# Fantastic ideas for a 3-ft planted tank, please?



## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Pics welcome!

So, I lost all my precious wild bettas --and-- their 3ft tank in the move to the new house (long story, and I am still really sad about this).

Probably in November I will be able to replace the tank. I have a lot of red-gold sandy gravel and low light plants (anubias and java fern, absolute tons of those) and some nice pieces of driftwood. 

I also have a fat little bristlenose pleco and seven large Darwin algae shrimp living in a big plastic tub for now, so those will be the first residents of the November tank. I'm not sure what else might go in there, maybe some more wilds (LBF has very kindly offered me an ideii female - I am pondering this, as they are stunning but highly aggressive fish..), but I'd like other ideas, too.

Maybe I'll actually get two new tanks, seeing as Aang could do with an upgrade too. I'm thinking, a 2-footer there with a stand and hood. We'll see.  But for now, the 3-footer!

As I won't be moving for quite some time (I hope) I am open to the idea of a large NPT. But I'm also willing to look at other ideas for planting and stocking. 

Things I like:
- plants in general
- natural looking tanks
- biotopes
- inverts
- fish with personality

Things I'm not keen on right now:
- CO2 reliant plants
- fake plants
- cheesy ornaments
- sororities
- neon tetras

I really do need help cheering up/finding the enthusiasm to move on after losing the strohi, so your pics and suggestions will be gratefully received!


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## deso (Apr 24, 2012)

Aus! I'm so sorry to hear that the move went poorly for your wilds  If it's any consolation, my tank broke during my moving and I had to express-order a new tank and filter, which really wasn't friendly on my wallet.

Anyhoo, since you said you have loads of nice driftwood and natural gravel, I think a setup focused around it would be real nice. Something like this:









Imagine how happy fish would be in something like that. I'm not too knowledgeable when it comes to stocking/tankmate suggestions but I can help with the plant choices, if you like. Are you planning on making this an ultra low-maintenance setup? Or do you have the time for daily ferts/CO2 and the lot? I just saw this low-maintenance setup below on another forum and am really impressed. Can't believe the guy doesn't even dose ferts: http://www.migrantworkingbee.com/aquarium/akadama/show3.jpg


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## inareverie85 (Apr 18, 2008)

I will recommend some of the smaller rainbow fish species for any planted tank until I die!

See if you can find videos and photos of these fish. They are full of personality and show off all the time!

Threadfin Rainbows
Forktail Rainbows
Gertrude Rainbows

Cories, obviously, are super cute too and would love to school around in such a big tank.


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## Creat (Dec 6, 2010)

I recently got a few reedfish and I love them like crazy so elegant in the water. My other favorite large tank fish is my beloved tiretrack eel and raphael catfish, talking catfish are so funny. None of those would do hot with the shrimp though :/ Another thing I am experimenting with in my eels tank is I collected some hardwood tree roots boiled them and soaked them and left them. They look great in the tank so far still leaching but the eel loves it. Put some tall valls in it... trying for a biotype tank so far liking it.


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## starrlamia (May 3, 2012)

why not do a shrimp only tank? you can have fun with plants, driftwood and lots of moss.


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## BettaQi (Jul 26, 2012)

I am sorry for your loss.

This site has lots of layout ideas:

http://www.tropica.com/en/home.aspx


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## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

I whole heartedly support the shrimp only idea! Just think it would be a bit awkward with a 3 foot tank.


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## starrlamia (May 3, 2012)

Silverfang said:


> I whole heartedly support the shrimp only idea! Just think it would be a bit awkward with a 3 foot tank.


 i disagree, plant it nicely and get a whole bunch of neos, grab some orange, blue or yellow, it would look pretty awesome


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## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

But with different colours you get inbreeding. And they turn out a dull brown or something. That's the biggest issue with shrimp. You need species specific tanks to keep the colours in tact.


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## toad (Jul 17, 2012)

I'm sorry to hear about your fishies 

How about something like Tom's Mud Bucket?

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=150555

I think I especially like this because it reaches out of the top of the tank...


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## starrlamia (May 3, 2012)

Silverfang said:


> But with different colours you get inbreeding. And they turn out a dull brown or something. That's the biggest issue with shrimp. You need species specific tanks to keep the colours in tact.


 yeah i was just listing the options, the breed they have now is a caridina species so they probably wouldnt interbreed...


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Haha, Toad - Tom's Mud Bucket is my favourite tank, ever. I aspire to that tank! And it's what gave me the emergent growth bug -- kind of hard to have with bettas, as they like to jump. But one day, this set up will be mine!

Deso -- omg, love that mossy-wood tank. I am aiming to avoid CO2 if possible, but moss likes me and does very well for me without it. I'm looking at a home for my java fern species (I have a couple) and tons of anubias, crypts, etc, all low tech/low light stuff mainly. I really like the idea of having portions of the tank that heavily covered.... And omg,that second setup - WOWEEE. I'm putting that on "tanks I aspire to have" list for sure!

inareverie -- I adore the threadfins! Ofc, rainbow fish are native here, and I can get them pretty easily from Aquagreen up in Darwin (great store.. lovely people to deal with). These fish are on my list of species to acquire at some stage. If I could only get a colony living happily with some wild bettas.... Never tried corys, but I am a fan of the pandas, they are just super cute. 

Creat -- have you got a pic thread for that tank here? I would love to see! Oman, a talking catfish.. there's many species we can't get here due to quarantine issues and I am betting they are on list.. so I'm gonna hassle you to make a talking catfish journal or something, so I can learn about them at least. And reedfish are a kind of bichir, aren't they? So pretty... but they get huge, yes? And need a small school?

I am massively in love with bichirs since seeing the tankful of these guys at my LFS:










Starrlamia, I am not fond of neons at all. But a shrimp-only tank is on the cards -- not for this 3ft, I'm afraid, as I first need a pleco-home and hopefully space for that female betta ideii (and a new hubby for her, if they won't eat the pleco or each other..). I realllly do want a few invert tanks however -- snails and shrimp are some of my favourite critters. I am fond of long-armed river prawns, but they tend to eat things smaller than themselves, so a species tank for those is something I've planned on for months. I also love RCS and my Darwin algae shrimp are just terrific (I hope these become popular in America! You guys would like the Darwins, I am sure, since they gobble up algae all day and change colours) but am a bit tentative over the more exotic breeds like crystals, etc. Maybe down the track, I'll try some of those. Shrimp-only tank suggestion noted, though, and passed for approval!

BettaQi, thank you for kind words and that link is brilliant for ideas, cheers for it. 

Silverfang, I have seen pics of some brilliant 3ft shrimp-only setups, filled with moss walls and hosts of crystal reds and blues (colours divided by the moss walls, tho, as you said, they tend to get muddy when interbred..) .. so lovely. I would probably prefer a smaller shrimp-only tank, at this stage. I saw an ad for a cheap 2ft setup today... >> ... perfect for shrimp... if only it was next month, that tank would be mine. If I manage to sell the 600+ UFO books that I have carted around for years (and have no idea where they came from..spooky...) I might just be in luck, tho. 

This is all really cheering me up, people. I feel the enthusiasm returning! Thanks so much.


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## Creat (Dec 6, 2010)

Reedish (rope fish) are related to bichir's I think they are a million times cooler though. They snap at smaller fish but are fine with my medium to large females they are usually passive even the little red female likes to snuggle with the smaller reedfish. Sounds weird but true lol. They stay under a foot and half about 14 inches. I have a striped raphael catfish, super pudgy and he is hiding right now cause its nighttime. I will try to get some pics of him soon lol or maybe start a journal for the whole darn tank. He has gone after an eaten sick/ weak small fish only at night his only downside.


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

My vote is: tank journal ftw. 

I love those, and learn a lot (and get great ideas) from other people's tank threads. 

Plus, learning about species I'm not familiar with is always a bonus!


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## toad (Jul 17, 2012)

Aus said:


>



OMG How cool is he! :-D


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## Creat (Dec 6, 2010)

Lol alright got one started!


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## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

I gotta ask.. what is that? it looks awesome!


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## kfryman (Nov 7, 2011)

Ah I remember seeing that. Beautiful tank...

I would say lots of driftwood that has anubias and java fern tied to it and maybe some crypts for MST of the other plants?


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## Creat (Dec 6, 2010)

Its all sorts of nonsense no anubias though  some java fern but mostly swords, crypts and now lilly bulbs  Here is the thread, my friend/ roommate co owns the tank its mostly her equipment and mostly my stock http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?p=1267259#post1267259


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

3 feet long is not big enough for any sort of polys. :/


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## Creat (Dec 6, 2010)

Define poly's? I know polys by polyps ... but thats salt water

Edit: Ah birchirs got it  I always thought they require about min. 50 gal


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Polypterus fish are members of the bichir family, and ropes often get lumped in as polys even though they are not part of the genus, but still very close.


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