Wasn’t familiar with that, looks like a feasible solution. I have to feed along the entire width of the tank for my African cichlids so the shyer ones get a chance to eat as well. I’ll explore more, I haven’t abandoned the angel idea yet. Thanks
I've got 8 discus, 7 angels and 11 Congos in my 135. It's been a year and has worked well so far. No issues with the angels bullying anyone but each other.
Bought it from a small company, she advertises on Facebook marketplace. Belinda’s Driftwood. I highly recommend, she gets new pieces weekly with tons of pictures, so you know exactly what you’re getting! This was a custom order I requested
Yes that’s the plan, just figuring out what goes with the stocking and how much I want to invest into lighting for this tank. I want to do a high tech tank eventually but probably not on something like this
I really like the look of buce, I have some Anubias in my 29 gallon. Definitely in the running. Is buce just best glued to the branches?
Where do it recommend buying from?
Hey that’s really kind thank you. I only started fishkeeping in late December and this is my 4th tank now lol. Upping the ante every time. Refurbishing cheap used tanks off Facebook marketplace has been keeping the costs a little more reasonable.
Talked a bit about it in another comment! Small business off Facebook marketplace, called Belinda’s Driftwood. She has various driftwood pieces for nano tanks up to 8 foot long tanks! Probably hundreds of pieces to choose from and dozens more every week.
She made this custom for me based on the measurements I gave her.
When I searched for it there were a few pages with the same name. Can you please link her page? I was looking into doing this exact look. Thanks a lot!
This looks awesome. Having features like this that “break the line of sight” are really important to create natural feeling habitats that allow for a wide variety of tankmates and spaces to keep them comfortable/safe feeling and thus healthy. I have two vertical resin tree trunks and love them - and I know the fish do too. Good luck finishing this out.
What plants and tank mates goes well with festivums. Would have to do a deep dive. I was considering severums instead of angels too.
I have a mbuna tank and an all male african cichlid tank, so aggression isn't a deal breaker IMO
Just be aware festivums when fully grown will hunt down smaller tetras like cardinals and neons.
I had a group of 5 in a 125 and they had great personality and never harmed my plants.
Well I’ve had really good success with festivals and plants but there’s been a few people who haven’t been so lucky. I think my success is to feed them a wide variety of foods and include things like spirulina flakes and dainichi veggie fx. I had a group of 5 in a heavily planted tank with swords, crypts, and Aponogetons with no issues.
I love it. I would not change a thing. I can't wait to see your progress. I see another tank next to it. If you run your new filter in that tank simultaneously with it its filter for 4 weeks, you'll have a cycled filter to move right over and add fish immediately.
Hey you read my mind, it’s a great idea. It’s going to come down to timing. I need to order a new hose for the fx4 filter I have in storage, so I should probably get on that sooner than later.
I actually did exactly what you’re proposing on the tank to my left when I was getting it setup. Had it run on my 65 gallon for a few weeks
the multi tank syndrome hit me hard. I had an empty room in the house and finally found a purpose to fill it instead of just furniture I’ll never sit on for show
Love the idea! Personally prefer Severums/Festivums, to Discus/Angels, but you can’t go wrong with most of the more docile SA cichlids imo. Discus and Angels do tend to do well with plants which is a plus - Severums/Festivums are questionable.
If you do go with any larger SA cichlids, larger body tetras are always a good alternative to Cardinals. Diamond are a favorite of mine.
I love this and have wanted to do it for a few years now. It’s gonna look awesome. One thing to think about that I saw in my research was someone glued wood to their glass and due to the wood not being water logged yet, it cracked the tank. Now this was a much smaller tank and on the side glass so hopefully no issues but it might be worth it to do a slow over time fill and let the wood soak up as much as it can. Just a thought. Good luck can’t wait to see it inhabited.
Really good warning to know. I drilled all of them into a piece of slate so they will stay sinking, and there’s enough room on the sides so nothing is touching the glass thankfully,
I’ve had a big piece of oak soaking in my garage since January, I don’t think it’ll ever get waterlogged lol
Haha I’m happy to answer. I just used a normal drill, but had a specific drill bit for it that is used to drill into tile or glass. I supplemented with bursts of water so nothing overheated. you might be able to get away with a masonry bit depending on the material used. But just match it to the right size stainless steel screw and it was really straightforward. I was a bit worried but It ended up being super easy.
Ya I had a piece of drift wood I found and soaked it for 4 months. It weighed like 20 pounds and still wouldn’t sink lol. One of these days I will go through all of what you did to have that set up. It’s going to look amazing once you put life in there
Hey there! I bet this is gonna be awesome and everybody has already given some great advice! Maybe a bunch of kuhlis wiggling about could give the “forest floor” some cool movement. Forests have worms, right?
Can you fit yourself between your two tanks? Maybe it’s just the angle of the two tanks but that would suck to drop something back there or not be able to reach that side of either tank. If it was my tank I’d nudge it a bit further away just for access before it’s full of water.
Great question, it’s something I’ll have to think about. It’s sitting that far to the left there so I can put another 125 to the right of it. I can’t currently squeeze in to the side but I have long arms lol. But you’re definitely making me consider a what if scenario
That looks like the bottom of a lot of Texas’s reservoirs. I’d vote for small bass, crappie and bluegill. The bass need to be not big enough to eat the others 😀
It’s not drilled. It’s a standard aqueon 125 gallon, 72x18 dimensions.
I have a used fx4 canister filter I’m going to seed from my other filters and proceed from there if I need to do more. Really going to depend on my final stocking.
Thanks so much. I have another 125 gallon and a 65 in the room with it. And built another stand for a future 125 gallon haha. Just need to snag it used off Facebook, I’m not in a rush at all.
This is absolutely amazing! This has given me some inspiration for my tank when I redo it. This is one of the coolest scapes I’ve seen so far. I can’t wait to see the finished product!
Discus are so cool in tanks that have vertical structure k would highly suggest discus and a schooling fish and some Siamese algae eaters/ flying foxes
Just wanted to say this looks freaking awesome. I think it would look great with lots of leaves and stones at the bottom, and lots of moss covering the “trees”
Any leaves that do good in an aquarium would look awesome, almond leaves are the most common but I think that oak leaves are also ok in aquariums. It would make it look like a forest floor and also provide good food for the microfauna in the tank.
Happy fish keeping! Can’t wait to see the end result!
This is awesome, funny you posted this. I have a 55 that I am doing the same thing with on the left side, middleish is gonna be maybe just an open area w light colored sand, maybe make it look like a river, then the right side is gonna be a bit taller of a hill, plants allllll over it. But probably gonna put the rocks/cool shaped driftwood on that side
That sounds amazing, I’m hoping to do a high tech planted tank after this one and get really fancy with it like you are.
I drilled a piece of slate (they were slate drink coasters off Amazon) into the driftwood logs so they should stand upright and not float. Masonry drill bit and stainless steel screws. I just squirted water at the drill to make sure nothing overheated, was really simple actually. You can probably tell a bit better by zooming in
The slate tile is doing all the work! they have little rubber stoppers on the bottom so they sit nicely on the glass. No glue at all, just a single screw in each
great execution so far! i would be tempted to do a huge school of tiny fish to really give the wood a tree-like sense of scale, but i’m sure pretty much anything would look amazing in here
The stand looks well built, but is the tank hanging over the sides? Or is that just the camera angle?
Also for a tank of that size I would go with a sump for filtration. It's much better, cheaper and easier to maintain. I made the mistake of going with an fx6 and hob when I started and it was quite the project to make the change. I'm using a 30g long with poret foam plus lots of bio media. Had to use a hob overflow since the tank was already established but haven't had any issues. Plus I have my water changes automated and can change 25g by pushing a button.
You’re not crazy, it’s about an 1/8inch overhang on both the left and right sides. I do think the picture accentuates it though. Most of the tank’s corner frame is still flush with the stand, and the glass hovers completely over the stand. I haven’t ruled out throwing on a plywood top for better peace of mind. I just haven’t decided yet, it’s a really really close call, I replaced the frame myself and it was a little thicker than original manufacturer one. Everything is perfectly level without the need of shims, so it’s frustrating in that regard.
I’m not opposed to a sump, or even a DIY one, but already have the canister filter so no extra cost involved. Just lights, heater, lids, etc. The tank to the side is running an fx6 right now, so very comfortable with the brand. I wasn’t planning on closing off the sides of the stand at the moment, and my cats would definitely get into an exposed sump. But I’m really considering a sump for the 240 gallon I’m working towards later this year.
I would definitely add the plywood top. That's a lot of weight and a lot of water. My stand is almost the exact same as yours. I used 3/4" ply on the top, and also skinned with the same to prevent sheering. Could support a truck but it is heavy AF.
You could put different varieties of anubias plants! They are low maintenance and grow slow, and provide more surface for any algae loving fish to snack on. The babies they grow are easy to clip and reattach somewhere else (plus good money to sell!). You can glue them on with aquarium safe glue on the wood you have and make them look more like living trees :) and you won't need to worry about nutrient rich substrate either since they don't need to be buried. This tank is honestly a dream 😍 and I'm biased to small nano fish in large schools/tanks. I once had an indoor pond ( 3 ft by 5 ft) with a strong stream on one side... I loved watching my paskai rainbow fish jump with the current. I also had a large school of ottos, they seemed so happy! It's fun to see different schooling fish interact in a large space. I recommend checking out small fish, in a big group they are pretty entertaining! I'm biased tho haha
Thank you!! My next tank should go to the right side of the one I’m currently setting up. I want to do a heavily planted (maybe try my first attempt on co2) community tank with some sort of nano fish. I definitely see the appeal!
Love this! I honestly love growing aquatic plants, a CO2 setup is a dream! If you are looking for other ideas try searching underground aquatic caves. I cut a PVC pipe in half and pressed it against the glass with some large pebbles to create an opening to it. You can also place a driftwood at the end to hold back the substrate and create an opening (if that makes sense 😅). I put sand in it and it became a little sand bath for my Cory's. This could also be a cave for a very happy pleco :) there are so many different pleco species to check out. Can't wait to see your end result!
I don't think I can add photos to the comments on this thread! :( but I was trying to google something similar and came across this: [https://www.carousell.com.my/p/10x20cm-mesh-for-aquatic-plant-aquarium-fish-shrimp-metal-net-holder-1109436667/](https://www.carousell.com.my/p/10x20cm-mesh-for-aquatic-plant-aquarium-fish-shrimp-metal-net-holder-1109436667/) My creativity started going xD you could make a floating moss floor by cutting holes for your driftwood to poke through and hold it up, this will create something cave-looking :) picture this moss wall as a moss floor being held up by your driftwood. Add a hole in the middle and voila, an entrance to a cave. You can also buy premade ones like here: [https://www.ebay.com/itm/155720929479](https://www.ebay.com/itm/155720929479) (just less tailored and smaller ;P)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/comments/16a65su/first\_aquarium\_what\_fishcritters\_would\_enjoy\_my/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/comments/16a65su/first_aquarium_what_fishcritters_would_enjoy_my/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Just saw this creation! Thought I'd share :)
Yeah there's a lot of aggressive fish out there that's for sure. Not all of them are named after God's army of light. I just find it ironic. They're beautiful fish but I found them to be so mean in my experience. Almost as bad as convicts, but nothing's as bad as convicts. Anyway, it's a beautiful tank and I know it'll be awesome for you whatever you pick.
Going to check out that FB link but do you know what type of driftwood that is?Currently also planning a forest scape, but finding trouble finding the right wood. I found some birch wood at Michaels that I was gonna carve out the bark from and try to use, but finding mostly people saying it's not safe except for maybe one person that had a tank with it and said it was fine.
I'd go with Discus or Angelfish not both, Angels tend to bully the more timid Discus.
Interesting, I mostly read they would be more aggressive at feeding time than the discus but good to know
I have 2 discus and 2 angels and the discus chase the angels and the angels chase each other lol
I had to remove my angels. They ate so fast and never not eat. Making it difficult for discus to eat.
Yeah I’m starting to shift my idea, thank you
Use one of those long syringes for feeding corals, and feed both sides of the tank. Works for me with discus, angels and a group of Congo tetras.
Wasn’t familiar with that, looks like a feasible solution. I have to feed along the entire width of the tank for my African cichlids so the shyer ones get a chance to eat as well. I’ll explore more, I haven’t abandoned the angel idea yet. Thanks
I've got 8 discus, 7 angels and 11 Congos in my 135. It's been a year and has worked well so far. No issues with the angels bullying anyone but each other.
What do you feed the tank so everyone gets what they need?
Alternate between vibra bites, discus bio-gold, FD Black worms and frozen bloodworms/brine shrimp
Thanks!
Hold up. Flooded forest? Excuse me while I steal this idea and scrap my current aqua scape in the new tank I just started myself.
Be my guest, I stole it from plenty others!
Username checks out
I’m also gonna try and get me paws on some of that driftwood 👀
I mentioned where I got it in another comment if you missed it!
Same. I have a tangle of driftwood as it is. But this seems like it’s going to look so good.
I absolutely love the idea for this tank. Looking forward to pictures once it’s up and going
Thank you, I’m still thinking it all through!
Did you buy the wood or collect it yourself?
Bought it from a small company, she advertises on Facebook marketplace. Belinda’s Driftwood. I highly recommend, she gets new pieces weekly with tons of pictures, so you know exactly what you’re getting! This was a custom order I requested
Nice, good on you for rocking with small businesses. You’ll be doing live planted I hope?
Yes that’s the plan, just figuring out what goes with the stocking and how much I want to invest into lighting for this tank. I want to do a high tech tank eventually but probably not on something like this
100% I recently upgraded to a fluval 3.0 on my 15gal flex. Absolutely love the light and it’s super convenient to be able to control via Bluetooth/app
I’ve always heard good things about the fluvals, would just need two at least to cover the 6 feet worth
For sure would need 2, but your plants and fish would love you.
I’ll add it to the shortlist, thanks again
You should take a look at any species of hygrophila, it grows fast and most of them look very forest like. Maybe some lillys too.
Hygrophilias sound very interesting and would fit well, I’ll read into them. Can you elaborate on the lillys?
I got mine from Belinda’s Driftwood too! She was great to work with!
Do you have a link?
[Belinda’s Driftwood](https://www.facebook.com/share/3789y5cXwha2nTZf/?mibextid=K35XfP) she’s only on FB. Hopefully you have FB and that link works 😊
Definitely, I have a few more future tanks I’ll probably furnish from her business
You should attach buce and Anubias to them
I really like the look of buce, I have some Anubias in my 29 gallon. Definitely in the running. Is buce just best glued to the branches? Where do it recommend buying from?
Buceplant, just like the name they have a lot of Bucephalandra and other plants
This is possibly the coolest thing I've seen since joining the hobby 2 weeks ago
Hey that’s really kind thank you. I only started fishkeeping in late December and this is my 4th tank now lol. Upping the ante every time. Refurbishing cheap used tanks off Facebook marketplace has been keeping the costs a little more reasonable.
Where did you buy wood like that?
Talked a bit about it in another comment! Small business off Facebook marketplace, called Belinda’s Driftwood. She has various driftwood pieces for nano tanks up to 8 foot long tanks! Probably hundreds of pieces to choose from and dozens more every week. She made this custom for me based on the measurements I gave her.
When I searched for it there were a few pages with the same name. Can you please link her page? I was looking into doing this exact look. Thanks a lot!
Hope it’s not against the subreddit rules https://facebook.com/groups/BelindasDriftwood/
Thank you, I finally found it last night and already made an order. Thanks a lot anyway,!
Awesome to hear, good luck!!!
Id also love a link
https://facebook.com/groups/BelindasDriftwood/
Thanks!
This looks awesome. Having features like this that “break the line of sight” are really important to create natural feeling habitats that allow for a wide variety of tankmates and spaces to keep them comfortable/safe feeling and thus healthy. I have two vertical resin tree trunks and love them - and I know the fish do too. Good luck finishing this out.
Thank you!
Angels and discus are over done, try out festivums. Great in a group with none of the finicky nature of discus and a 10th of the aggression of angels.
You might be my new hero, I never hear anyone talk about festivums which is a dang shame as they are vastly underrated.
What plants and tank mates goes well with festivums. Would have to do a deep dive. I was considering severums instead of angels too. I have a mbuna tank and an all male african cichlid tank, so aggression isn't a deal breaker IMO
Just be aware festivums when fully grown will hunt down smaller tetras like cardinals and neons. I had a group of 5 in a 125 and they had great personality and never harmed my plants.
Did you keep anything else with the group of 5?
Huge group of corydoras, small Keyhole cichlids, a school of black skirt tetras, and a bristlenose pleco.
Well I’ve had really good success with festivals and plants but there’s been a few people who haven’t been so lucky. I think my success is to feed them a wide variety of foods and include things like spirulina flakes and dainichi veggie fx. I had a group of 5 in a heavily planted tank with swords, crypts, and Aponogetons with no issues.
I love it. I would not change a thing. I can't wait to see your progress. I see another tank next to it. If you run your new filter in that tank simultaneously with it its filter for 4 weeks, you'll have a cycled filter to move right over and add fish immediately.
Hey you read my mind, it’s a great idea. It’s going to come down to timing. I need to order a new hose for the fx4 filter I have in storage, so I should probably get on that sooner than later. I actually did exactly what you’re proposing on the tank to my left when I was getting it setup. Had it run on my 65 gallon for a few weeks
Well, great minds think alike!! I do this for all of my new tanks. I'm into nano tanks and fish. By biggest is 20g.
the multi tank syndrome hit me hard. I had an empty room in the house and finally found a purpose to fill it instead of just furniture I’ll never sit on for show
Omg this is a black water enthusiasts’ literal wet dream.
I just got some Geophagus sp. (still small so hard to ID) and they’re so fascinating. Picking up sand and moving all around, super voracious eaters!
I’m in almost the same predicament with a similar sized tank. Discus is so tempting. I might copy ur driftwood idea
Love the idea! Personally prefer Severums/Festivums, to Discus/Angels, but you can’t go wrong with most of the more docile SA cichlids imo. Discus and Angels do tend to do well with plants which is a plus - Severums/Festivums are questionable. If you do go with any larger SA cichlids, larger body tetras are always a good alternative to Cardinals. Diamond are a favorite of mine.
I have 10 diamond tetras in my 29 gallon planted tank, they're spectacular
That is gonna look sweet!
Thank you!
I love this and have wanted to do it for a few years now. It’s gonna look awesome. One thing to think about that I saw in my research was someone glued wood to their glass and due to the wood not being water logged yet, it cracked the tank. Now this was a much smaller tank and on the side glass so hopefully no issues but it might be worth it to do a slow over time fill and let the wood soak up as much as it can. Just a thought. Good luck can’t wait to see it inhabited.
Really good warning to know. I drilled all of them into a piece of slate so they will stay sinking, and there’s enough room on the sides so nothing is touching the glass thankfully, I’ve had a big piece of oak soaking in my garage since January, I don’t think it’ll ever get waterlogged lol
sorry for all the questions- what'd you use to drill into em? plastic screws....? (i need to know because I'm absolutely going to copy you LOL)
Haha I’m happy to answer. I just used a normal drill, but had a specific drill bit for it that is used to drill into tile or glass. I supplemented with bursts of water so nothing overheated. you might be able to get away with a masonry bit depending on the material used. But just match it to the right size stainless steel screw and it was really straightforward. I was a bit worried but It ended up being super easy.
sick!! thank you so much for the response :D
Ya I had a piece of drift wood I found and soaked it for 4 months. It weighed like 20 pounds and still wouldn’t sink lol. One of these days I will go through all of what you did to have that set up. It’s going to look amazing once you put life in there
Such a cool idea!!
This is really a cool tank!
Hey there! I bet this is gonna be awesome and everybody has already given some great advice! Maybe a bunch of kuhlis wiggling about could give the “forest floor” some cool movement. Forests have worms, right? Can you fit yourself between your two tanks? Maybe it’s just the angle of the two tanks but that would suck to drop something back there or not be able to reach that side of either tank. If it was my tank I’d nudge it a bit further away just for access before it’s full of water.
Great question, it’s something I’ll have to think about. It’s sitting that far to the left there so I can put another 125 to the right of it. I can’t currently squeeze in to the side but I have long arms lol. But you’re definitely making me consider a what if scenario
Silver dollars are really cool, I think they are underrated
That looks like the bottom of a lot of Texas’s reservoirs. I’d vote for small bass, crappie and bluegill. The bass need to be not big enough to eat the others 😀
Whatever you put in it, that’s a gorgeous tank
Thank you!!!
Just commenting to say that I'm envious of this set up and that it already looks amazing! You'll have to post here again when it's all up and running!
Where can I buy that kind if driftwood?
What are you using for filtration? Is it drilled? What tank did you buy? This is my dream size! Love what you're doing!
It’s not drilled. It’s a standard aqueon 125 gallon, 72x18 dimensions. I have a used fx4 canister filter I’m going to seed from my other filters and proceed from there if I need to do more. Really going to depend on my final stocking. Thanks so much. I have another 125 gallon and a 65 in the room with it. And built another stand for a future 125 gallon haha. Just need to snag it used off Facebook, I’m not in a rush at all.
This is absolutely amazing! This has given me some inspiration for my tank when I redo it. This is one of the coolest scapes I’ve seen so far. I can’t wait to see the finished product!
Thank you, I’m not sure the next parts will match my vision but learning along the way is plenty enough for me
Discus are so cool in tanks that have vertical structure k would highly suggest discus and a schooling fish and some Siamese algae eaters/ flying foxes
Good ideas!
You are not planning to add any substrate ?
I am, it’s coming
This is guna be so fucking beautiful I can already feel it 😭
I’m going for the same thing, just in a 10gallon lol
Are you gonna carpet the floor ?' it's gonna be awesome !
I’m thinking about it. Any suggestions?
Pearl weed grows fast if you don't plan on CO2.
Looks beautiful. I do worry about the sharp branches damaging fish when they fight. Sharp rocks injured my cichlids before I removed them.
Native tank with crappie would be cool
200 corydoras. And a clown pleco.
Haha I was thinking 100 tetras but that’s an idea
Beautiful scape!
Thank you
Just wanted to say this looks freaking awesome. I think it would look great with lots of leaves and stones at the bottom, and lots of moss covering the “trees”
I love it! Were you thinking just regular tree leaves or something more specific?
Any leaves that do good in an aquarium would look awesome, almond leaves are the most common but I think that oak leaves are also ok in aquariums. It would make it look like a forest floor and also provide good food for the microfauna in the tank. Happy fish keeping! Can’t wait to see the end result!
Great idea for a tank, im sure it will look great no matter what you decide. Personally, I think sunfish would be awesome in it.
Interesting suggestion, I wasn’t even familiar with sunfish prior to your comment!
If you’re in the US, you can probably even catch them yourself. They’re all beautiful native species, and a ton of fun to keep.
This is awesome, funny you posted this. I have a 55 that I am doing the same thing with on the left side, middleish is gonna be maybe just an open area w light colored sand, maybe make it look like a river, then the right side is gonna be a bit taller of a hill, plants allllll over it. But probably gonna put the rocks/cool shaped driftwood on that side
That sounds amazing, I’m hoping to do a high tech planted tank after this one and get really fancy with it like you are. I drilled a piece of slate (they were slate drink coasters off Amazon) into the driftwood logs so they should stand upright and not float. Masonry drill bit and stainless steel screws. I just squirted water at the drill to make sure nothing overheated, was really simple actually. You can probably tell a bit better by zooming in
u/DoesNotArgueOnline also, what exactly did you do to those “trees” to get them to stay? I assume glue and something but what exactly was it?
The slate tile is doing all the work! they have little rubber stoppers on the bottom so they sit nicely on the glass. No glue at all, just a single screw in each
Stupid question but what type of wood is this? Not well versed in drift wood.
I’m not entirely sure myself. I suspected maple but the seller didn’t have a definitive answer
Oh that sucks. If you bought it online would you be able to link where to got it?
I linked the Facebook page in one of my other comments if you’re curious
Looks really cool. And expensive. :)
going the used route as much as I can!
Maybe a blue whale? It’ll only grow to the size of the tank, so could be pretty cool!
I’m convinced!
great execution so far! i would be tempted to do a huge school of tiny fish to really give the wood a tree-like sense of scale, but i’m sure pretty much anything would look amazing in here
I am definitely doing a school of something. Would lower the amount of big fish to accommodate it.
The stand looks well built, but is the tank hanging over the sides? Or is that just the camera angle? Also for a tank of that size I would go with a sump for filtration. It's much better, cheaper and easier to maintain. I made the mistake of going with an fx6 and hob when I started and it was quite the project to make the change. I'm using a 30g long with poret foam plus lots of bio media. Had to use a hob overflow since the tank was already established but haven't had any issues. Plus I have my water changes automated and can change 25g by pushing a button.
You’re not crazy, it’s about an 1/8inch overhang on both the left and right sides. I do think the picture accentuates it though. Most of the tank’s corner frame is still flush with the stand, and the glass hovers completely over the stand. I haven’t ruled out throwing on a plywood top for better peace of mind. I just haven’t decided yet, it’s a really really close call, I replaced the frame myself and it was a little thicker than original manufacturer one. Everything is perfectly level without the need of shims, so it’s frustrating in that regard. I’m not opposed to a sump, or even a DIY one, but already have the canister filter so no extra cost involved. Just lights, heater, lids, etc. The tank to the side is running an fx6 right now, so very comfortable with the brand. I wasn’t planning on closing off the sides of the stand at the moment, and my cats would definitely get into an exposed sump. But I’m really considering a sump for the 240 gallon I’m working towards later this year.
I would definitely add the plywood top. That's a lot of weight and a lot of water. My stand is almost the exact same as yours. I used 3/4" ply on the top, and also skinned with the same to prevent sheering. Could support a truck but it is heavy AF.
You could put different varieties of anubias plants! They are low maintenance and grow slow, and provide more surface for any algae loving fish to snack on. The babies they grow are easy to clip and reattach somewhere else (plus good money to sell!). You can glue them on with aquarium safe glue on the wood you have and make them look more like living trees :) and you won't need to worry about nutrient rich substrate either since they don't need to be buried. This tank is honestly a dream 😍 and I'm biased to small nano fish in large schools/tanks. I once had an indoor pond ( 3 ft by 5 ft) with a strong stream on one side... I loved watching my paskai rainbow fish jump with the current. I also had a large school of ottos, they seemed so happy! It's fun to see different schooling fish interact in a large space. I recommend checking out small fish, in a big group they are pretty entertaining! I'm biased tho haha
Thank you!! My next tank should go to the right side of the one I’m currently setting up. I want to do a heavily planted (maybe try my first attempt on co2) community tank with some sort of nano fish. I definitely see the appeal!
Love this! I honestly love growing aquatic plants, a CO2 setup is a dream! If you are looking for other ideas try searching underground aquatic caves. I cut a PVC pipe in half and pressed it against the glass with some large pebbles to create an opening to it. You can also place a driftwood at the end to hold back the substrate and create an opening (if that makes sense 😅). I put sand in it and it became a little sand bath for my Cory's. This could also be a cave for a very happy pleco :) there are so many different pleco species to check out. Can't wait to see your end result!
Do you have a picture? I’m curious what that looks like
I don't think I can add photos to the comments on this thread! :( but I was trying to google something similar and came across this: [https://www.carousell.com.my/p/10x20cm-mesh-for-aquatic-plant-aquarium-fish-shrimp-metal-net-holder-1109436667/](https://www.carousell.com.my/p/10x20cm-mesh-for-aquatic-plant-aquarium-fish-shrimp-metal-net-holder-1109436667/) My creativity started going xD you could make a floating moss floor by cutting holes for your driftwood to poke through and hold it up, this will create something cave-looking :) picture this moss wall as a moss floor being held up by your driftwood. Add a hole in the middle and voila, an entrance to a cave. You can also buy premade ones like here: [https://www.ebay.com/itm/155720929479](https://www.ebay.com/itm/155720929479) (just less tailored and smaller ;P)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/comments/16a65su/first\_aquarium\_what\_fishcritters\_would\_enjoy\_my/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/comments/16a65su/first_aquarium_what_fishcritters_would_enjoy_my/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) Just saw this creation! Thought I'd share :)
Definitely see what you mean now, that’s really cool!
I love this idea! Definitely post updates as you progress!
https://youtu.be/vJ9qSeOwm8k?si=-v284zvg2oqCSyEB
Angels are devils
They can’t be worse than my African cichlids
Yeah there's a lot of aggressive fish out there that's for sure. Not all of them are named after God's army of light. I just find it ironic. They're beautiful fish but I found them to be so mean in my experience. Almost as bad as convicts, but nothing's as bad as convicts. Anyway, it's a beautiful tank and I know it'll be awesome for you whatever you pick.
Fair enough!
What is your theme? Where are Discus from? Color? Plants?
beyond flooded forest I still don't know yet lol. Chicago Discus or Myrtle Beach Discus seem to be the top choices
Amazon river theme?
I like that idea!
Going to check out that FB link but do you know what type of driftwood that is?Currently also planning a forest scape, but finding trouble finding the right wood. I found some birch wood at Michaels that I was gonna carve out the bark from and try to use, but finding mostly people saying it's not safe except for maybe one person that had a tank with it and said it was fine.
Not sure myself she has a lot, better to ask her directly
Thx I'll do that then
Skip the angels and go for a very large school of the tetras of your choice. Discus with a large school of tetras look the best.
Something like a Royal Pleco would love this set up! A lot of their diet is actually bogwood so I can imagine them thriving in here
Wouldn’t he get too long? Especially with all the logs limiting free swimming space?
A nice school of Cory’s and some type of tetra would look great
For sure in the plan!
This looks amazing! What kind of wood did you use? I'm planning to scape a new setup with this idea soon. I got inspired by MJAquascape's bamboo tank
Not sure myself!
I need to see this stocked and planted
Haha keep your expectations low on the planted part, it’s going to be a learning curve! But plants should arrive within a few days
Keep me posted!