Help me rescape my tank! (with PICS)

[Plec123]

So, my tank has looked the same for a while now, and ive become rather unattantive to my fish, unfortunately...
Im stepping back into the game this morning, and im gonna do some water changes and hopefully rescape, since my chrysichthys cat doesnt like having to swim around all the driftwood and i thought it would be helpful to put some of it together to make a cave and open up swimming space for the cat.
pics of the tank as is are attached, lemme know what you think i should do with the bogwood!

 

[jcardona1]

for one, the background is distracting. a solid color would be much better. is painting it black an option? as for the dirftwood, id follow the rules of thirds. make your focal piece (the driftwood) be in one of the 1/3 sections of your tank. dont place it in the middle or far to the edges. this will create a more natural scape and lead the eye down the rest of the tank

 

[Plec123]

ive been meaning to get a black background... thanks for that input.
as for now, my driftwood isnt very stackable and the pieces arent big.
i will keep your advice in mind when i get more though.

 

[jcardona1]

it doesnt really have to be big or tall. it's all on how you arrange it. try laying some on its side, standing up, etc. there is no right or wrong way to do it. just as long as its pleasing to the eye

 

[chonhzilla]

for one, the background is distracting. a solid color would be much better. is painting it black an option? as for the dirftwood, id follow the rules of thirds. make your focal piece (the driftwood) be in one of the 1/3 sections of your tank. dont place it in the middle or far to the edges. this will create a more natural scape and lead the eye down the rest of the tank

Very well said.

 

[Fishlover5]

My mother recently had an idea for one of our tanks. We bought a piece of driftwood that was more tall than it was wide and planted small clumps of java moss on and around it. It's still growing in, but it looks pretty cool. You could also get a rock or slate. The driftwood you have would make a good focal point as it is.

 

[Plec123]

i moved the wood so its out of the catfish's way... its makes a nice cave now. i need some branching wood i think... that would look nice.

 

[Fishlover5]

It really would. We've seen some in some display tanks and it looks really natural. You could also break a coconut and plant java moss on it for a cave. Petco had them. They also had java lace fern on a ring that goes through a rock. Might give you some ideas.

 

[poly-nomial]

The tank has one basic color, brown. Brown is unappealing and bland. Change the gravel to black for a start. Lose the bubbles, they are useless and distracting. The background is annoying to the eyes. Paint it black or blue. Than, try starting to top off the tank more often to avoid the "unattended" look. If the light is around 1 watt per gallon, get some plants like java moss and java fern. The fake plants have to go. The driftwood is awesome! keep that up, get more of it. Get some black/grey rocks and try to grow your java moss and java fern on them. Good luck!!

 

[manlyfish]

i would get some tanish sand white sand really looks nice with bright green plants