[willow]

hi
i think that the sand will filter through to the bottom of the tank.
what i did with mine was to put the gravel at the back
of the tank with the tall plants,and put the sand at the front.
the fish,especially my large plec does stir the sand a little
when he shoots off after feeding,however it does settle pretty quick.
all you need to do is stir it slowly with a stick(bbq squewer) and
hover the gravel vac over the top to clear any poop away.
it is fun to watch the corys on the sand,it filters out through
their gills.
and yeah to getting the instant e-mail notice.:)

[wendex]

oh soooo much easier with email notification

my tank's not so wide so I can't really put a lot of plants at the back and I'd like to see the corys at the front of tank playing in the sand so I'm thinking maybe just remove most of the gravel and leave small areas where the live plants are and sand everywhere else.

Not looking forward to doing it :o0 but the result'll be worth it I'm sure

[willow]

:)
you'll love it when it;s all finished.

[s72450]

Beautiful tank!

[xDoctor Bob]

Are those plants fake? They look really good. I love how you added shrimp, the best of the bottom dwellers in my opinion.

[wendex]

Hi I'm really pleased you like the tank I've seen some amazing tanks on here. Ive got 3 real plants and 3 plastic. Sorry i don't know the names of the real plants. The big leafy red plant on the right is plastic but the green one in front is real and is growing really fast and twisting up with the plastic one making it look more real. On the left is a real taccy green/white plastic plant on stone base but the grass plant behind it is real. Then at the back next to the black pipe there's a there's a real red/brown bushy plant which the cherry shrimp love to hide in and the corys hide under. Sorry I can't tell you what they are. I've just been saying on another thread (got so many at the min. losing track :o)) thinking about a floating leaf like plant (have to look back to get name) to help block the light in the middle of tank for the gouramis. I think once the sand and floating plants are in I think it'll be pretty much done, til the plants need replacing.

Yeah the shrimp are really good to have - wonderful cleaners and great to watch. The cherrys are super quick and shoot about the tank and the long nose shrimp float gracefully about like they own the gaff.

[srb325i]

i like the layout of your tank and those cherry barbs are awsome

[wendex]

thanks srb. can't wait to take some more shots of tank don't think i can wait till all the sand's down. I've taken out the fake plant with the rock at bottom cos I think the real plants look much nicer and the green plant on the right is growing super fast it nearly reaches across the top of the tank now so don't think I'll be needing any more floating plants, gouramis coming out much more now really makes a difference.

One thing didn't figure on when getting pale sand was that it shows up all the fish poop! and i have to resist clearing it 2 much at mo cos i want the bacteria to build up on sand :o)

[willow]

yes it really shows up the poop alrighty lol

[wendex]

Couldn't wait til all sand down. just a few pics of my biggest cory, a female I think cos she's pretty big and fat! She's got quite dark eyes which is unusual cos all the others I've got/seen have a yellow ring aroung the pupil, when I first got her I thought something was wrong with them. She's beautiful. I like these shots of the big nose shrimp which are super cool cos they're nearly always out and about eating or floating gracefully across the tank. I def. recommend anyone with small fish to get these guys. The cherry shrimp are pretty but are always hiding and when they do come out shoot very quickly across the tank. I'm guessing they need a tank to themselves to be fully appreciated or a bigger group maybe.

hope you like