pics of blackwater scalare tank
- Thread starter Louie13
- Start date
Very cool! Just one suggestion if I may...the wood I feel is a little too 'straight' and fresh off a tree. I would go with some aged and knurled manzanita wood. It would really look great!
Thanks guys, really appreciate the comments. I was actually getting frustrated with this and was on the verge of a major redo or teardown. I was having problems with the leaf litter in that my bn pleco is actually eating them at a rapid rate! And it's winter here in Canada so we are covered with snow and oak leaves are hard to come by and I only have so many left that I collected in the fall. The pleco is unfortunatly going to be rehomed, he ate all my amazon swords in the last tank and i've gotten fed up with him now. Also, the filter was causing them to blow around but i'm reducing the flow so hopefully that takes care of that. Without the leaf litter it just wasn't the same. Not to sound cheesy but it's a great feeling to get positive feedback here. Most people that come to my house think my wife and I are nuts. That our house is like a zoo. Two birds, two large dogs, two tanks. What the hell you have two tanks now they say. I shrug it off but sometimes it can be a little hurtful when you try to create beautiful pieces of nature and noone but yourself appreciates it. For that thanks!
Thanks Jcardona1! I appreciate the feedback. Manzanite would indeed look great. The backstory to this setup is the reason I used these branches. I am in the process of playing around with the layout of the branches though. But at the same time want them to placed in a way that doesn't make maintance to much of a pain during cleaning/water changes. Actually this was an old tank that I had sitting my garage collecting dust. It was bought for my malawi cichlids before I knew better that it was too small. I upgraded them to a larger tank and this tank just sat for a long while. I figured I would make use of it and try a planted tank. I was inspired by the beautiful amano tanks! I actually read your entire planted tank threads aswell and was in awe. So i went out and bought a bunch of plants, malayan drift wood, ferts, etc. Turns out I didn't have the lighting, or the touch to create a nice planted tank. Everything quickly died. I needed co2 and upgraded lighting to get what I wanted. And even then I don't think I had the touch or the patience. I was bummed about pissing away all that money for nothing. So in light of that I didn't want spend another penny. Being that it was fall here, i found the leaf litter and branches in a nearby park while walking my dogs. So i gave this kind of setup a shot and think it turned out pretty decent for spending not a cent on it. Eventually though I may look into the manzanite once the sting of the wasted money and time on the planted idea subsides. And if I may, your new unplanted look is great!
Thanks Jcardona1! I appreciate the feedback. Manzanite would indeed look great. The backstory to this setup is the reason I used these branches. I am in the process of playing around with the layout of the branches though. But at the same time want them to placed in a way that doesn't make maintance to much of a pain during cleaning/water changes. Actually this was an old tank that I had sitting my garage collecting dust. It was bought for my malawi cichlids before I knew better that it was too small. I upgraded them to a larger tank and this tank just sat for a long while. I figured I would make use of it and try a planted tank. I was inspired by the beautiful amano tanks! I actually read your entire planted tank threads aswell and was in awe. So i went out and bought a bunch of plants, malayan drift wood, ferts, etc. Turns out I didn't have the lighting, or the touch to create a nice planted tank. Everything quickly died. I needed co2 and upgraded lighting to get what I wanted. And even then I don't think I had the touch or the patience. I was bummed about pissing away all that money for nothing. So in light of that I didn't want spend another penny. Being that it was fall here, i found the leaf litter and branches in a nearby park while walking my dogs. So i gave this kind of setup a shot and think it turned out pretty decent for spending not a cent on it. Eventually though I may look into the manzanite once the sting of the wasted money and time on the planted idea subsides. And if I may, your new unplanted look is great!
Louie13;4764854; said:
Regular branches from and outside maple tree dont contaminate the water in any way?
I'm starting to wonder about this myself. I had read/heard that maple branches were harmless. Especially the ends of the branches rather than the base of the tree itself. But now I'm not so sure. The branches have been in the tank for about 4 weeks. I did see some fungus in the areas were the bark was missing from being cut. But the plecos ate that. Looked like jelly fish! But I'm not seeing any problem as far as water quality. Fish seems healthy and happy. One thing that does concern me is that I'm not showing a visible nitrate reading. For the first month the tank was planted so that made sense. But the second month it's been up I still am not showing readable nitrates. Which is making me wonder if the branches are staying alive and consuming the nitrates. So I wonder if I'm fine, or if the branches are alive and are going to eventually die, causing a huge crash. Opinions anyone?
great looking. Maybe some moss on the branches onces that pleco is gone and it would look really cool!
