cichlid decor ideas ??

what could u put in my tank to decorate it? right now i have a flower pot, 2 rocks, a big glass 7up bottle, drift wood and plants. ive heard in the past, that it is good to break the bottom of the clay flower pot to create a tunnle for the fish, is this a good idea?

thanks in advance
Pig

 

Yeah, you could cut the bottom out of pots.

Here's a pic of my 75 - might give you ideas.


If you have large cichlids in the tank, it's best to take a bit of a minimalist approach to the decor. The more swimming room the better.

-Chelle

 

How and where did you get that pot thing?!??! it is awsome! also are those real, or plastic plants?

 

I got the pot from the BX (military equivalent of K-Mart). You can probably find pretty much the same thing in the gardening center of someplace like Walmart, K-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot, etc.

And all the plants are plastic/silk. I got most of them from either craft stores or dollar stores (cheaper than from the LFS).

The gravel came from the local landscaping place paid $4 and only used less than 1/2 of what I got.

The large rocks were found here & there, and the Driftwood was actually bought at the LFS.

-Chelle

 

lol! bargin shopper! i think i might just go to the landscaping place and get new gravle, as you can see from these pics, my gravle is pretty boring. :| also what could i do to make my tank look a little nicer or what could i add or rearange. if i put one single large cichlid in this tank would there be enough swimming space?

 

Refresh my memory, how big is the tank?

Really, I think a background will do the most to improve the looks of the tank. Seeing all the hoses & wires is generally prety distracting.

-Chelle

 

the tank is 75g

 

do you think there is enough swimming space for a full grown red devil to swim around?

 

Yeah, a RD should be fine.

-Chelle

 

how about filteration / heating? would 80F be fine? and would my fluval 304 be enoguh to filter this tank?

 

More plants, tall ones

I agree, the first thing I would do is a background.

Next, more plants, whether they're real or not, varied sizes of plants placed kind of sporadically with the shortest ones to the front to give it some depth. I really love having plants that are too tall for the aquarium placed at the back, particularly in the corners so that the ends float and drape over the surface.

You've got me in the mood to post some pictures now.

 

oh forgot the heaters

Forgot about the heater(s).

A 300 watt should be fine, but I've had some problems with heaters before, especially the cheaper brands. I'd suggest putting 2 150 or 200 watt heaters in it.

 

I agree, 2 smaller heaters would definitely be better than a single large one (if one sticks on, it will take longer to fry the fish or if one stops working, you still have a backup). Having said that, I have a single 300w ViaAqua titanium heater in my 75 and it does pretty good.

For filtration, the 304 would be a tad on the underfilter sided so I'd probably add a small HOB filter (maybe something that does around 200 gph should be good).

-Chelle