My new 180g setup + fish pics, help with aquascaping needed

[Japtastic]

Hi chaps,

I have nearly finished my new setup but need some help with the aquascaping, it's 6.5ft long and 28" inches high, as you can see it looks a bit bare and the fish don't tend to use the top 1/3 of the tank very often so I'm guessing I need something to sort this?

Some of the fish, need some more now though to fill it!!

Female Jag

Little GT

Big GT (hump starting to form!)

Severum and Texas

JD

The Tank

 

[Casper2000]

*sigh i have the worst luck with green texas'. My favorite cichlid but can never seem to keep one alive. Awesome fish btw and looks like they got plenty of room right now.

 

[FSM]

Lose the background, those fake underwater scenes look terrible.


You could add a school of dithers if you want more activity. giant danios stay at the top, but they are probably too small. Bala sharks, perhaps.

 

[Nighthawk]

Looks good. I like the solid black backgrounds but that's just me. I'd add a few clown loaches and maybe silver dollars or red hooks.

 

[midtae]

i think it's awesome.

 

[farawayinn]

since you have some open space above the water level, maybe a piece of floating driftwood with some fake vines, like in a terrarium. it would likely bring the fish into the open area in the center of the tank. if you have sufficient lighting, try some floating pond plants. they are pretty cheap and can be swapped out if they don't last.

i agree with giant danio suggestion. i use them in all of my cichlid tanks. they are too fast to get eaten, mostly. and they stay at the surface.

i don't have any experience with gars, but that could be an interesting alternative for surface activity. or even an arowana, maybe a black.

i think the backround is ok if it blends with the tank decor. good luck with the setup.

 

[Bderick67]

I think it looks good, nice work. I like the background it gives the tank depth. I would say to do nothing right now. You'll see other tanks and formulate your own idea as to what you like the best.

 

[CubanB]

maybe a school of silver dollars/ red hooks. they tend to fill in the 'empty' spaces in my tank.

have a look through the TOTM contest. you will be inspired by them and give you endless ideas on how to aquascape.

 

[pdbrady]

I think it looks good, nice work. I like the background it gives the tank depth. I would say to do nothing right now. You'll see other tanks and formulate your own idea as to what you like the best.

No kidding. I like it. The backgrounds work really well when you have plants that are similar to those pictured in the background. Plain black doesn't always work, trust me. I bought my 220 used, and can't get some water stains off the glass (front and back). I put a black bg on it and boy does it show the stains.

 

[Camphilophus]

looks good to me, I need a 180 or a 240 so bad! I've got over 1000gallons going but nothing that big