u/ryan5000s

Had this for a while now and it’s always such a treat to wear. Totally underrated dial if you ask me.

Going for a desert canyon vibe against a blue sky. Background is blue but lighting can change so it doesn’t have to have the blue-green. There is no substrate yet it’s just a rubber mat to protect the glass as I mess with the configuration of the rocks. Substrate will be Fluval stratum capped with black sand. Substrate will be built up behind the rocks to be even with the top of the rocks. So background plants will be decently elevated. The tank will be heavily planted- Carpet plants in front, some mid sized in the middle and tall plants in the back. match the top.

It’ll be low tech - decent light but no CO2. Canister filter.

The tank is super tall vs the rocks but hopefully that will be less of an issue when the rocks are sitting on a few inches of substrate instead of a thin mat.

1. Does the rock configuration by itself look ok? My brain is a little numb form reconfiguring everything 100x.

2. Will a little height from substrate + some tall plants help with the “short hardscape” vs “tall tank” perspective?

3. Should I put a large piece of driftwood like spider wood in the center?

4. What plants would you use?

What else? Totally open to suggestions.

Going for a desert canyon against the clear blue sky sorta vibe. Rocks turn a little more red when wet. I’ve been arranging and rearranging these rocks for too long and my brain is numb. Does this look ok?

This guy is just curious and pretty much ignores everyone else in the tank

USA Utah but it’s in an orchid pot so who knows where that came from. Are these poisonous or anything? We don’t have pets nor any toddlers in the house so not much risk of ingesting but should I make sure to get rid of it? It’s kinda pretty so maybe I’d let the other one grow a bit?

First time. So far so good but there is a lot of evaporation. Maybe up to 1/4” per day. I live in a dry climate. Internet says top up with distilled water. Is that what most of you do with an open top tank? Seems like a gallon every few days. That’ll get annoying. Do they make lids for these?

Also what moss should I use? No CO2 setup.

Also Ignore the HOB filter. Just pulled it from another aquarium to hopefully accelerate the cycle with good bacteria.

Maybe too ambitious to do a sand river for my first time? But I think it turned out ok. Wanted some elevation changes so needed some decent sized rocks to hold back the substrate in such a small tank. 20 gallon is all I can fit in this spot in my office. I have plastic dividers between the sand and soil so it should stay separated. I’ll also add more white sand when it’s time to fill. The location and overall shape of the river is locked in - so feel free to critique it but I can’t change it now ha ha. I think I like the driftwood tree on the left. Ignore the rock base with black silicone - that will be buried under the substrate. The driftwood on the right is what I’m having a hard time with. Two pieces? One piece? Zero? I gravitate toward nothing on the right. But I also think wood on the right will look better when there are plants… right? Running a fluval 207 canister filter. Ada Amazonia v2 substrate. No CO2.

Also what should I stock it with? I already have a beta that will be in there - thinking maybe neon tetras, danio margaritatus, some sort of rainbow fish as well? Also so red neocardia shrimp.

Any plant suggestions are welcome too.

I’m mesmerized by the coloring. Coloring like this was never available on a beta when I was a kid. It’s so cool to see the variety readily available these days.

Despite Walmarts near me being well stocked with Casios, I’ve never seen them on clearance. Yesterday I was surprise to see a few. They aren’t the rock bottom deals like $3 but maybe if they sit long enough they will keep going down? Ok deals on a few. I bought the last one for fun. I may check back in about a week to see if any more go on clearance or if the current ones come down more.

First time with a beta in a large tank with other fish. He/she? Spends most of its time slinking around the bottom and the tank is rather tall. Using floating beta food but it rarely comes up to eat. How do I know it’s getting food? The other fish nip at the food when it’s first added but after a while leave it alone. Am I over thinking this? Will it eventually just find the food?

I’ve learned so many lessons that I wish I knew beforehand and it’s taken so much longer than expected. It’s a little messy but I built everything myself. Just testing the placement of the waterfall tubes before I lock them in. I’m surprised that it has come together more or less how I envisioned it though. This is based on recycled glass from 5 gallon aquariums. I broke a lot of glass to make this 😂