[BettahBehBeh]

Hi,
I ordered a Fluval Spec V and want a super zen, awesome looking tank for my little orange betta. I'd love for it to be fun for him and calming for me.

Here's what I have to work with:

A couple of bunches of mondo grass (or what looks like mondo grass? I'm not sure what it's actually called)
An anubias plant
Something that looks like moneywort (sorry I don't have any of the tags in front of me)
A big piece of curved driftwood
white-ish gravel

All my configurations just look....stupid. Do any of you have any suggestions for simple, easy aquascaping or configuring that will help move this thing from "eh" to beautiful?

Thanks so much, guys.

 

[Oldfishlady]

A pic would help of both the tank and how it is scapped now and either a pic of what you have to use in the scape and/or list of what you have to use in the hard scape. I don't know this brand of tank-do you have a link-also, what size/gallon and type of filter. What is your finial stocking plans-this can make a difference with aquascape IMO/E

To start with....your mondo grass isn't aquatic and will slowly rot and die in your aquarium-It will live for a few months-more or less-but in the end it will be problematic in the long term...I would take it back and get your money back or exchange for real aquatic plants.

IMO-it is just as important to know the species of plants you keep as the fish. By knowing what kind of plant can help you meet their needs so the plants grow/thrive and don't become part of the problem in a closed system.

What kind of light do you have-proper color temp lights are needed for photosynthesis-otherwise the plants may not thrive and become part of the problem within the system.

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

+1 OFL http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3730+18534+25215&pcatid=25215

So you decided to try another Spec V? Hope this one doesn't leak. :-(

 

[BettahBehBeh]

Hi,
Here's the tank: http://www.amazon.com/Fluval-Spec-Aquarium-5-Gallon-Black/dp/B0089E5VLC
I unfortunately don't have pictures of my 'scaped' tank. I set it up a couple of days ago, and it immediately leaked everywhere. I took it back to the store and ordered a replacement. I didn't get any pictures before the seams leaked. It has stock LED lighting and a three system filtration system.

Regarding the plants, I had an LFS employee who had six planted tanks choose the plants for me. She gave me those she said were suited for low light and were extremely hardy. Since I'm at a work conference, I don't have the tags with me that says what they are. I've already returned plants that aren't aquatic and died, and was assured this was not the case here.

The final stock will be just my betta, and maybe a snail or some shrimp down the road.

I have no hardscaping knowledge; thoughts?

 

[BettahBehBeh]

Yes, lol, RusseltheShihZhu! That's awesome you remembered. I wandered through LFS and looked at everything and got it on sale at Petco.com for $55. I figured that was the best deal, and it was worth another try. I keep asking friends to help me 'design' it and everyone looks at me weird and teases me about it. I would love some advice from those who don't think tank designing is silly!