is going to reach a size that will eat them if you don't provide them proper hiding places.

Those CL have been long moved to a grow out tank after like the first 2 days they were in there. Rocky ate one when he was that size. Figured I'd see if he might leave the bottom dwellers alone. He didn't. Anyhow, yeah, they're growing out in another tank atm.

I like the deco. and would gladly have you keep doing the extra maintenance to upkeep that beautiful tank.

Thanks for the compliment it just discourages me when I clean and the whole tank is a mess after 5 days. You wouldn't believe how much waste was under the rock piles when I just removed them...

those piles of small rocks aren't really useful for your fish, so you might as well get rid of those without hesitation, although I'd keep the rest.

As mentioned above I just removed 80% of the rocks.

Everything that is learned about tank decorations is mentioned here........"The plants fail and are brown, without the rocks there will be more swimming space, the rock piles collect fish waste."This is why I go bare when it comes to tanks larger than 100g.........I may place some sand or gravel, but no extreme driftwood or large rock..........More swimming space the better..........Unless I am breeding the fish in the tank, I do not put any type of decoration for them to be in or around......PLants are always in need of Co2 care, and they do die, creating unneeded waste...........Rocks can be an obstruction to the fish, and are known to scratch fish eye balls and scales right off of the fish if there is a storm of frustration...........

Makes sense.

Well guys, I decided to do this. Removed the DW, removed the plants, removed like 80% of the rocks from the rock piles. Removed the smaller of the two boulder type rocks. Tipped the bigger one down sideways so it lays flat and not tall and centered it. Put the few rocks from the piles I left in there spread out around the center rock, and none of them are stacking so no waste gets trapped anywhere.

Of course I stirred up the sand real good and scrubbed all the algae from the locations I couldn't get to from the decorations so it's a bit shaken up right now so I'll take a pic of how it looks when I get home from work after 8 and hopefully it'll be settled by then.

P.S. Tank looks WAY bigger now w/o all the decor.

 

[Jon M]

So here is what I went ahead and did. What do yall think? Sorry it took me so long to post the pics. I was super busy all day.

Sure was nice to get all the waste out from under the rocks and stuff, and scrub down the sides of the tank and stuff behind the plants and dw and rock piles. The algae was horrendous and there were large amounts of waste in the rock formations. I got almost all of it with a large wc today but I couldn't get the free floating stuff that settled after wc so I'm likely gonna do a real fast wc just to get the substrate again tomorrow.

 

[littlewangzfan]

Looks better than no decor at all.

 

[Water]

Looks great!

 

[Pharaoh]

I think the tank looks good as-is. You might try removing the big boulders to see if you like it, but I like it the way it is. You're fish probably won't mind either way to be honest.

 

[Jon M]

Looks better than no decor at all.

So you liked it better with all the decor?

Looks great!

Thanks man.

I think the tank looks good as-is. You might try removing the big boulders to see if you like it, but I like it the way it is. You're fish probably won't mind either way to be honest.

When you say the way it is are you saying how it was before I made the changes or now that I have?

 

[Jrob]

when push comes to shove, it doesn't really matter what we all think ...the tank is in your house...and it all depends on what you think...if you liked it before with some greenery and piles of rock, keep it like that...if you like it now with some spread out pebbles and a centerpiece rock keep it like that...

I felt the same way with my 30 gallon a few months ago...i took every single thing i had in it out...including the gravel substrate..and just added one thing at a time...until i felt it is how i wanted it to look...i went from 4 ornaments, 6 pieces of slate, and 1 large piece of driftwood with black and green gravel....

To

1 ornament, 2 rocks, 3 pieces of slate, 2 pieces of medium driftwood...and black gravel

 

[Jon M]

when push comes to shove, it doesn't really matter what we all think ...the tank is in your house...and it all depends on what you think...if you liked it before with some greenery and piles of rock, keep it like that...if you like it now with some spread out pebbles and a centerpiece rock keep it like that...

I felt the same way with my 30 gallon a few months ago...i took every single thing i had in it out...including the gravel substrate..and just added one thing at a time...until i felt it is how i wanted it to look...i went from 4 ornaments, 6 pieces of slate, and 1 large piece of driftwood with black and green gravel....

To

1 ornament, 2 rocks, 3 pieces of slate, 2 pieces of medium driftwood...and black gravel

Of course i know it's up to me but the point of the thread is I'm asking for everyone's opinions and thoughts because I'm interested.

I don't like how the right side rocks get buried in the sand after a day or so. I like how the left side rocks stay uncovered because my intake blows so hard it makes a little sand crater where they are. Maybe that would be a good place for rocks to prevent the crater and the intake would blow the rocks clean constantly. I definitely like how open the tank is now and how easy it is to clean the walls and all. Before it was a pain and algae would just build up under those spots I couldn't get to.

 

[horrifier]

i like the new setup...i think simple tanks with sand look great. if it were me tho i think i would try to find a nice piece of driftwood to use as a centerpiece for the tank instead of the big rock, but thats just me.

 

[dacjd25]

I think your tank looks great as is, I think it would be worth the extra work.