# Hints for a tank open to both sides?



## wookie (May 12, 2009)

Hi everyone,

I'm a bit stuck on aquascaping my first planted tank. the problem is it will be open to both sides :help:









I could paint one side black, but would like to leave it as is. 

It is a standard 3 foot tank and I'm using mineralized soil with a couple of inches of 2mm black sand over top. It has a compact T5 with a 96W, 10,000K bulb and I will look to setup a DIY CO2 eventually.

Any suggestions would be great, I was thinking about either large plants on the left going down to low plants on the right, or having large plants either end and a bit of a gap in the middle??

I am new to planted tanks so it would be great to get any suggestions about 'scaping ideas and plants/gear.

I will probably order plants online from the site below, to give you an idea of the plants I'm looking at.

http://www.aquaria.com.au/catalog/index.php/cPath/6_43

Thanks in advance for any help :icon_mrgr


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

How wide is the tank? You could make the scape like a peninsula, but it depends on how wide it is.


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## blair (Feb 8, 2009)

I would recommend iwagumi style for a double sided view. If you went stems or other large plants, try to make them centrally planted around a hardscape. This would be more easily done in a wider tank, but yours seems to be 24" or 30" long by 12" wide? Possible, but tricky 

Check out page 6 and 7 of this .PDF for a double sided scape idea. I realize yours is shorter, but think of half that length and apply the same thoughts.

http://www.adaaust.com.au/support/pdf/iwagumi_2007.pdf

You can definitely do more plant varieties if one doesn't float your boat. Maybe plant something taller around the rocks, but keep the ground cover near the glass for easy viewing. Driftwood can be used instead or in pairing with rocks if that is your preference.

Good luck!


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## blair (Feb 8, 2009)

Here is a photo of my crappy penninsula (if this fits what CL is imagining...). It is my temporary tank I just stuck a spare rock in and then decided to give it a hill on one wall while I wait for my other tank's substrate (Aqua Soil Amazonia). 

The back reads about the same as the front...

Oh, and it is a 10 gallon, so quite small footprint.


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## wookie (May 12, 2009)

Tank is 14 wide so maybe a bit tight. I like the peninsula idea, have this piece of driftwood so may try something like....









Blair I'm about to google up iwagumi style, as I have not idea what that is! :icon_bigg
and will have a read of that pdf. now.

Any stand out plants from that website??

Still waiting for my mineralized soil to dry for the second time as the weather is crap at the mo!


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## wookie (May 12, 2009)

Had a look at the pdf. Looks fantastic!!:thumbsup:

Might use another smaller piece of driftwood on the left to balance it out, and still go for tall plants at either end (mainly to cover gear up)

There were some Amazon swords at the LFS, but they look like they might get to big. Would rather have plants that would grow to near the surface without growing along the top...if you get what I mean??

Or maybe have a plant at one end that would grow to the surface and across it create a bit of a window in the middle. Any ideas on a plant that would create that effect??


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## blair (Feb 8, 2009)

Sounds good. This hobby can get expensive, but one thing I keep purchasing because I love the look is lily pipes. If you are not familiar with these they are glass attachments for your inlet and outlet. They don't really preform too differently from the standard ones, just hide in the water a bit better. They are not terribly difficult to clean by setting them in a water and bleach solution. In 30 minutes to 1 hour they are pristine!

This way the ends don't need to be hidden, but can be expressed as a sculptural element.

You should do alright with iwagumi on a google search, but just in case; try searching 'Takashi Amano Iwagumi'. He is the pioneer of this style as an introduction to aquariums. It is essentially arrangements of rocks (usually 3 piece groupings) and a single plant species. It is often accented with one or two other varieties for contrast. I believe a textbook quality post was written on it recently. Let me see if I can dig that up...


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## jjp2 (May 24, 2008)

I have my tank set as a room divider. I've struggled with the aquascaping of it as well. My suggestions are 

1 Have your taller plants toward the short side against the wall. This will hide it.
2 If you want tall plants, you need to divide the tank in half along the 2 viewable long sides. This line will be where you plant tall plants along.
3 use mainly mid-ground and fore-ground plants only except the stems along the wall end and maybe though the middle.
4 Instead of the linear line through the middle of the tank, try the tall ones in the back to hide the wall, lots of mid-ground and fore-ground and 1-2 prize specimen plants in the end toward the room

My tank doesn't follow my suggests, but I tried too. Just haven't gotten time to aquascape it so I just trim and slowly re-scape it.


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## Vladdy (May 6, 2008)

blair said:


> Here is a photo of my crappy penninsula (if this fits what CL is imagining...).


Crappy? Are you out of your mind? It's better than mine.


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## wookie (May 12, 2009)

Thanks for all the help! 

Will check out the lily pipes Blair, they sound great. How often do they need cleaning?? I can sort some bleach from work to get them sparkling. Have just started work here,

http://www.monash.edu.au/news/newsline/story/1372

Have just breed some sweet longfin cherry colored zebras....but the quarantine is pretty tight :icon_frow, and I think transgenic fish are only legal within research facilities in Australia.

Anyway lost track. Will stick with a few of jjp2 ideas, taller plants against the wall, unless I sort the lily pipes and maybe an inline heater (expensive!!) and mainly mid/fore plants over the rest.

If I was going to go with a feature plant in the middle, any suggestions on the variety??


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## VisionQuest28 (Apr 18, 2007)

For those of you with tanks open to both sides....how do your fish act? I tried this with my 37 gallon and my fish just acted miserable. A group of 8 LF Zebra Danios were the 1st fish in, and they hid constantly or would get spooked and scatter if you even looked at them funny. Granted i only gave it about a week and then said i cant stand it anymore, and re-scaped and put a blackground on. With in a couple of hours they were back to acted like they should...not scared of ANYTHING! They are actually a PITA now when doing water changes, i have colorquartz on the bottom, so i dont siphon when doing water changes i just scoop and dump with a plastic container. But im constantly fighting them to get out of the way or fishing them out of my bucket cuz i accidentally am trying to throw them away with the bad water. lol Its a pain, but thats how i want them to act...fearless!

Anyway, maybe i just didnt give them enough time? But whats everyone else experience with this? Do your fish freak out too?


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## redman88 (Dec 12, 2008)

the ones in my moms tank are fine with it being open on both sides.


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## blair (Feb 8, 2009)

I think initially they were skittish... but like all fish, with feeding, normal movements, and time, they adjust quite nicely. Their colors are vibrant and they greet me for feeding, regardless of my approach angle.


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## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

Maybe a smaller version of this?


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## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

This is going to look so nice. I'm sure with all the suggestions you'll come up with something you like.


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## wookie (May 12, 2009)

A few update picks,

















there is a bit of hair algae growing, well what I think is hair algae! 









What sort of timing should my lighting be on? I think I have it on a bit long at the moment.

Any comments are much appreciated! :biggrin:


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