Who Gives A Fish Forums

I'm pretty meh about my tank's current setup... I basically just threw plants in wherever, since my main goal was just keeping them alive - I'd never had much luck with that before. Now that I've somewhat figured that out, I could use some advice on reorganizing everything.

I'm stuck without driftwood for now, and I don't want to add anything new to the tank. I can move plants and rocks around, and I do have some extra big red rocks lying around if that helps.

I've got a bunch of water sprite coming this week that I'll mostly leave floating. I've got young java ferns on my rock structure that I'm hoping to pass along to my sister eventually - her betta could use some plants, and I'd like to donate some from my tank without leaving it bare.

I think I see a possibility for improvement. What if you placed some of that wood from the back left corner more towards the front, then attached your java ferns to it? That way, you could arrange your stem plants along the back of the tank and create a nice layered look. Cutting and replanting the top sections of your stem plants could help thicken them out a bit and add some height variation.

I agree with dungeon's suggestion.

Moving the taller plants to the back and clustering them together would create a nice background. The small piece of driftwood in the center would be more visible, drawing the eye towards it.

Adding another larger piece of driftwood would really help fill out the tank and create a more balanced look.

I appreciate the suggestions, dungeon and kingrise. To clarify, I don't have any driftwood in the tank at the moment - just those red/brown rocks that I used to create a little hideout for my otos.

In the future, I'm planning to add some driftwood and change the background to black, but I'm holding off on any major aquascaping until I move in a few months. For now, I just want to make the best of what I have, as the tank is looking a bit cluttered.

Thanks again for the advice - I've already started draining the tank and I'm about 75% done. I'll start rearranging the plants now.

I think I'll try to use the rocks to fill in that corner a bit more - it should add some depth to the tank. I did something similar with my 10g betta tank and it turned out pretty nice.

I think I've managed to make the tank look even more cluttered, but I'll tackle it again next week and see if I can improve things.

I've been trying to optimize the filter placement for my temporary betta setup, making sure the outtake is directed at the divider to improve circulation in the sectioned-off area. It's not the prettiest solution, but it's the best I can do for now.

Once I move, I'm planning to repurpose my 3g tank as a growout tank for my java ferns. I've grown quite fond of them, but I have to admit, I prefer them when they're more mature – the little ones are just not my thing.

squidman wrote: ↑Tue Jun 27, 2023 7:55 pm I'm pretty meh about my tank's current setup... I basically just threw plants in wherever, since my main goal was just keeping them alive - I'd never had much luck with that before. Now that I've somewhat figured that out, I could use some advice on reorganizing everything.

I'm stuck without driftwood for now, and I don't want to add anything new to the tank. I can move plants and rocks around, and I do have some extra big red rocks lying around if that helps.

I've got a bunch of water sprite coming this week that I'll mostly leave floating. I've got young java ferns on my rock structure that I'm hoping to pass along to my sister eventually - her betta could use some plants, and I'd like to donate some from my tank without leaving it bare.

Definitely an improvement

It's come together a bit more, I think.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the vote of confidence. The fish are happy and that's what matters most.

Hi, I'm a bit late to the conversation, but I was wondering if the plants in the front are Vallisneria? If they are, they'll probably cover the foreground and block the little cave you made for your otos. I personally think overgrown Vallisneria is great, but if you don't want it taking over, you might consider moving it to the back of the tank.

florium wrote: ↑Wed Jun 28, 2023 11:37 am Hi, I'm a bit late to the conversation, but I was wondering if the plants in the front are Vallisneria? If they are, they'll probably cover the foreground and block the little cave you made for your otos. I personally think overgrown Vallisneria is great, but if you don't want it taking over, you might consider moving it to the back of the tank.

Just catching up on this now.

Yeah, that's Vallisneria in the front. I actually moved it to the center of the tank to give it a better shot under my light bar. It's doing alright, sending out runners and all, but the leaves just keep melting off. I'm thinking it might be due to the lack of nutrients in the substrate - I cleaned out all the sand a while back, so I've ordered some root tabs to see if that helps things out.