[Cook.MN]

Alright, so I started out with a 38 Gallon, bought my fish and found these forums. I learned that my tank was too small to house my fish so I went out and found a 55 gallon tank on Craigslist.

This is how I first set the tank up

Not bad for a newbie in my opinion but after a few weeks I wasn't too pleased with it. So I went out rock shopping and came home with 30 lbs of black lace rock. Below is the initial setup of that...

Definitely a set up, but as it was pointed at to me here that my fish preferred the rock pile to the right more so then the one on the left. I kept it this way for 2-3 weeks but last night I purchased an additional 15 lbs of black lace rock. Now I am finally pleased as I feel that my tank has enough rock work and has some swimming room. Let me know your thoughts.

Sorry for the blurriness of the pictures, my camera is 5 years old and I don't use it a lot, but you should be able to get a good idea of the setup.

 

[alicem]

Looks pretty good. The off center placement of the stacks is very nice.

I'd like to see a plain black background on it...

Do the fish still prefer the right side over the left? That might be a hob return thing.
They may (or may not) like the current.

Those are nice rocks. :thumb: I definately like it better since you added more.
Be careful not to scratch the glass when placing them against it.

It looks like your fish have grown!

 

[Cook.MN]

There is a plain black background on it, kinda shows in the last pic

 

[alicem]

Oops, missed it, my bad.

 

[porksnorkel]

looks great cook. definite improvement over pic one.

 

[Alleycat]

Looks great :thumb: That black lace is hard stuff to find around here. I could use a hundred or so pounds myself.

I think alicem didn't have her glasses on when viewing again

 

[alicem]

Har-de-har, very funny, Alleycat.

 

[Deeda]

Definitely looks better with the last setup. Looks more natural. Nice job!

 

[Cook.MN]

If I had another way of hiding the ugly bubble wall I would move the rocks along the back to the left rock pile. I just love bubble walls, just not exactly how the unit itself looks

 

[lab911]

I liked your very first set up too with the smooth stones. I have lace rock in my 46 gallon and love it. I think it was wise to add more lace rock. The final pic is very nice. I like the way you stacked the rock on the right to give it some height. Great tank!!

 

[PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn]

personally I preferred the first scape, though minus the bubbles and plus a background.

also consider adding something like water onions (Crinum thaianum) that will give you a splash of green, and grows pretty well, the leaves should be fairly safe from the mbuna as well

 

[DemasoniLover]

Lookin good! Big change from the beginning!

 

[Cook.MN]

I used the river rocks in my other 55 gallon that is a planted tank. I'll get some pics of that one tonight and a better pic of the one above so you can see the differences between the two of them.

 

[Cook.MN]

Not the best at taking pictures, but you get the idea with these...

Here's a closer shot at the larger rock pile on the right.

Here's my other 55 gallon that I have on the opposite wall.

Yay tannins? Well here's a side shot of it.

And here's a little 5 gallon corner eclipse tank I picked up tonight. Yeah it was fully cycled prior to me adding the betta. This is a temp setup as I'm going to change the substrate and fully plant it. But the betta seems to like it so far (you can see him under the tree root, he's a lil red guy).

 

[ArcticCatRider]

hmm, the 38, 55, and small one all look good.
But the 38, it just looks great now, although that plant in the middle looks way to fake just IMO.
But, I like the setup. :thumb:

 

[Nutty4Mbunas]

I think all tanks are beautiful. You can see the before and after and I like the after and the other tanks. I love everybody's tank You done a great job. Im also working on mine, I too got the tank given to me then I went and found the fish and then I found this website. I have completely redone mine to.